Shakespeare and Sympathy

When first given the assignment to watch a documentary titled, "Shakespeare Behind Bars," I was confused - what could this have to do with our course? How would I benefit from listening to prisoners recite Shakespeare? What I got out of the film was much more than I had anticipated. By the end of the documentary, I found myself relating to the inmates and wanting to see each one of them succeed.

From a young age, you are taught that people who comment crimes are bad. Each one of the inmates that told their story had murdered someone and received a sentence for it. Being addicted to Law & Order and CSI, these stories were not uncommon for me to hear. It did hit closer to home when the viewer realized these were actual stories, not just something made up for television viewers to watch. Also, many of the inmates had no reason to kill their victim. The men simply became frustrated or let our their anger on their victim. One even got away with kiling his wife for over ten years. Hearing these stories should have made me outraged and scared of the men on the screen; however, I found myself cheering for them as they struggled through their Shaekspearean characters and performance.

Throughout the documentary, many of the men who told their stories broke down crying. You could feel the remorse that they had from their crimes and how they were becoming better through the Shakespeare Behind Bars program. Prison always seems to be a place where inmates have trouble adjusting and get into trouble. I never knew that inmates who behaved had as many priveliges as these men did. I also was not aware of the various programs set up for each prisoner to join and take part in. It was great that the documentary included the positive effects of being in prison and how it could change a man.

In every English class I have taken, Shakespeare is seen as one of the best playwrights of all time. I usually just went along with this idea, never truly understanding the impact Shakespeare has had on literature, plays, actors, and the audience. When I went to London over winter session this year, I saw several Shakespearean plays at various theatres and was asked to recite a sonnet. While in the theatre, I saw some spectators moved to tears at the performance, an emotion I had never seen at a play. People were so moved by the words of Shakespeare that they were overwhelmed with emotion. Performing my sonnet with another student showed me how this emotion can be felt in the actor as well. I learned to understand the words inside and out, for once getting the meaning behind Shakespeare's words. Without even knowing it, I was displaying emotion. My classmates could feel it too.

This type of emotion was clearly displayed by the men in prison. Each one of the men had a character that involved raw emotion. The reason this program was so successful in prison was because the inmates were allowed to take the emotions they never were able to deal with and apply them to another character in another story. The man who played a woman was able to directly relate to her situation - not knowing who her father was. The performance was so powerful because the inmates were able to express themselves in a way they were not used to. Each one who took part in the performance only had positive things to say about it. Shakespeare had truly impacted their lives in a way they were not expecting.