Dear My Fellow English Majors,

I am so sick of Shakespeare.

Blasphemous, I know, but it's true. Let me explain.

Shakespeare is a wonderful and witty writer, but honestly he is just that, a writer.

He did not put people on the moon, nor cure some vicious disease that plagued mankind; he wrote stories.

Beautiful stories, but just stories all the same. "But Emily, you may cry, Shakespeare inspired millions of great artists today," and to you I say this: so? What about the millions of other authors that inspired Shakespeare himself or other great movements? Why don't we hear about them? Why don't we know their works instead of rereading Romeo & Juliet for the fifth time in my life? Why?

You know why? Because Shakespeare is British.

Yes, I said it. We all love Shakespeare because he is a Brit.

Think about it, the only reason Shakespeare is so widespread because Britain controlled most of the world at some point in history and imposed their culture upon those they conquered.

In the words of my Shakespeare professor, "Where Britain's soldier's went, so did their books."

I want more variety in my education. I want more women writers like Amelia Lanyer, who are witty and challenge the conventional idea of what women should be.

I want more POC writers. God, I'll even take learning more about Homer and some of the other great classics just to give more variety.

Give me anything besides another reading of how Hamlet cannot make a decision to save his life (literally).

Love,

Your run of the mill English major