Hey there buddy. Welcome to The Bard’s Lounge, here you will find out why Shakespeare is still relevant today. If you think he is just some same old dead white poet, well mate think again. Shakespeare wrote his first play when he was 25 years old – thats quite impressive. Come on down to this Blog and read about how Shakespeare is still relevant today!
If you are a student studying modern english at school or at university, you need to understand that shakespeare’s themes forbidden love – Romeo and Juliet, sibling rivalry – King Lear or ambition corruption – Macbeth are in use today.
Did you know: Shakespeare invented more than 1700 of our common words by changing nouns into verbs, adding prefixes and suffixes and changing verbs into adjectives.
The power of love and individual versus society are themes still explored in modern texts and are important to everyday life.
An example of Shakespeare’s influence is the Globe theatre.
Did you know: Shakespeare died at the age of 52 on his birthday in his home.
Romeo and Juliet is set in the town of Verona. It twas’ the brawl of the servants from both the Montague and Capulets that started the story. Romeo part of the Montague, a quiet young boy, beautiful in his eyes but a weak fellow – a legend actually in his words. Falls in love with the daughter of the Capulet. Romeo finds himself in a world of pain to be in love with one girl. A great story written by the best poet whoever lived – Shakespeare.
Romeo and Juliet
- The power of love
- The inevitability of fate
- The individual versus society
The Globe theatre was a place to be in London. It could hold up to 3,000 people to see a play at the same time. The mass of people watching a play in the Globe Theatre were standing up, they payed one penny to stand in the yard at the centre of the playhouse to watch the play. They were called ‘groundlings’. William’s Theatre had many advanced features including trapdoors in the stage floors, ropes lowering actors from the ‘heavens’, as well as fireworks and cannons being set off during a performance. But a misfired cannonball during a performance on 29 june 1613 brought the theatre into a pile of ash!
- (Pearson English Book)
The taming of the Shrew – 10 things I hate about you.
The Taming of the Shrew is a awesome play written by Shakespeare. It opens very similar to 10 things I hate about you. We meet a young guy – pretty cool guy, called Lucentio who has travelled from Padua to Florence. Hah! look at that they used Padua in 10 things I hate about you, cheeky directors. So the story goes that Lucentio finds a beautiful girl called Bianca, but he is enable to marry her until his sister has married someone.
10 Things I hate about you is a modernisation of the great play written by the famous shakespeare – the Taming of the Shrew. The plot is that a new boy called Cameron James joins Padua High School and meets a girl called Bianca Stratford. Cameron’s new friend Michael tells him of Bianca’s devious strict Father who doesn’t allow her to date. The rule that Bianca’s Father comes up with is that Bianca isn’t allowed to date anyone unless Kat does – Bianca’s sister. Kat is a bit of a weirdo and is quite a odd person. So Cameron suggests that he’ll pay Patrick Verona the rebel of the school to date Kat so that he can date Bianca. A great classic relating to one of many great plays written by Shakespeare.
Shakespeare is a much cooler guy than most poets today contributing to more phrases and sayings to the english language – which most of our still used in modern texts.
Horrible History Song of Shakespeare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65Cy4-rfd24
Facts on Shakespeare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMkuUADWW2A
Shakespeare’s invented phrases:
- eaten me out of house and home
- brave new world
- wild-goose chase
- dead as a doornail
Shakespeare – ‘was not of an age, but for all time!’
Ben Jonson (1573-1637) Pearson English Book
- Shakespeare’s works and languages have been translated into every living language and 400 years later actors still use his language.
- Shakespeare’s comical and tragic plots are very powerful today as they were in the 17th century
Shakespeare’s language is the language of poetry. He used a lot of poetic devices and frequently used phrases in plays.
Did you know: Shakespeare had seven siblings.
These are the main reasons behind Shakespeare’s influence on societies.
- Illumination of the Human experience
– shakespeare’s ability to summarise different passages
- Great Stories
- Shakespeare’s stories exceed time and culture.
- Modern story tellers have adapted to Shakespeare’s tales in the world today – Romeo and Juliet on the streets of New York and Macbeth in feudal Japan.
- Compelling characters
- Shakespeare’s most tragic heroes can be experienced in everyday life, we can see ourselves as hamlet – forced against his better nature to seek revenge.
- Actors admire Shakespeare’s characters today because they find them the most deeply emotional and rewarding roles. They mostly find Shakespearean characters to be very hard.
Well then I hope you’ve learnt something about Shakespeare. He is a great poet and is still important today.
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