Why Shakespeare? How did he help me—and more importantly, how can he help your students?
First of all…he’s awesome.
We use Shakespeare’s language every day. Scholars estimate he coined or popularized between 1,700 and 2,000 words and phrases that still shape modern English. When we speak of our mind’s eye, try to find method in someone’s madness, complain that someone is eating us out of house and home, admire a heart of gold, or remind someone that brevity is the soul of wit, we’re echoing Shakespeare. His language isn’t dusty or outdated—it’s alive in how we speak right now.
Shakespeare helped save my academic life. Or rather, Shakespeare and a sixth-grade teacher named Miss Folgers.
As a kid with learning disabilities, I struggled. Until sixth grade, I was a C/D student who talked too much in class to hide the fact that I couldn’t read or focus well. I honestly thought I was stupid. Then I went from my worst teacher to my best. Miss Folgers changed how I learned. She let me give verbal reports, create posters, and show what I knew in different ways. She gave me my first A’s—and with them, confidence. My grades improved, but I still couldn’t quite break into consistent A/B territory no matter how hard I tried.
Then came ninth grade and Romeo and Juliet.
I didn’t understand a word. The highlight was a field trip to see the Zeffirelli film and the beautiful actors. I tried again sophomore year and still struggled. But junior year brought Hamlet—and suddenly, something clicked. It was like a light switched on. My grades shot up. My sports, music, and memorization improved. I became a straight-A student and never looked back.
What changed?
The rhythm.
Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter—da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM—mirrors the natural beat of the heart. That Hip-Hop rhythm engages the brain in a way ordinary prose often doesn’t. Researchers studying poetry and language have found that structured rhythm can increase attention, stimulate memory, and encourage deeper processing. Shakespeare’s language forces readers to slow down and listen. The brain wakes up. It stays active longer. It connects emotion, sound, and thought.
And right now, students need every cognitive advantage we can give them.
Studies in 2006, 2010, 2013, and 2020 from researchers connected to the University of Liverpool, the University of Wales, Oxford University, and University College London explored how the brain responds to Shakespeare’s rhythm and language. In one study, Professor Roberts and Professor Davis, together with Dr. Guillaume Thierry, monitored 20 participants’ brain activity using an electroencephalogram (EEG) as they read lines from Shakespeare.
One type of measured brain response is called an N400, which occurs about 400 milliseconds after the brain processes a word or thought. This is considered a typical language response. A P600 response, however, indicates a peak in brain activity about 600 milliseconds later and is associated with the brain working harder to interpret complex or unexpected language. Some researchers describe this heightened moment as a kind of “wow effect,” when the brain becomes especially alert.
What’s exciting is that this response doesn’t just flicker and disappear—it lingers. Shakespeare’s rhythm and unusual phrasing stimulate multiple areas of the brain connected to creativity, emotion, sound, and memory. EEG scans show activity across both hemispheres, suggesting that readers are engaging analytically and emotionally at the same time. In other words, Shakespeare pushes the brain to build new pathways, new connections, and new ways of thinking.
Some professional athletes have even reported listening to Shakespeare on the way to competitions because they feel it sharpens their focus and helps them remember plays better. Whether scientific or anecdotal, the message is the same: language and rhythm matter.
In post-COVID America, students’ scores in reading, math, and science are nothing to write home about. As of September 2025, the National Report Card shows test scores dropping several points across subjects. According to author and researcher Annie Holmquist, “at best, 21 percent of 4th-graders are proficient in math. At worst, only 21 percent of 12th-graders are proficient in science.” Not pretty.
In June 2016, the results of an extraordinary study were published about King Ethelbert School, a secondary school in Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, England. This was a low-performing institution serving students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Only 14 percent of its students achieved proficiency on exams comparable to U.S. graduation tests. The school instituted a program of teaching and performing Shakespeare across every discipline, and the effects were remarkable. Scores improved across subjects, and exit exam success rose from 14 percent to 55 percent.
At a time when some institutions are removing Shakespeare to make room for modern texts, I would argue the opposite: keep him—and introduce him earlier. Some educators advocate exposure as early as elementary school, not as a comprehension test, but as immersion in rhythm, language, and imagination.
So why Shakespeare?
Because he trains the brain. Because he expands vocabulary. Because he demands attention. Because he connects emotion, music, and meaning. And because, for students like me, he can unlock a sense of capability that changes a life.
You have nothing to lose by opening that door—and your students may gain more than you expect.
He helped change my life.
He is my hero.
References:
Holmquist, Annie. “Studying Shakespeare Brings School 40% Jump in Test Scores.” Intellectual Takeout, June 21, 2016.
Honan, Daniel. “This Is Your Brain on Shakespeare.” Big Think, April 6, 2011.
Gray, Richard. “The Music of Shakespeare Is Food for Thought.” The Telegraph, December 17, 2006.
“Deciphering the Brain with Shakespeare: Neuroscience Research at University College London.” Shimadzu Today, December 24, 2020.
McCrum, Robert. “‘Perfect Mind’: On Shakespeare and the Brain.” Brain, vol. 139, no. 12, December 2016, pp. 3310–3313.