Reflection On Research

My first impression of Shakespeare was that he was a famous poet and playwright who was able to produce complicated masterpieces and play around with English words expertly, effortlessly and with precision. Knowing well the obstacles that could cross my path when reading the Merchant of Venice (it comprised of Old English), I was not exactly looking forward to it. However, perusing through summaries of all scenes and glossary aided in my understanding of each one of them, and that had enabled me to grasp the main idea and identify some of the major themes of the play. Through this research, I also knew how England was during the Elizabethan Era and some of the trends which were prevalent in the society at that time. Shakespeare was not just famous for the Merchant of Venice, but other plays as well such as Hamlet, The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet.

There is indeed a huge difference between the Elizabethan Era and the world we live in today. Back then, there was a hierarchy, which meant that everyone at any level of society was very likely to remain there forever, so would his/ her children. People could not easily rise to a high position of power through means such as education. Now, we can improve our social status by perseverance, hard work and attaining degrees, and the system of hierarchy is barely existent in our society. At that time, people often had mistaken beliefs and misconceptions. They lacked scientific knowledge, and only after the Renaissance did they start to seek for answers to questions on their own instead of relying on hearsay. For example, people back then believed that a sick person could be cured by having the ‘bad blood’ taken out of him using leeches, but ironically, instead of curing them, it led to their respective demises! We can prevent this from happening because in the world today, we have sufficient knowledge of the sciences and remedies to such illnesses.

Even though Shakespeare’s works were produced in the 1600s, his works are still highly relevant and can be applied to modern day context. Some of the examples are his quotes, racism and Christian teachings. Most of Shakespeare’s quotes, such as “Love is blind; and lover cannot see” are still widely used today. As for the topic of racism, it is still existent in the world that we live in, and we can do our best to prevent being racist against others. The Christian teachings in the Merchant of Venice can still be used today to remind people of the right moral values that they should possess. Therefore it is evident that Shakespeare’s works are still relevant to the modern day context.