The short answer

Shakespeare is still taught in American high schools because of the popularity of his plays and how his works have been ripe for analysis on those fronts: character development, clever wordplay and imagery, and themes that remain relevant, like love, honor, war, etc. Interestingly, he’s also the only author explicitly required to be taught in the current Common Core English curriculum.

The long answer

Shakespeare has been taught in American schools for a long time. The first colleges established in colonial America followed the English model of education, which exclusively taught classic Western languages like Greek and Roman to the white men that attended the institutions.

The English language was considered too modern for academia, but starting around 1750, students formed extracurricular reading groups to read, discuss, and debate other works of writing, including Shakespeare’s plays, which were very popular at the time.

Eventually these students went on to start teaching and included Shakespeare in their classrooms. However, Shakespeare was not taught like it is today. Starting around the early 19th century, excerpts of his plays were included in readers with the sole purpose of providing practice reading aloud to teach better elocution (a highly valued skill at the time).

It was only in the mid 20th century when English started to be taught with a focus on character development and close reading which focused on the “formal elements such as characterization, imagery, setting, and word patterns [that] are marshaled to illuminate the theme of the text—usually focusing on ‘timeless themes,’” as described by Jonathan Burton.

Why Shakespeare is still taught in schools today essentially has to do with the popularity of his plays and how his works have been ripe for analysis on those fronts: character development, clever wordplay and imagery, and themes that remain relevant, like love, honor, war, etc.

This is not to say that Shakespeare is the only author that we can use to teach these English class building blocks. There are more and more conversations being held about Shakespeare’s place in the classroom and arguments to make more “room for modern, diverse, and inclusive voices,” as Amanda MacGregor writes.

🧠 Bonus brain points

According to a 2013 survey, roughly 93% of American ninth grade classes were taught Romeo and Juliet. The reason why this specific play is taught early on in high school has to do with child labor laws enacted in the early 20th century. With more teenagers in school instead of working, educators chose the teen romance to keep students interested.

Sources

Burton, J. (2013, November 4). Shakespeare in Liberal Arts Education. Whittier College. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://www.whittier.edu/news/mon-11042013-1043-am/shakespeare-liberal-arts-education

English Language Arts Standards "Reading: Literature" Grade 11-12 | Common Core State Standards Initiative. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2022, from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/11-12/

Haughey, J., & Bogaev, B. (2020, March 9). Shakespeare Unlimited: The History of Shakespeare in American Schools. Folger Shakespeare Library. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://www.folger.edu/shakespeare-unlimited/history-of-shakespeare-in-schools

MacGregor, A. (2021, January 4). To Teach or Not to Teach: Is Shakespeare Still Relevant to Today's Students? School Library Journal. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://www.slj.com/story/to-teach-or-not-to-teach-is-shakespeare-still-relevant-to-todays-students-libraries-classic-literature-canon