😡😱 OMFG! WTF! How can you say that! What’s that? You’re outraged? Me too! Let’s mount a campaign! Let’s ban stuff!

Not one day goes past without another mob being “outraged” often by something they’ve read or seen on social media. And as we now understand all too clearly – ain’t nothing like social media for whipping up “outrage”.

So as an experiment I thought I’d go to England’s greatest and most revered playwright Mr. William Shakespeare no less to find grounds to be outraged…maybe even to get him banned!

Shakespeare on equality…

Well that’s an easy one – all his female roles were played by men. Case proven. Guilty!

Shakespeare on body shape…

The Comedy of Errors. A conversation between Antipholus and Dromio…

Ant.  What’s her name?

Dro.  Nell, sir; but her name and three quarters, that’s an ell and three quarters, will not measure her from hip to hip.

Ant.  Then she bears some breadth?

Dro.  No longer from head to foot than from hip to hip: she is spherical, like a globe.

Did you hear that? “Spherical! Like A Globe!” Obesity is no laughing matter! Ban him!

Shakespeare on antisemitism…

Well did you see how he portrayed Shylock?

I could go on (gender, slavery, sexism it’s all covered by the Bard) but you get the picture. If you want to be outraged you’ll find lots of stuff out there to keep you fuelled.

Inappropriate

And before anybody says: “But these were Shakespeare’s characters speaking, not the man himself.” Well William S. famously kept his own thoughts to himself thus freeing his characters to speak unhindered by their creator. But how many times have comedians been howled down for “inappropriate” jokes when the gags were clearly meant to be laced with irony? How many times have tweets or Instagram posts meant lightheartedly or ironically created a storm of “outrage”?

Shakespeare? Do we really know what he thought? Let’s ban him! Just in case.