Disclaimer... we all know it.
Small spoiler for the episode 'Shuttlepod One'.
Trip and Malcolm continue one of their conversations they had in Shuttlepod One, now they're safely back on Enterprise. Something a little different from my usual style of writing.
A 'Proper' Education
"So, you read Superman at school, did you?"
"Yup, though we did some 'proper' stuff too Loo-tenant. Even we did Shakespeare."
"I'm glad to see that the great Bard lives on. Naturally, we studied Shakespeare as well, and John Webster."
"Who's he then?"
"A contemporary of Shakespeare- wrote The Duchess of Malfi- had a thing for blood and gore. If you ever saw Shakespeare In Love, he was the small boy in that film."
"Riiiight- and there's no needin' to be rollin' those eyes at me, Mal- just 'cause we didn't do Ulysses, doesn't mean we're lackin' in literature, we jist didn't do this Webster guy. Hang on- did you just say you watched Shakespeare In Love??"
"I'll grant you, not a vast number of schools studied Webster, although we did do many classics- The Aenid, The Odyssey, as well as Frankenstein, and Chaucer. And stop laughing- I didn't voluntarily watch Shakespeare In Love. My sister had it on."
"And you just happened to be there- sure thing. Alrighty though Mal, I'll let it pass this once. Now Frankenstein was a classic- we did that one, and we watched the movie in class too."
"Tsk, watching films in class- nothing beats reading the book itself."
"Sure, but watchin' it as well kinda brings it all home to you- some of the old-fashioned language they use gets more understandable."
"I'll grant you, that is sometimes true, and the old BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is an excellent example."
"Another thing your sister got you to watch?"
"I happen to enjoy Jane Austen- the humour is very dry."
"I can't believe you watched Shakespeare In Love."
"Oh, go clean out the engines."