The writings of Shakespeare are today little read by young people in Britain. His young readership is limited to those who choose to study literature at university. Shakespeare's work, together with most other classics, is seen as remote, and written in a 400-year-old version of English that is about as inviting as toothache. Still, in Britain schools, it is compulsory to study the bard  , and when something is made compulsory, usually the result is boredom, resentment  or both. This was my experience of the classics at school. But when I reached my late teenage years, I had a change of heart. Like every other young person since the dawn of time, the world confused me. I wanted answers, so I turned to books to find them. I went on to take a PhD in literature and have taught it in Britain and China. I have never regretted it. There is something in literature that people want, even if they don't read books. You see this in the popularity of TV and movie adaptations of great works, the recent film version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice being _ . These popular adaptations may help increase people's interest in the classics. Reading a simplified Romeo and Juliet may perhaps lead to a reading of Shakespeare's actual play. If that is the case, then I welcome the trend. But do not make the mistake of thinking that it is the same thing. Shakespeare is a poet. His greatness is in his language. Reading someone else's rewriting of his work is like peeling a banana, throwing away the fruit, and eating the skin. Take on the original. It really is worth the effort. The popularity of TV and movie adaptations of great works may help people   _  .
learn more about tradition get a PhD in literature seek their answers about the world become more interested in the classics