The tribute by British Prime Minister David Cameron to William Shakespeare (1564-1616) on the 400th anniversary of his death compels me to remark upon the paucity of our island’s activity to celebrate this auspicious event, in a state of total oblivion to this great literary figure, when the whole world has announced a long list of cultural events inspired by the Bard of Avon.
This is symptomatic of an island adopting a philistine’s attitude in pursuit of high economic standards with scant attention to culture and the ‘Realm of Gold’, namely appreciation of great literary gems.
To my generation, brought up on a rich diet of Shakespearean flavour, this marks a gradual decline in the appreciation of Shakespearean literature in our secondary schools. And this is happening at a time when our island is literary cashing in, to the tune of millions of euros, on English language teaching to foreigners with the establishment of language schools.
To me, the English language without Shakespeare is like Hamlet without the Prince.
Shakespeare was woven into our national consciousness
In the early days of the British period, Shakespeare served as a political platform for the Maltese intelligentsia, which, at the time, was more Italophile than Anglophile. They were very much aware of Shakespeare’s dramatic works, mainly due to their familiarity with Italian opera. In fact, Verdi’s Othello, premiered in Italy in 1887, was first performed in Malta only 10 years later, during a special occasion in honour of well-known impresario Malfiggiani.
In November 1929, Verdi’s last opera, Falstaff, based on Shakespeare’s play The Merry Wives of Windsor, was performed at the splendid Royal Opera House in Valletta at a glittering performance. In the wake of the Sette Giugno riots, the nationalistic outbursts found expression in the Manoel Theatre with the performance of Shakespeare’s King John in the original English version, a performance loaded with an explosive political message.
Yes, Shakespeare was woven into our national consciousness.
To rekindle the already waning interest in the Bard, in 2005 I was asked by the artistic director of the Manoel Theatre, Tony Cassar Darien, to coordinate the first Spotlight on Shakespeare Festival.
The highlights were the performance of Romeo and Juliet and the production of King Lear by Talenti in Alfred Palma’s skilful Maltese translation of this highly charged play.
The main aim of the festival was to recreate an awareness of this great world literary figure who contributed so much to the prestige of the English language and whose plays and characters were still relevant because they explored the workings of the unchanging human heart.
Personally, my love of Shakespeare stems from a burning passion which I would like to rekindle in every student, especially during this anniversary year.
Shakespeare was an integral part of our phrase book, as quotations came so readily: “To be or not to be”, “If music be the food of love”, “Sweet are the uses of adversity”, “All the world’s a stage”, “What’s in a name?”, “The milk of human kindness”, “The qualities of mercy”, “Once more unto the breach”, “Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” and so on.
This Shakespeare festival was an occasion to highlight the fact that the English language en-trenched in our Constitution is not a foreign language but a second language, and that this degree of necessity distinguishes it from other languages.
Cultural institutions like the MADC, with its long tradition of annual Shakespeare plays, the British Council, the English Speaking Union and schools are still in time to commemorate the Bard and initiate a reappraisal of his plays and poems.
Ever since the English language became firmly established in the Maltese islands, the Bard has been a major figure in the cultural and literary landscape of our country.
For my generation, Shakespeare entered the consciousness of the Maltese cultural class with colourful and philosophical quotations as if to prove what the poet Ben Jonson, a contemporary of Shakespeare, said of him: “He was not of an age, but for all times”.
But how relevant is Shakespeare today to the younger Maltese generation? As I write, I remember nostalgically the Shakespeare plays performed at St Edward’s College.
A decade ago, it was quite common for editors and broadcasters to use a Shakespearean quote for their articles.
May Cameron’s clarion call serve as a wake-up call after decades of Shakespearean slumber in our educational corridors, and reveal the beauty and richness of the English language.
May it rekindle interest in the immortal Bard, who still enjoys the undisputed position as one of the greatest dramatists of all times.
Only then will our policymakers show more appreciation and reverence to the Bard.
Lino Bugeja is a Commonwealth scholar.