Finally! I'm doing something I have wanted to do for a long time - take a course in Shakespeare. I'm enrolled at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Texas at El Paso in the course "King Richard the Second," an historical drama from the 1300's. Who would have thought I would come upon (in Act 1, Scene III) profound thoughts about the consequences of having to give up one's native language? The issue of which language(s) to speak is still a hot button issue today.
Here is the scenario. Henry of Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray have been banished from England by King Richard II. Henry receives a ten year banishment (later reduced to six), but Mowbray fairs much worse. He is banished for life. One of his strongest complaints to King Richard upon receiving this harsh sentence is that Mowbray will have to give up his native language, English.
"The language I have learnt these forty years,
My native English, now I must forgo;
And now my tongue's use is to me no more
Than an unstringed viol or a harp;"
Mowbray continues comparing his voice to a musical instrument that can no longer be played.
"Or like a cunning instrument cas'd up
Or, being open, put into his hands
That knows no touch to tune the harmony."
He further laments that his tongue will become a prisoner in his mouth and that ignorance will be his jailer.
"Within my mouth you have engaol'd my tongue,
Doubly portcullis'd with my teeth and lips;
And dull, unfeeling, barren ignorance
Is made my gaoler to attend on me."
Mowbray says he is too old to learn another language (he is forty); he is not a child with a nanny who can teach him a language.
"I am too old to fawn upon a nurse,
Too far gone in years to be a pupil now:"
Mowbray finishes his plea to King Richard by claiming that his banishment from England will be a type of death, and that he is being robbed of his right to speak English.
"What is thy sentence, then, but speechless death,
Which robs my tongue from breathing native breath?"
How very modern this argument sounds! I've never had to give up my native English entirely, but I can remember several occasions traveling or studying abroad when I became truly tired of speaking Spanish or Portuguese. All I wanted to do was relax and rest my brain by speaking English. And I am a person who loves foreign languages.
And yet some continue to attempt to rob immigrants of their native language by insisting that they learn English at all costs (such as giving up their native tongue and replacing it with English). Exchanging one's native language for a new one can be a complex emotional issue. The saying goes that learning another language is gaining another soul. Even if immigrants come to the United States willingly, shouldn't the differences they face with language and culture be considered?
Yes, English is the de facto common language of the United States. It doesn't appear to be in danger of losing that status. But what is wrong with being bilingual? Most of the world's inhabitants are already bilingual.
I'm enjoy the lyrical language of Shakespeare, although I must admit to using a 'plain and simple English' version to help me with the reading. But little did I know that Shakespeare was going to provide fodder for the current issues of language politics.
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| ISBN 9781479132539 |
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