Goddamn,

>I've never seen words more full of life then Shakespeare's.

That's you. That's my point. Other people have been effected by other authors JUST as much. Maybe more would have that same feeling about a different author if the entire school system shoved that author down the throats of a generations of impressionable children (including stating time & time again that this is the best english author ever).

H>e is such a phenomenal artist, it would be a >terrible shame to miss out on his works, no >matter what your sociopolitical agenda.

now see this is exactly my point, maybe there are other cultures that would view the approach to human emotion & issues Shakespeare writes about as negative & seek to lessen the popularity of his work. part of the reason you even know who he is is because certain people have deemed it necessary for you to learn about him. Had it not been a requirement (while other art isn't) perhaps you'd have a different perspective. The sociopolitical agenda of those who set the requirements for education may have as much to do with why children read Shakespeare now as the actual art. I think that was part of the point of Dead Prez.