The University of Liverpool has been warned it risks being labelled 'idiotic' after issuing a content warning to students about the potential for finding Shakespeare's classic comedy, Twelfth Night, 'disturbing'.
Academics Clash Over 'Presentist' Warnings
The university's caution, applied to a workshop on gender and identity, states that the play features depictions of gender which are 'significantly different to views held today'. The play, first performed over four centuries ago and believed to have been staged for Queen Elizabeth I, involves characters who cross-dress as part of its complex plot of mistaken identity and love.
However, the advisory has drawn sharp criticism from prominent figures in the arts and academia. Dame Janet Suzman, 86, a leading Shakespearean actress who played the cross-dressing Viola in a 1974 production, expressed bewilderment. 'Good heavens! This play on gender among the main characters is so modern, it might have been written yesterday,' she said. 'The Elizabethans thought nothing of this, and enjoyed the untangling of the plot as play, which is what it is.'
Historians Decry Loss of Cultural Appreciation
Eminent historian Jeremy Black, author of England In The Age Of Shakespeare, offered a scathing assessment. He suggested the university had 'so aptly but unintentionally' noted that modern views on equality and diversity could be 'unhelpful to an appreciation of national culture'.
'Unfortunately, the 'some' include the English Literature department of that university,' Black added. 'In practice, great works reveal universal truths through the generations, and most students are fully capable of understanding this and possibly think colleagues and teachers stuck in presentist fads idiotic.'
The University's Defence and the Play's Plot
In defence of its position, a University of Liverpool spokesperson stated: 'Students need to understand the historical context of the texts. This workshop is an opportunity to explore attitudes to, and beliefs about, sex and gender in the late 16th and early 17th centuries - which are in many ways significantly different to views and beliefs held today.'
The comedy, which opens with the famous line 'If music be the food of love, play on', follows twins Viola and Sebastian who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola disguises herself as a male steward named Cesario to serve Duke Orsino, falling in love with him. The Duke, unaware of Cesario's true identity, pursues the Countess Olivia, who in turn falls for Cesario. The confusion escalates with the arrival of Sebastian, leading to mistaken identity and eventual resolution.
The university insists the workshop note simply lets students know that 'different views on gender and sexual difference will be explored' to provide helpful context for understanding literature from the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. The debate highlights a growing tension in academia between providing contextual frameworks for historical works and the perceived imposition of modern sensibilities on classic art.
