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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor. He was born on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. His father was a successful local businessman and his mother was the daughter of a landowner. Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.

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Plays - Tragedy, Comedy, and History
Poems - Sonnets

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Many awards named after him such as The Shakespeare Prize by the Hamburg Alfred Toepfer Foundation.

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He wrote about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, of which the authorship of some is uncertain. Some of his most famous are: Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, and many many others.

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Importance or Impact of Author's Writing

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Importance or Impact of Author's Writing

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1. Illumination of the Human Experience
2. Great Stories
3. Compelling Characters
4. Ability to Turn a Phrase

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Why Study Shakespeare?
The Reasons Behind Shakespeare's Influence and Popularity

Ben Jonson anticipated Shakespeare's dazzling future when he declared, "He was not of an age, but for all time!" in the preface to the First Folio. While most people know that Shakespeare is, in fact, the most popular dramatist and poet the Western world has ever produced, students new to his work often wonder why this is so. The following are the top four reasons why Shakespeare has stood the test of time.
1) Illumination of the Human Experience

Shakespeare's ability to summarize the range of human emotions in simple yet profoundly eloquent verse is perhaps the greatest reason for his enduring popularity. If you cannot find words to express how you feel about love or music or growing older, Shakespeare can speak for you. No author in the Western world has penned more beloved passages. Shakespeare's work is the reason John Bartlett compiled the first major book of familiar quotations.
Here are some examples of Shakespeare's most popular passages:

* The seven ages of man
* Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
* We band of brothers
* The green-eyed monster
* What's in a name?
* Now is the winter of our discontent
* If music be the food of love
* Beware the ides of March
* We are such stuff as dreams are made on
* Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
* To be, or not to be: that is the question

2) Great Stories

Marchette Chute, in the Introduction to her famous retelling of Shakespeare's stories, summarizes one of the reasons for Shakespeare's immeasurable fame:

William Shakespeare was the most remarkable storyteller that the world has ever known. Homer told of adventure and men at war, Sophocles and Tolstoy told of tragedies and of people in trouble. Terence and Mark Twain told comedic stories, Dickens told melodramatic ones, Plutarch told histories and Hand Christian Andersen told fairy tales. But Shakespeare told every kind of story - comedy, tragedy, history, melodrama, adventure, love stories and fairy tales - and each of them so well that they have become immortal. In all the world of storytelling he has become the greatest name. (Stories from Shakespeare, 11)
Shakespeare's stories transcend time and culture. Modern storytellers continue to adapt Shakespeare's tales to suit our modern world, whether it be the tale of Lear on a farm in Iowa, Romeo and Juliet on the mean streets of New York City, or Macbeth in feudal Japan.

3) Compelling Characters

Shakespeare invented his share of stock characters, but his truly great characters - particularly his tragic heroes - are unequalled in literature, dwarfing even the sublime creations of the Greek tragedians. Shakespeare's great characters have remained popular because of their complexity; for example, we can see ourselves as gentle Hamlet, forced against his better nature to seek murderous revenge. For this reason Shakespeare is deeply admired by actors, and many consider playing a Shakespearean character to be the most difficult and most rewarding role possible.

4) Ability to Turn a Phrase

Many of the common expressions now thought to be clichés were Shakespeare's creations. Chances are you use Shakespeare's expressions all the time even though you may not know it is the Bard you are quoting. You may think that fact is "neither here nor there", but that's "the short and the long of it." Bernard Levin said it best in the following quote about Shakespeare's impact on our language:

If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise - why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I were dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord! Tut, tut! for goodness' sake! what the dickens! but me no buts - it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare. (The Story of English, 145)
For a list of authors who have named their books after lines from Shakespeare, see Shakespeare's Impact on Other Writers.

References

Chute, Marchette. Stories from Shakespeare. New York: World Publishing Company, 1956.
Levin, Bernard. Quoted in The Story of English. Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeil. Viking: 1986).
How to cite this article:
Mabillard, Amanda.Why Study Shakespeare? Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/whystudyshakespeare.html >.

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More Resources

Shakespeare's Reputation in Elizabethan England
Words Shakespeare Invented
Quotations About William Shakespeare
Portraits of Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Sexuality
Shakespeare's Boss: The Master of Revels
Hamlet Essays and Study Guide

Macbeth Essays and Study Guide
Othello Essays and Study Guide
Romeo and Juliet Essays and Study Guide
Julius Caesar Essays and Study Guide

Top 10 Shakespeare Plays
Shakespeare's Metaphors and Similes
Shakespeare's Blank Verse
Elements of Comedy

How many plays did Shakespeare write?
Shakespeare Timeline
Edward Alleyn (Actor)
William Kempe (Actor)

What is Tragic Irony?
Characteristics of Elizabethan Tragedy

More to Explore
Shakespeare in Old English?
Shakespeare's Influence on Other Writers
Daily Life in Shakespeare's London

Life in Stratford (structures and guilds)
Life in Stratford (trades, laws, furniture, hygiene)
Stratford School Days: What Did Shakespeare Read?

Games in Shakespeare's England [A-L]
Games in Shakespeare's England [M-Z]
An Elizabethan Christmas
Clothing in Elizabethan England

Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron
King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron
The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron
Going to a Play in Elizabethan London

Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama
Publishing in Elizabethan England
Shakespeare's Audience
Religion in Shakespeare's England

Alchemy and Astrology in Shakespeare's Day
Entertainment in Elizabethan England
London's First Public Playhouse

Shakespeare's Boss
Shakespeare's Audience
Shakespeare Hits the Big Time

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The following are four reasons why Shakespeare has stood the test of time.

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1. He is often called England's national poet and nicknamed the Bard of Avon.
2. Some historians have questioned whether William Shakespeare actually existed, considering the scant evidence on him.
3.

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Events in Author's Life that Impacted His/Her Writing

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Events in Author's Life that Impacted His/Her Writing

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Othello. Written 1603-1604. First published 1622.

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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S OTHELLO is a timeless story about race, love, jealousy and betrayal.  Othello the Moor, a noble black general in the Venetian army, has secretly married a beautiful white woman called Desdemona, the daughter of a prominent senator, Brabantio. When he finds out, he is outraged, and promptly disowns her.

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Othello - Othello is the first great black protagonist in Western literature... and he's still one of the most famous.

A black man from North Africa, Othello has traveled the world, been sold into slavery, escaped, and ended up as the military commander of the Venetian military, guard to a powerful Italian city-state.

Othello's status in Venice is pretty complicated—he's both an insider and an outsider.

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The play starts in Venice and moves to Cyprus when the Turks invade. Early modern (c. 1500-1750) Venice is a prosperous Italian city and a symbol of law and civilization. It's also full of white people, which makes Othello, a black Moor, stand out among the Venetians.

Eventually, action moves to a military encampment in Cyprus, an island sacred to Venus, the goddess of love. At this military camp, Desdemona has lost any kind of support system she may have had in her hometown of Venice, so she's vulnerable to the kind of violence associated with the world of men and military.

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“READING.” Summary of Romeo and Juliet, MY ENGLISH PAGES, 2018, www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/reading-william-shakespeare-short-biography.php.

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“William Shakespeare.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 5 Aug. 2017, www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323.