by Roger Childs

Whether in light comedies, tragedies or histories, Shakespeare focused on human hopes, dreams, absurdities, cruelties, kindnesses, doubts: the inwardness of lives. –Libby Purves, The Times

The huge influence of William Shakespeare

It is 460 years since the Bard shuffled off this mortal coil: to coin one of his phrases. Hands up if you studied any of his plays in school and can still quote a few lines?

Feel free to pick up on one or more of these cues:

 ~ Friends, Romans, countrymen…

 ~ To be or not to be ….

 ~ Is this a dagger which I see …

 ~ All the world’s a stage …

 ~ Now is the winter of our discontent …

No-one in the history of World literature has had a greater lasting influence. As well as his many plays and poems, he had left us hundreds of phrases and images which we use without knowing or thinking about their origin. 

Shakespeare and his plays have also been the subject of scores of books and films, as well as a fair share of controversy and conspiracy theories. 

Were they written by someone else, like Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford or Christopher Marlowe or William Stanley or Sir Francis Bacon? The jury is still out.

A wonderful recorder of the human condition

Shakespeare’s plays have lasted so well and so long, because they cover people from all levels of society and economic circumstances. It is very easy to identify with the range of characters and the incredibly diverse situations.

There are 

• kings and queens
• nobles and servants
• friends and enemies
• conspirators and allies
• fools and fine fellows
• witches and jesters
• young lovers and old friends
• cross dressers and fairies
• tradesmen and money lenders.

Throughout the 37 plays, every imaginable aspect of human relationships is covered. There is also the full range of genres and emotions: comedy, tragedy, history, fantasy, humour, drama, intimacy, tension, friendship and betrayal. He also wrote about 160 poems most of them sonnets.

But above all, there is his amazing use of language and an ability to paint word pictures and describe places and situations with extraordinary skill and inventiveness. 

Take his description of his homeland from Richard II.

This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle,

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

This other Eden, demi-paradise,

This fortress built by Nature for her self

Against infection and the hand of war,

This happy breed of men, this little world,

This precious stone set in a silver sea

Which serves it in the office of a wall

Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands,

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

To coin a phrase …

No one has provided the language with so many new words, images and phrases as William Shakespeare.

Thereby hangs a tale. I went on a wild-goose chase to find a dish fit for the gods. My friend was a tower of strength with a heart of gold and a spotless reputation. As good luck would have it we were soon enjoying some salad days. The short and long of it is that it beggared all description. It was such stuff as dreams are made of and we were soon as merry as the day is long. All’s well the ends well.

A man for all seasons

He was not of an age but for all time. –Ben Johnson

The work and influence of William Shakespeare has lasted for more than four and a half centuries and shows no sign of diminishing. His appealing stories of the human condition; the fascinating takes on history and society; the wonderful descriptions of places and situations; the drama, tension, humour and humanity will continue to endear the Bard to generations to come. 

To misquote a well known source This was the noblest Briton of them all.

Thanks Will!