'Sweetness and Light'

Today's cultures and their perceptions differ hugely from those in Leavis' time and even more so from Matthew Arnold's (Culture and Anarchy, 1869) so when considering a text which demonstrates 'sweetness and light' and the 'best that is thought or said' I decided to step it up to the 21st Century.

I have therefore chosen to look at a production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew which I saw a few years ago at the Globe theatre in London. You may be questioning how on earth I can be suggesting that discussing a Shakespeare play performed in a theatre made up to replicate that of the Elizabethan period can possibly be bringing the idea of cultural greatness into the 21st Century. However, this particular production was performed by an all female cast.

A satirical view of a rugged man taming a 'wild' woman brought a whole new light to Shakespeare's misogynistic play. The grotesque portrayal of a brilliantly unintelligent Petruchio made his efforts to woo Kate a hilarious farce. Moreover, Kate's independence and sarcasm as she gives her final speech of 'submission' gave the whole production a real feminist vibe. Despite the fact that I had spent two and a half hours on my feet as a groundling I remember leaving the production feeling thoroughly entertained.

To me a huge part of a successful contribution to our culture is something that raises real issues, makes an intelligent contribution and has a lasting effect on the emotions or thoughts of an audience. This production certainly did all of these things for me, it sparked real debate about the historical and ongoing gender differences and inequalities, made good use of clever satire and parody and left me feeling empowered as a member of the female sex. Did this production of a much loved play provide 'sweetness and light'? I believe that it did, but in a thoroughly modern sense, I'm not sure that Leavis would have approved!