Sabrina D.C

Teenagers and pieces of drama: an uncommon strong alliance

Teenager usually want to do things on their own and they rarely accept the other’s advice, but they should really consider the pieces of drama as a resource

When I was assigned a research work about current issues presented in one of Shakespearean’s masterpieces, I immediately thought about the tragedy of “Macbeth” that has always received great interest in me for three main reasons: the aspect of the ambition seen as an engine of destruction, the thought provoking plot that is never obvious.

Last but not least, the character of Lady Macbeth deeply impressed me because of her strong personality and her attitude towards her husband.

"The love that follows us sometimes is our trouble, which we still thank as love"

This is a quote taken from the Shakesperean tragedy of Macbeth, and it reminds us of some current issues that I dug deep into, in particular it is suggestive of 'Love addiction' that is the best expression to describe the relationship between our main characters: Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth.

Macbeth is basically a weak man held in thrall to a ruthless cold woman, both showing little affection for each other or for anything except their own ambitious dreams. They are partners in crime, they die apart; once physically separated, they are mentally and emotionally deserted.

That issue is closely related to another issue that I have analysed during my reasearch work: the cruelty of ambition that find its most powerful expression in the play's main characters.

Macbeth is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement, he is basically manipulated by his wife Lady Macbeth that pursues her goals with greater determination. However both Macbeths fail to see how their ambition makes them cross moral lines and leads them to their downfall.

Thanks to this this work, I personally discovered how Literature can help us to become aware and possibly solve issues that are still current nowadays. I hope that going through my work, you will perceive this idea of Literature that is extremely useful to guide us through our problems. ..

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Nowadays young people aren’t used to going to the theatre anymore, unfortunately they underestimate the educational power of Drama, that could help them solving their “teen problems”. In this essay, I will be trying to convince teenagers that Drama is still significantly relevant today by presenting some examples of Shakespearean plays that are incredibly current and can be used as an example to deal with some issues, that involve our today’s life.

First of all, as a teenager sometimes I feel very torn about the desire of being successful and reaching my goals and my sense of the right and the wrong, that prevents me from doing immoral and egotistical things. This struggle can be very common in a teenager’s mind and the solution may not be that easy to be found, however we can be helped by a powerful mean: literature and in particular pieces of drama.

The tragedy of “Macbeth” clearly teaches that unchecked ambition can cost us the loss of all we hold dear, so we have to be careful not to make the same mistake as Macbeth, that failed to see how his ambition made him cross moral lines and lead him to his downfall.

Secondly, I think that during adolescence, the relationship between parents and sons or daughters is one of the most complicated things of that particular period of life, anyway also in this case Shakespeare and his masterpieces may have a strong impact on our education and our way to behave.

If we take the play “Romeo and Juliet” as an example to solve the issue related to the conflicts between parents and children, the message that Shakespeare wanted to convey is that conflict is inevitable because of the differences of ideas and points of view caused by the generation gap.

Actually ,taking another play of Shakespeare as an example, can give us another advice to deal with our issues: “King Lear”, sure enough, shows how the authority of a father, that forbids and represses the freedom of his daughters, is punished with the exile of the father from the life of the daughters.

Shakespeare seems to be giving a suggestion to the parents, they have to let their children grow up and live their future life.

A final example of the importance of drama can be found in the play “The Taming of the Shrew”, that wants to give a paramount lesson to the teenagers, that usually rely on the physical appearances and on the unreal world of social networks: we should always look at things from another critical perspective, to recognise the illusions from the reality.

In conclusion, young people should settle a strong bond with the pieces of drama, because it’s a pleasant way to learn lessons that teach us how to face our issues, even if they seem to be insurmountable.

In a nutshell, some might say that pieces of drama are no longer relevant because they have been written a long time ago and might not be relatable from our viewpoint today. This is not a valid point, mainly because as Human Beings we still experience the same issues and feelings faced in these masterpieces.