What Classic Literature Can Teach You
What you might gain from reexamining old literature
Each classic will teach you something new.
To ask, “what do classics teach us?” is a bit like asking, “what does life teach us?” The answer: a great many things.
Classics are classics for three reasons:
- They have been around for several decades, centuries, or millennia, and people still find value in reading them.
- You gain more insight each time you read a classic.
- Classics explore our humanity.
Let’s examine the value of each of these reasons.
They’ve been around a while
There is no such thing as an “instant classic.”
Classics are classics because they “stood the test of time,” as the saying goes. They aren’t passing fads, but something more. We read classics not because “well, vampires are in right now,” but because they contain value beyond the current hype. We assume that because a book or play is three hundred years old and people can still appreciate it, there must be some depth there that may not exist in overnight successes.
Think of the difference between your favorite band or singer that has lasted several years versus a one-hit-wonder. Which has brought you more value?
Classics are worth rereading
This aspect of the classic flies against our society of instant gratification and online skimming.
Classics often take time and mental effort to read. However, doing so provides further rewards. The first time I read a Shakespeare play, I may have trouble understanding it and appreciating it. However, with each new reading, I may notice a new aspect about a character or a beautiful phrase I didn’t notice before. I have read Romeo & Juliet dozens of times, but each time I gain a new appreciation for the depth of Shakespeare’s characters and themes.
Think about the articles you’ve read online. Most people read or skim articles on the internet and rarely return to them. However, some articles offer a little more and you find value in returning to it again and again.
Classics do the same thing.
Classics explore our humanity
Classics explore themes that are universal.
No matter where you grow up in the world, you are likely to have common experiences, such as winning and losing, family dynamics, attraction to beauty, safety and security, unfairness, and so on. Classics explore these themes. They remain relevant because they examine these themes with depth and complex thinking, rarely coming up with simple answers but challenging our own ways of thinking.
By challenging our way of thinking with these universal themes, we become people of more substance.
For example, in Niccolò Machiavelli’s story The Prince, the author explores the question, “Do the ends justify the means?” By reading such a story, you may end up disagreeing with Machiavelli’s conclusion (he basically says, yes, they do) but reading Machiavelli’s story will challenge your thinking on the subject, giving you strength in your own conclusions but also allowing you to see other perspectives.
In other words, the story will help you examine and deepen your thinking.
* * *
So why don’t more people read the classics if they offer such benefits?
I have found three reasons:
The gains aren’t always immediately apparent.
When you first start reading a classic, you may not know right away what you’re going to get from it. The author rarely starts with, “If you read me, you will learn the pleasures of finding true love.” Instead, you have to be patient and let the writing reveal its rewards over time.
This is often the opposite of the expectations we have for our reading today. We want things to be clear and easy, with immediate answers. We don’t have time to “figure things out,” and we will reject anything that can’t immediately grab our attention.
However, consider taking the opposite approach with a classic. They can be a slow burn over a lifetime of reading.
Classics are challenging.
Classics often require a lot of mental power, something we sometimes feel short of. After a day of classes or work, we do not feel like challenging our brains with someone like Marcel Proust, who often wrote page-long sentences that take mental effort to unravel. We aren’t in the mood.
However, there are gains for meeting such challenges. For one, by unpacking an author, you are going to increase your ability to think about complex issues, to sustain focus, and to examine your own ways of thinking. Perhaps you’ve thought too simplistically about a particular theme. It may be time to ramp it up.
Basically, the challenge can make you smarter.
Classics often contain outmoded beliefs and ways of thinking.
Because classics come from another time and place, they often contain prejudices and inhumane ways of thinking rejected by today’s awareness.
In Homer, you’ll find slavery. In Shakespeare, you’ll find anti-semitism. You’ll find sexism throughout most classics. The fact remains that most of the works that get classified as classic are written by white men in less enlightened times.
I do not have an easy answer for this tragic aspect of classic literature. I can’t tell you the right way to react to such bigotry.
However, I will say that many people (including many of the people marginalized by such works) have still found rewards even while acknowledging the works’ flaws. Only you can decide if facing the ignorance of the past for the rewards that may still exist in such works is worth it.
Some Classics to Start With
You may want to start with one of these four classics. I chose them because many people have found them relatively easy to digest and greatly rewarding.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Explore the universal themes of freedom, friendship, and morality.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Learn about love, pride, and the value of reexamining your core beliefs.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Examine the effects of science and ambition.
Beloved by Toni Morrison. Explore the effects of trauma and the cruelty of slavery.
