As was once said in our English class and as I've heard being said time and time again at the mere utterance of his name, William Shakespeare is a literary phenomenon of our time, and one of the greatest for that matter. It has been recorded that Shakespeare's work is the most-quoted throughout the history of English literature. His work has this timeless appeal to it as it has been criticized, interpreted, and re-interpreted over the years without ever having been completely understood thus leaving it open to countless interpretations. When the name "Shakespeare" is "googled" on the internet, 41 million websites related to the topic can be found. Before scrutinizing his work that will, no matter our personal feedback, eventually be spoon-fed to us by our curriculum, we must ask ourselves the following: Is Shakespeare overrated?
Since I am not well-exposed to Shakespeare's work, I am going to tackle this subject by explaining his impact on history and literature. Let's begin with one rather remarkable but trivial fact about his accomplishments: this literary genius has invented over 1700 words in the English language as well as hundreds of expressions used in everyday conversation. Shakespeare movies are so numerous that they form their own sub genre in the film industry. It is estimated that 250 Shakespeare movie adaptations have been produced, proving that moviegoers appreciate his story-telling abilities. He influenced every generation of writers since his death. John Keats, a 19th century poet, "was so influenced by Shakespeare that he kept a bust of the Bard beside him while he wrote, hoping that Shakespeare would spark his creativity." Many statues and memorial of the famous poet can be found all over the World. The memorial statues in Westminster Abbey and in New York City's Central Park are two of the most celebrated. His impact on theater is remarkable, having written 37 plays throughout his entire career. He created the romantic tragedy genre by combining tragedy and comedy in Romeo and Juliet.
Someone of Shakespeare's stature would not be read, studied and considered relevant 400 years after his death. Mysteries surrounding his sexuality and to whom his sonnets were truly addressed are still being investigated in modern times. Some may say that he is overrated because he wrote in the language of his day which is different than the current usage. His messages are subtle and interpretation of these messages is just as difficult to pinpoint. Shakespeare is, by all means, a literary genius and the praise given to his work is well-deserved. Chapeau bas!
2 comments:
Wow Tanya...
I thin you tackled every idea that can be spoken about. I like how you put all the statistics int he first paragraph. And to tell you the truth I agree 100% with your reaction to all of it! It must be hard coming from a French background and immediately exposed to one of the toughed writers in the history of literature!
But I didn't comprehend your exact reaction to whether or not Shakespeare is overrated...you gave a lot of interesting information, but not a clear idea was given about what you, Tanya, think of his pieces.
Well I must say I'm impressed by the amount of effort you put in to get all those statistics! You really proved that he is praised and in a most definitive manner, leaving little room to doubt his almost demi-god status. However, you didn't convince me that he isn't overrated. You showed how he is praised by other people and that our culture much values and appreciates Shakespeare, in spite of the fact that he lived some 400 years ago. So he is highly rated, no doubt. But you didn't really explain why you think he isn't OVER rated. "a literary genius and the praise given to his work is well-deserved", how is it well deserved? Noone questions the amount of praise he's given, we are rather questionning whether this praise is justified.
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