High school English classrooms frequently celebrate the “timeless” value of old classics–yet many of those same works carry values that are anything but timeless.
To this day, old classics are included in many high school programs and syllabi across the nation — including Andover, where we are taught. This is obviously for good reason: classics are masterfully written, explore universal human experiences, and offer insights into a society’s contemporary morals and social expectations. However, while learning about the classics comes with its advantages, many carry outdated and harmful values within their texts. Introducing these books through a more modern lens and warnings gives students the opportunity to identify how some classics conflict with modern values on problematic views on race, class, gender, etc. Not doing so risks normalizing these outdated perspectives by presenting them as unquestioned cornerstones of literature. This lack of critical framing can unintentionally reinforce oppressive ideas and signal to students that these problematic perspectives still hold merit within our modern society.
For example, Shakespeare’s plays are a common presence in high school and collegiate English classes and are lauded as the pinnacle of literary achievement. However, his plays are filled with harmful stereotypes against everyone who was considered an “outsider” in Elizabethan England, primarily Jews, Black people, Muslims, and women. The character Othello in “Othello” — a play about a Moorish general who is manipulated into his own demise—for example, is largely shaped by racial stereotypes tied to his identity as a black man, portrayed often as a violent threat. If this text were taught without sufficient understanding of the inaccuracy of this representation, students may accidentally internalize these stereotypes. I remember when my friend of color back home in Iowa read “Othello” in their ninth grade English class, they called me one day irked because of how the class discussion was so focused on the beauty of Shakespeare’s language that there was no space to unpack the harmful racial dynamics. I was struck by how easily the stereotypes in “Othello” could have gone unquestioned if students weren’t encouraged to think critically about classics. Another example is “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a quintessential American classic, which glorifies wealth and privilege while objectifying and discarding the central women of the book, Myrtle and Daisy. These characters serve primarily as symbols of male desire and ambition, boiling down to an obsession with elite, white, upper-class lives that marginalize everyone else. Teaching texts like these with a critical lens is necessary.
Works such as the ones mentioned above — “Othello, The Great Gatsby” — should be taught with context. One way that teachers can accomplish this is by comparing and contrasting classics with modern critical analyses OR literary criticism from authors of marginalized communities. Through this, students are given both sides of the story and a more complete understanding of the topics discussed in classics. Additionally, they can have encouraging, enlightening discussions about the historical contexts that may have shaped these works, analyzing and deconstructing the racism, sexism, and classism that underpin them. Such discussion can create a space that opposes these harmful values, forming leeway for dialogue and important growth.
Many of these texts are classics for a reason — their storytelling, literary craft, and exploration of the human experience remain an integral aspect of the field of English. Classics often grapple with universal questions — identity, love, loss, power, and justice — that continue to resonate today. By analyzing these compellingly written texts through a modern lens, students can appreciate their literary brilliance while critically engaging with the harmful stereotypes they contain. This dual approach allows students to recognize bias, question authority, and explore alternative perspectives while still appreciating the rich opportunities it provides for learning, discussion, and critical reflection.
These classics, with their harmful values as well as their compelling writing, can serve as useful tools for critical engagement in the classroom. However, it is indubitable that because of how much time has passed since they were published, they include certain harmful constructions and stereotypes such as rigid gender roles, racial prejudices, and colonialist or classist views. It is critical that classrooms and educational systems make sure to teach these classics through a modern lens of context, guiding students to both appreciate their literary merits and critically analyze the social and cultural assumptions embedded within them. This allows students to appreciate their literary value while understanding that some of the views presented are outdated and wrong — even if the works remain valuable and sophisticated examples of literature.
