Although the language used by Shakespeare will sound funny to today’s generation, much of what Shakespeare depicts or voices in his plays are still relevant 406 years after his death on April 23, 1616.

In my previous column, I wrote about lessons that politicians can learn from Shakespeare. Here I look at how we can profit from reading the Bard’s plays.

I was introduced to a few of Shakespeare’s plays in abridged story form in lower secondary school. If I remember correctly, it was part of the English lessons we had.

I studied Shakespeare in Form 6 and had to write essays about various aspects of his plays that we studied: Macbeth, Othello and Henry IV Part 2.

That is why I can honestly say there is much to learn from his plays.

Othello, for instance, confronts us with racial injustice and a society or community’s underlying racist outlook. It shows how some people manipulate deep-rooted racial feelings in pursuit of their goals.

Desdemona, an upper class rich white woman, elopes to marry Othello, a black man. This intermarriage disturbs the white majority and the young lovers face the wrath of her father and society.

Society is depicted in the form of Iago and parental objection comes in the form of Desdemona’s father Brabantio who warns his fellow Venetians:

“For if such actions may have passage free,

Bond-slaves and pagans shall our statesmen be.”

Brabantio says if this intermarriage is allowed, it will lead to inferiors being treated as equals. Blinded by the feeling of racial superiority, Brabantio tries to stir fear among his community of whites that soon the “inferior” people will assume the positions held by privileged people like them and even wield power over them.

If that sounds familiar it’s because there are some Brabantios among us today who fear equality for all and who fight with both fair and foul means to maintain their privileged position and deprive others of their rights.

Another lesson is that we should carefully weigh what we hear and see before acting on them.

Listening to the poisoned words of Iago, the hero Othello suspects his wife of infidelity and smothers her to death. When he realises his mistake, he takes his own life.

If this reminder to sieve through information to ascertain the truth was important 400 years ago, it is even more important now in the age of fake news. For we are assailed by all sorts of information and news, some of which are purposely meant to mislead or stir anger in us.

If, like Othello, we succumb to emotion and rush into action, we shall regret it – or worse.

We demonstrate our naivete, perhaps even stupidity, when we rush to believe any person or group which makes certain claims just because we like them or share political or other group ideologies.

We have so clearly seen during the recently concluded general election how facts are distorted, how lies are passed on as truth and how religion and fear are employed to win votes.

We are all witness to the fact that some parties and individuals manipulate race and religion to win support, or retain power or status. And we continue to see how some politicians and preachers use religion to divide Malaysians.

Shakespeare, in fact, warned of this hundreds of years ago when he wrote The Merchant of Venice. One of the characters, Antonio, says:

“Mark you this, Bassanio,

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.

An evil soul producing holy witness

Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,

A goodly apple rotten at the heart:

O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”

So, we must beware of those who claim to be holy or well versed in religious knowledge and use religion to create divisions among us. Know that such people are “a goodly apple rotten at the heart”.

This theme of false information being spread, or tactics used, to deceive others is also found in the romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing. In this play, the character Count Claudio is duped into believing that the woman he loves and is about to marry is having an affair.

Politics, especially with the employment of political strategists, brims with deception. Some politicians make statements or claims that sound true or correct, but, in fact, are not based on facts or are a manipulation of facts.

Often, they rely on their followers’ confirmation bias and the need to uphold community self-esteem. Behavioural scientists say that humans seek information that support their own beliefs and actions.

So, we, as citizens, must be alert to both the machinations of those with self-interested agendas and our own biases.

In All’s Well That Ends Well, we learn not to judge others based on their social standing but on their qualities and capabilities.

There is likely none among us who has not heard of Romeo and Juliet, the lovers who meet a tragic end. Romeo and Juliet, one of the Bard’s most famous plays, has not only been made into movies numerous times but remains a seed for countless love stories.

One of the biggest lessons we can learn from the play is that Romeo and Juliet need not have died if their families had been more reasonable and if they were not full of hatred for each other.

In the prologue to the play, the chorus sings:

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

The “ancient grudge” between these two otherwise dignified families results in violence and deaths, including that of the lovers. Even their servants fight each other.

The message is clear: we should never hold hatred in our hearts. Differences should be settled via dignified, civilised means not with physical or emotional violence; more so if it involves whole communities. To do otherwise is to invite tragedy.

There are many more lessons in Shakespeare’s plays, of course. I invite you to read them.

Part 1: Anwar, Shakespeare and ‘a tale told by an idiot’

Part 2: Lessons for politicians from Shakespeare

The writer can be contacted at: [email protected].

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.