The History of Teaching Shakespeare

in the EFL Classroom

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Contents

1. Introduction 3

2. The German Shakespeare Foundation and its role Shakespeare′s reception in

Germany 3

2.1. Shakespeare′s reception in Germany 3

2.2. The German Shakespeare Foundation 7

3. Teaching Shakespeare before 1848 7

4. Teaching Shakespeare between 1848 and 1933 8

5. Teaching Shakespeare between 1933 and 1945 11

6. Teaching Shakespeare between 1945 and 1972 12

6.1. Teaching Shakespeare in the Federal Republic of Germany 12

6.2. Teaching Shakespeare in the German Democratic Republic 14

7. Teaching Shakespeare today 14

8. Conclusion 15

9. Bibliography 17

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1. Introduction

"Shakespeare ­ A literary giant in the 21st century" (cf. LearnLine 2005, LearnLine

2006) is the slogan of the guidelines for the centralised final exam (Zentralabitur) in

North-Rhine-Westphalia 2007/08, but how was Shakespeare seen during other,

earlier periods? Where does his popularity, especially in Germany, come from? Why

is he seen as a literary giant?

This term paper deals with the history of teaching Shakespeare in German

schools, focusing on English as Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. Starting with the

Shakespeare reception in Germany in general and the role of the German

Shakespeare foundation, which paved the way for Shakespeare into German

schools, an overview of the different periods, in which Shakespeare was taught will

be given. The main focus is on how and why Shakespeare was taught during the

different periods, but also which works were selected and why. Finally, an overview

of teaching Shakespeare today will show the most recent approaches to

Shakespeare and the aims of teaching this author.

Sometimes, the German classroom will also be considered, especially when

translations are concerned. The translations themselves will not be discussed in

detail and the implications of Shakespeare on the German

Bildungsideal

, thus the

typically German understanding of

Erziehung

and

Bildung

following the tradition of

Humboldt cannot be considered within this term paper.

The periods of Shakespeare′s reception in Germany make up the main part

and principal chapters of this paper. Finally, a conclusion will be drawn and today′s

approaches to teaching Shakespeare will be compared and contrasted to those from

earlier periods.

2. The German Shakespeare Foundation and its role

Shakespeare′s reception in Germany

2.1. Shakespeare′s reception in Germany

In the 18th century, Shakespeare became popular in Germany as a result of the

interest of the German bourgeoisie for the English culture which was democratic,

liberal and open-minded (cf. Erken 2000: 665) as opposed to the French culture. The

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main towns and cities from where Shakespeare′s influence spread were Hamburg,

Göttingen, Leipzig, Zurich and Frankfurt (cf. Erken 2000: 665). When depicting it, we

must take into consideration that Germany at that time had no national literary

tradition and was not unified. (cf. Erken 2000: 665)

With the translation of

The Tatler, The Spectator

and

The Guardian

into

German, beginning in 1714 and Lessing′s

17. Literaturbrief

(1759), Shakespeare

started to be an integral part of German literature. Wieland′s translation (in prose)

(1762-66) included Shakespeare into the German way of living and had a great

impact on the Storm and Stress poets. The first play,

Hamlet

, was performed in 1776

by Friedrich Ludwig Schröder in Hamburg, but the main focus in Germany was not on

performances. (cf. Erken 2000: 665f)

Shakespeare′s comprehensive soul (cf. Erken 2000: 668)1 portrayed in his

characters and the powers of phantasm when depicting supernatural things were

especially appreciated as was the resemblance of his tragedies to those from ancient

Greece for instance by Socrates. These two virtues, namely his comprehensive soul

and the powers of phantasm still play an important role in the reception of

Shakespeare today. (cf. LearnLine 2005, LearnLine 2006)

Furthermore, the English (also with regard to their language, which is a

Germanic one) were said to be more closely related to the Germans than the French;

thus Shakespeare′s dramas could serve as a better example than French dramas

(even though in the

siècle classique

French playwrights wrote quite famous dramas).

Moreover, it was Shakespeare′s creativity and his way to create the characters

in his plays that was a role model for the Germans. His general world knowledge and

his knowledge of humankind were admired and greatly appreciated. (cf. Erken 2000:

668f.)

Thus, the Storm and Stress poets admired his original genius and it was at this

time that Shakespeare became a typically national phenomenon in Germany. By the

time, the fact that Shakespeare′s tragedies resembled those from ancient Greece, a

fact which had been quite important before, was also refuted. The focus was more on

the fact that Shakespeare overcame the three units of place, time and action in his

tragedies and often mixed comical elements, thus two styles (cf. Erken 2000: 670ff.).

1 In

An Essay of Dramatic Poesy

John Dryden (2000: 2117) includes a section ,,Shakespeare and Ben

Jonson Compared" where he states "To begin, then, with Shakespeare. He was the man who of all

modern and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul". (Dryden 2000:

2117)

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However, Auerbach mentions that his style was "freier, härter, voraussetzungsloser

und auf eine göttliche Art unparteiischer als der seiner späteren Bewunderer um

1800" (Auerbach 2001: 315). Auerbach also refutes the fact that Shakespeare is

more closely related to ordinary people, a thing many people around 1800 believed

in: "Das dynamische Walten der elementaren Kräfte

[...] hat nichts zu schaffen mit

den Tiefen der Volksseele..." (Auerbach 2001: 313).

Although Herder for instance mentioned his resemblance to the Greek author

and philosopher Socrates, it was not the resemblance of their tragedies anymore but

the resemblance of their smartness, thus the author′s wit behind the tragedies that

linked Shakespeare to Socrates. Shakespeare was seen independently from

anybody or anything else, he was prototypical of the creative genius, who created

living worlds according to nature and God. Thus, Herder′s focus was not on the

individual characters, but on the whole drama and the symbolic function of it. But he

also mentioned the perils of a blind Shakespeare admiration and pledged for an in-

depth analysis of Shakespeare which should precede blind admiration. Things like

fate in Shakespeare′s dramas were important terms and Herder thought that all

works had a secret point in common, namely the confrontation of liberty and

necessity. Shakespeare was again more closely related to ancient tragedies, that

also had a secret point behind (cf. Erken 2000: 674f.).

Between 1795 and 1797, thus in the romantic period, the first technical

analyses appeared, starting with Tieck′s

Abhandlung über Shakespeare′s

Behandlung des Wunderbaren

. And it was Schlegel, one of Shakespeare′s

translators into German, who said that Shakespeare was not a blind genius but a

profound artist. His works were analysed, not only on the formal, but on the content

level to find a certain spirit behind. One can conclude that Shakespeare was most

important during the romantic period (cf. Erken 2000: 677f.).

However, Shakespeare was mainly read and his plays were believed "auf der

`Bühne des inneren Auges′ Gestalt an[zu]nehmen" (Ledebur 1995: 352).

After the romantic period, Shakespeare′s reception and criticism became

merely a scholarly problem (cf. Erken 2000: 679ff.) and the romantic approach was

abandoned. In his lectures, Hegel concentrated more on the characters in

Shakespeare′s plays and the focus was more on the individual character and on

Shakespeare himself than on the variety or unconventionality. Even character studies

appeared in which the characters were seen as historic figures, detached from the

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