First Words
Sunday, April 6th by scott malia
What if Shakespeare were the first words you ever learned? In an eye-opening account of his youth, a foreign-born man explains how this was possible. As a young man, he was first introduced to English by a teacher with a passion for all things Bard. The teacher gave the young man a copy of Romeo and Juliet to take home, making some of his earliest experiences of the English language of Shakespearean origin. The man confesses that much of what he read was completely over his head. Since he was new to the language and young to boot, much of what people cherish about Shakespeare was initially lost on him.
Curiously, this in no way impaired his enthusiasm for the material. The words themselves, even the ones that he did not understand, riveted him. The more he read and the more he learned, the more he wanted to read and learn. While still a youngster, he performed in a student production of Macbeth (despite knowing virtually every line by heart, he was cast as one of the witches and not, to his dismay, the title role).
It is clear even in this brief recollection, that this experience was life altering. Shakespeare is now a part of this man’s make-up, and it has become a point of reference for looking at the world. What was most refreshing about this essay was the sheer simple passion of it. The man clearly knew Shakespeare, but did not feel the need to prove it. Instead, he simply gave testament to the influence of these works.
