Who Am I To Judge?

So I can already tell that this could get addicting. It reminds me of Jenna from Waitress when she says, " I was addicted to saying things and having them matter to someone."

Ok, I'm sitting in my Shakespeare class yesterday (which I'm way excited about!!!) and we are discussing why in the world people should study Shakespeare in the first place. The discussion covered his amazing use of language, the universal nature of his characters and their relationships, and many other good reasons why the study of Shakespeare is valid. Yet, the question that came to mind during this discussion was : who am I to criticize literature?

In high school, I remember getting lists of required reading and wondering who decided that those books were "classics" and what gave them the right to make that distinction. For instance, I strongly dislike Hemingway, but no matter what I say he will be studied for years to come. On the other hand, I absolutely love L.M. Montgomery but I have yet to find her in a classroom despite her beautiful literature. When I left high school it was a tradition to "sign a block" on the walls of your past teachers. So in my junior English class I wrote on the wall:

What makes a classic a classic? You Do!

Furthermore, as I was sitting in Shakespeare and later in my other Lit class, I decided something. I am not yet experienced enough in anything to play the role of critic, I mean 'he who is without sin can cast the first stone' and I am certainly not in a place to throw even pebbles. Side note- it reminds me of commentators at professional athletic events; I just want to hit the commentators sometimes-if you could do better then get off the sidelines and go play instead of throwing out nasty critique!! So I've come to the conclusion instead that I'm going to interact with the literature, have a conversation with Will Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde and all their characters. Maybe one day, when I have poems and stories published across the world I can look back and critique, but for now I'm just going to fall in love with all these authors I read and think about the consequences of falling in love later.