"Totally absurd": Ben Fordham rages over Shakespeare content warning
<p>Hold on to your quills, folks, because we've got ourselves a Shakespearean drama fit for the 21st century! It appears that the Bard's timeless works are now under fire at an international university, and our dear radio host, Ben Fordham, is not amused.</p>
<p>The talk radio host is taking on an English degree's "content warning" that has been applied to none other than William Shakespeare. That's right: The great bard of yore now comes with a caution label.</p>
<p>The University of Wales Trinity Saint David has allowed students studying "Error and Sweet Violence: Shakespeare and Renaissance Comedy and Tragedy" to exit stage left – much like Shakespearean characters fleeing their woes – if the content ever gets too spicy or confrontational.</p>
<p>Any student, at any time, is permitted “to leave the class, interrupt their activity or take any measure necessary to take care of their wellbeing without the need for explanation or justification”. </p>
<p>And what content in particular are they worried about? The saucy romantic comedy "Twelfth Night", featuring a cross-dressing heroine and more mistaken identities than a masked ball gone wrong. Othello, Measure For Measure, and Coriolanus also make the list of potential "trigger warnings".</p>
<p>Fordham couldn't resist taking to the airwaves to voice his disbelief. "So Shakespeare is now the subject of a trigger warning," he proclaimed with a clear mix of humour and disbelief. <span style="color: #343541; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“You can just walk out of class, because university bosses are worried that some snowflakes may find the material too much. </span><span style="color: #343541; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Once upon a time universities challenged students and now they wrap them in cotton wool.”</span></p>
<p>In the land of Twelfth Night, Viola dons a disguise to woo the Duke Orsino, but alas, love plays its twisted game, and Olivia falls for the cross-dressing charmer instead. How scandalous! It's like the plot of a Hollywood rom-com but with more ruffles and poetic monologues.</p>
<p>“The play features a cross-dressing heroine and in 2023 you would think that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow,” continued Fordham. “But someone wants to protect the students from Shakespeare. Can you believe it?”</p>
<p>Also joining the fray was English actress Felicity Kendal, who described the warning as “totally absurd”.</p>
<p>“Great art is meant to challenge our senses, our feelings and our prejudices," Kendal said in an interview with the Daily Mail. "We should not be deterring students from engaging with these works."</p>
<p><em>Images: Nine Network / Wikimedia Commons</em></p>
