"FESTIVAL NEWSLETTER: A NEWSLETTER FOR AND ABOUT THE TEACHING OF SHAKESPEARE”
October 1997, volume 3, no.1
“SHAKESPEARE AND STAR TREK”
The popular STAR TREK media phenomenon, a 20th century creation echoing the present and looking to the future, has also shown, in television episodes, movies and novels, that Shakespeare’s words are timeless; that fiction not only reflect reality but is another vehicle for showing how Shakespearean metaphors are inherent with the human condition.
In each STAR TREK medium, although not in every story, there’s a Shakespearean presence; either in a passing, yet telling, reference, often an exact quotation, sometimes a uniquely adapted quotation; or a title or phrase indicating a story’s theme.
Shakespearean allusions pop up in some original STAR TREK episodes, including “ ‘The Conscience of the King’ ” and “ ‘By Any Other Name.’ ”
Then in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, there’s Data, the android, striving to be like humans. One way he does this is by performing in scenes of Shakespeare’s plays in holodeck (24thcentury virtual reality) simulations, sometimes echoing the STAR TREK stories.
He acts, for example, the part of Propero in a scene from THE TEMPEST in the episode, “The Emergence.”
And there’s THE NEXT GENERATION’s Captain Jean Luc Picard, described by crew member Tasha Yar as an explorer with the soul of a poet. He often recalls lines from Shakespeare’s writings during his adventures whenever the Bard’s words seem apropos to what’s happening.
In the episode “The Defector” he plays in a holodeck simulation a scene from HENRY V, acting the part of a disguised soldier.
Encountering a unique life-form in “Emergence” he thinks of these words from THE TEMPEST:
“How many goodly creatures are there here?
O brave new world that has such people in it.”
In an episode featuring the notorious alien Q who thinks humans pun, Picard quote, seriously:
“What a piece of work is a man…”
STAR TREK novels (including ones for adults and one for younger readers) sometimes have characters saying Shakespearean phrases as they react to situations.
Check these books [representing STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES, SAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE and STAR TREK: VOYAGER] and these pages for Shakespearean references:
ROGUE SAUCER (251), FALLEN HEROES (48, 222), Q-SQUARED (288, 404), HERE THERE BE DRAGONS (263), FEARFUL SUMMONS (99, 104), DARK MIRROR (188-9), SAREK (236), and THE CARETAKER (275).
Note, too, these titles: THE TEMPEST (a DEEP SPACE 9 novel) and the movie STAR TREK V: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.
Reading the Shakespearean works noted and then reading the related STAR TREK novels or viewing the related STAR TREK videotapes [or DVDs] may serve as a wonderful source of interest and discussion, drawing students to the best of both worlds. It may even become second nature for them to read and view these modern works with an open eye [and mind] for Shakespearean connections.
If students still need convincing, suggest they try figuring out why Robert Duncan MacNeill – the popular young actor who plays the likable maverick helmsman Lieutenant Tom Paris on STAR TREK: VOYAGER – said:
“STAR TREK is like Shakespeare.”
{Author’s bio-note: Carolyn M Johnson…is an independent librarian and published writer of educational items. She has compiled a book, “Discovering Nature With Young People” (Greenwood Press) which features a section, “Nature and Literature,” that includes item about flowers mentioned in Shakespeare’s writings}. (c) 1997
