Feeling tired? Overwhelmed? Spread too thin? If you’re a teacher, we already know the answer. But even if you’re just a human existing in the world right now, you’re likely experiencing the stress and anxiety that come with an incessantly distressing news cycle and an unclear future. Writer and activist Audre Lorde once said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.” This philosophy holds especially true for people engaged in care work—including educators who are on their much-deserved summer break.
Shakespeare, too, highlights the need for rest and reflection through characters who retreat to quiet spaces and altered realities in times of hardship. We hope that these examples encourage you to be gentle with yourself in the coming months—and to consider that productivity sometimes looks like rest when it involves the necessary work of introspection and self-care. Now let’s take a look at what Shakespeare can teach us about rest.
Rest Can Be Playful
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the characters enter a magical forest where the line between reality and the dreamworld blurs and supernatural beings interfere with
the love lives of unsuspecting humans. The forest acts as a liminal space, allowing the characters to depart from the order and logic of their daily lives to explore their relationships and deepen their understanding of themselves. Characters like Puck, Bottom, and the fairies engage in humor and play throughout, modeling how a bit of fun can serve as both restoration and transformation.
And transform they do. The characters of Midsummer emerge from the forest with a renewed sense of balance, showing how even a strange or chaotic break from reality can help us return to a strong sense of groundedness. After being literally transformed into an ass and adored by a bewitched fairy queen, Bottom arrives at the conclusion of the play humbled by his experience, but with his levity intact:
“I have
had a most rare vision. I have had a dream past the wit
of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass if he
go about to expound this dream.”
Shakespeare uses the fantastical elements of Midsummer to remind us that escapism is healthy, human, and at times, necessary.
Rest Can Be Fleeting
With as much violence and heartbreak as you’ll find in Shakespeare’s most famous play, you may not immediately associate Romeo and Juliet with the concept of 
rest. However, one scene powerfully illustrates how fleeting rest can be, and how it must sometimes be seized the moment it appears. After a stolen night of intimacy following their secret wedding, Romeo and Juliet linger in the moments before dawn, relishing the safety and comfort of each other’s embrace. Juliet’s bedroom becomes a brief refuge away from the violence and familial pressure waiting outside. The scene opens with Juliet’s attempt to convince Romeo that it is not yet morning, a plea that demonstrates her resistance against the oppressive forces that have spun out of these young lovers’ control:
“Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day.
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.
Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree.
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.”
Shakespeare reminds us that rest is not always available, but we must take advantage of the peaceful, fragile moments we have with our loved ones, staying as present as possible until they are inevitably interrupted by the chaos of the world outside.
Rest Can Be Uncomfortable
In The Tempest, Shakespeare’s final play, the sorcerer Prospero has lived in exile on an island for twelve years. While an island vacation might sound like the ultimate opportunity for relaxation, Prospero’s exile is anything but peaceful. He spends that time raising his daughter, practicing magic, and plotting revenge for what he sees as an epic betrayal. His resentment is all-consuming, but his forced retreat to the island’s solitude gives him space to pause, process, and plan. Despite having defined himself by his quest for vengeance, the conclusion of the play finds Prospero ready to renounce his powers and forgive his enemies in exchange for lasting inner peace:
“But this rough magic
I here abjure; and when I have requir’d
Some heavenly music (which even now I do)
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I’ll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I’ll drown my book.”
Prospero’s story reminds us that rest is not always comfortable. In fact, at times it is the last thing we want to do when we feel moved to act against injustice. But by sitting with difficult feelings and creating space away from the noise and chaos of the outside world, we may find that true healing can happen.
Heeding Shakespeare’s Advice for Your Summer Rest
While the action, drama, and violence of Shakespeare’s plays may keep students engaged, it’s worth remembering that he wrote holistically about the human condition. His stories include moments of pause, reflection, and retreat. He also reminds us of the old adage: this too shall pass. All things are temporary, from hardship and anxiety to those rare, vital opportunities for rest. For educators experiencing burnout from doing one of the hardest jobs in an especially tumultuous time, embracing that truth is critical.
At the conclusion of The Tempest, Prospero reflects on impermanence and reminds us to live life one moment at a time, discerning when action is necessary and when rest is essential to meet the challenges ahead.
“Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.”
Act 4, Scene 1
