So, I was reading The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray....

And guess what awaited me on the very first page? A reference to Dante!
She was talking about how walking with ramrod straight spine, in a corset, was a punishment not even Dante would describe, or something to that effect.
And then, halfway through the book, they went to see Macbeth!

There are many time I doubt the validity of English class. I am sure many of us have asked ourselves, at one point or another, "How is this going to help me in life?" And, truthfully, I actually have very little idea how some of what we do will help me - I can understand persuasive writing, and vocabulary, and maybe being familiar with certain works of literature, but unless I decide to either a) major in English or b) become a writer/book reviewer/editor, I'm not sure how being able to write a commentary will help me in life.
(This is, in no way, to say I don't like English. Though I may not be able see how it will be applied in my everyday job in the future, I still value it.)
But then you find something like this, and suddenly, I feel justified. And, really, if I'm being honest, I do enjoy discussing and analyzing these books in class. There's something about looking at a passage and really getting it - about understanding the point behind it. The research paper we did last year was actually something I was proud of, and the oral commentary on a poem at the end of the year was surprisingly rewarding (even though, at the time we were doing them, I pretty much broke down in tears because I couldn't figure out what I was going to write about for the former¹, and for the latter, well, I almost puked).

And I've gotten off topic.

(And this took me like a week to post, and since then, I have ALSO found a reference to Christopher Marlowe in Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen)

¹ Michael Chabon's books (especially The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) have imagery, symbolism, and themes by the boat-load, and I actually had around 5 different topics I could have written on: sexuality, the American Dream, religion, loss/grief, escapism and magic and comic books...it was overwhelming.