Essay on William Shakespeare and His Contribution to the World Literature

📌Category: Literature, Shakespeare
📌Words: 1122
📌Pages: 5
📌Published: 25 April 2021

William Shakespeare is an author/writer who has inspired many young writers of both the present and previous generations. His work has been studied by many people, and his plays have been made into performances and even movies. Shakespeare once said that “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely being players”(As You Like It, II, VII, 1564-1616). This means that Shakespeare looks at the world just as one big stage and everyone is just playing their part with different personalities and purposes in the world. Shakespeare being one of those players, had a major role in the literary field influencing many styles of writing today.  Shakespeare passed away decades ago, but branching from his humble beginnings he went on to become one of the greatest playwrights and actors as we know him for today.

To see how Shakespeare got to what he is now, it is crucial to understand the background and history of the writer. Arguably, Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers to live, given that title, he had to start from somewhere. Shakespeare was brought up in a modest and respectable family that always wanted the best for him. Since the day he was born on April 23, 1564, he was taught that “No legacy is so rich as honesty”(All’s Well that Ends Well, III, V,  1615-1619), that being so important, led to his first steps to being the great writer as he is known today. Shakespeare was an out of the box thinker, making him always want to learn more even though his surroundings weren’t the best as he was raised in a poor family.

This made him understand and believe from a young age that a ¨fool thinks of himself to be wise, but a wise man thinks of himself as a fool¨(As You Like It, V, I,  31-33). Focused on the goals he wanted to achieve, he studied Latin and other pieces of literature to get to the best of his entirety. This enabled him to use great diction in his plays and poetry to construct imagery for the reader giving a sense of immersion. Shakespeare’s numerous depictions of marriage in his tragedies, romances, and comedies suggest the importance of this subject in his life. In the early stages of Shakespeare’s career, he got married to his beloved wife, Anne Hathaway, 26 years old at that time. They both loved each other greatly and had 3 children together. Marrying Anne helped him greatly, to achieve the romance aspect in his writings as the subject was very popular back in the Victorian Era. 

Eventually, the beginnings of acting for Shakespeare started in 1592, in the city of London. Even as a child in grammar school, Shakespeare showed signs of being theatrical and an artist at heart. “[He] spent unending hours of labor to gather facts for the plots of his stories, as [he] was truly determined to reach his goal of being the remembered playwright he is today”  (Amanda Mabillard). In contrast to other young men with the same passion as he did, he made himself useful both as an actor and a playwright by separating himself from the others with his work ethic, and the amount of hours he spent to achieve the goals he targeted. As Shakespeare grew in popularity, he set up the Globe Theater. “As you may know back then there were no cell phones, internet, television or things of that sort, so the Renaissance folks would flock to the Globe Theater, where they would see plays written by Shakespeare” (Mcarafano).

The theater was not only the pinnacle for the bustling environment with residents crazed for entertainment,  but also it was one of the most important structures at that time which supported Shakespeare’s career officially taking off. Close to this time, Queen Elizabeth took notice of Shakespeare’s talent and became one of the main supporters who quickly helped Shakespeare get known by the big shots of the society. Shakespeare learned from Queen Elizabeth; “O, thou well-skilled in curses, stay awhile, and teach me how to curse mine enemies”(The Tragedy of King Richard III, IV, IV, 118-119) meaning Shakespeare understood the deficiencies he had, and believed one who is eager to succeed always sees the room for error. This is what separated Shakespeare from any other writer at his time, and what led to his magnificent career.  

Shakespeare eventually transitioned into poetry writing once a catastrophic plague spread around his theater, because the conditions were very poor inside. Shakespeare “was impacted a lot  by this outbreak and he even wrote a couple of quotes about it showing his immeasurable love for his fans and acting” (Linda Alchin) “I’m hurt. A plague a’ both your houses! I am sped. Is he gone and hath nothing?”(Romeo and Juliet, III, I, 58-60) as he loved acting dearly and couldn’t imagine what his life would be without it. Corresponding with acting, poetry was necessary for Shakespeare to express his thoughts to the world through his great choice of vocabulary.

He wrote many quotes which involved his little twist in order to point out the detail and give the reader a vivid picture, for example “It were done quickly. If the assassination could trammel up the consequences, catch with his surcease success, that but this blow”(Macbeth, I, VII, 1-28). There was always something significant in Shakespeare’s poetry. “Every stanza would have its own unique presence and rhythm in the plot called iambic pentameter” (Amanda Mabillard) which is what made him the poet he was. Shakespeare is highly regarded for his love sonnets which convey an abiding attitude and romantic imagery that will exist in the world as long as there are people. One of the quotes from Shakespeare’s sonnet “Let me not to the marriage of the true minds, admit impediments. Love is not love”(Sonnet 116, Lines 1-2) is a perfect example of the vision he took with his writing, and the perspective he went with to innovate these beautiful sayings. We’ve all had those moments of us becoming emotional and poetic, but Shakespeare had that every day, from his transition of going through early hard life to a successful adult life. William Shakespeare’s early life was very unclear, but his legacy will always be great and will be known as one of the greatest entertainers/playwrights ever despite his humble beginnings.  

Shakespeare retired at Stratford-on-Avon, in 1611, and shortly after that he passed away at the age of 52 on April 23, 1616 and was buried in the same church he got baptized in. Throughout the years there has been many festivals held in his honor, and there has even been a theater built in his hometown, so that people can visit it and remember who he was. William Shakespeare undeniably made a huge impact on the world. His career spanned for about 28 years, and during that time, he has written 37 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a couple of other verses. Shakespeare helped create the literature as we know today by introducing new concepts, literary devices, and influencing theatre by emphasizing new genres. Even though he has been long gone, he still leaves behind his mark as one of the greatest influential writer/playwrights ever existed.

 

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