William Shakespeare's Impact on English Literature and Key
Works
ENGL 3006 - Introduction to Shakespeare
University of Cincinnati
A little over 400 years ago on April 23rd William Shakespeare passed
away, however, he became somewhat immortal through his fantastic
dramas and literature. We learn about his tragedies, comedies, and
poetry even today all around the world in high schools and at the
university level. Famous English romantic poet John Keats even kept
a copy of Shakespearian literature near his desk in the hope that
Shakespeare himself would spark his creativity. Shakespeare is such
an important figure in British culture because of his ability to connect
with all his audiences, he broke boundaries in his literature, he
influenced and altered the English language and British culture, and
because of the time period that Shakespeare lived in.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
Between 1590 and 1613 the people of London and Queen Elizabeth I
herself went to Shakespeare’s plays not just because of their action
and betrayal elements. Shakespeare had the gift of connecting with the
audience; he pulled at their heartstrings with powerful stories as well
as made parallels to what was happening in England and around the
world in that time period.
He was able to make his stories seem like they could be happening
anywhere at any time; they weren’t farfetched. Shakespeare lived in a
time of wars, wars between royal families and between whole nations
and countries, when he put those features into his plays people at the
time could relate, and they can still relate today.
In Hamlet, King Claudius sends and hires spies as well as hitmen to
carry out his dirty work throughout the play, parallel to how in that
time Queen Elizabeth and her advisors would hire people to do the
same sort of jobs. Another example is in Coriolanus when the people
in the play riot over high prices, this is a parallel to how real people in
Shakespeare’s time, and even today, would riot and protest over high
prices, unfair taxes, equal rights, and other similar circumstances.
Romeo and Juliet is another great example of how Shakespeare
became such an important figure in British culture by connecting with
his audiences. In Act 3, scene 5 Juliet tells her mother that she refuses
to marry Paris, when Lord Capulet, her father, enters he is enraged
that Juliet is disobeying him, he violently strikes her, insults her then
threatens to disown her if she doesn’t marry Paris. Although not to
this extreme many people in the audience can connect and relate to
Juliet. Their parents may not be forcing them into a marriage however
many people know what it is like to have a large argument with their
parents because they believe something is unfair. We connect to Juliet
on an emotional level when she is fighting with her father. Another
example comes from Act 1, scene 3 when the audience first meets
Juliet. In this scene, Lady Capulet, Juliet’s mother, explains to Juliet
that her father has decided that it is time for her to marry. We
previously just heard the Nurse telling a comical story about when
Juliet was younger to her mother and now Lady Capulet has to tell her
daughter her childhood is over, it’s now time for her to get married.
All the parents in the audience are immediately enthralled because
many of them know the feelings of pride and sober or they fear the
day that they have to let go of their child go. Whether it’s to go out in
the world on their own or say goodbye because their child is getting
married. The parents in the audience know the emotions and the
feeling of their child’s childhood ending and now it’s time for them to
become an adult and spread their wings to leave the nest.
It is interesting to note that another way Shakespeare became a
famous figure in British culture was his way of raising questions about
prejudice, discrimination, tolerance, and what it meant to be an
Englishman. Shakespeare focused on the way people were treated, for
example, the play Othello raised difficult questions for the audience
about how people in society are treated differently based on if they
look different, note that Othello was a play written almost 40 years
before the slave trade. The play The Taming of the Shrew also pokes
fun at masculinity but at the same time ironically scrutinizes gender
roles. His view on women was also groundbreaking; the women in his
plays weren’t bumbling idiots, used like objects, or only in the
literature for their sexuality. The women from his plays were smart,
cunning, articulate, bold, and overall strength. A common theme being
a strong woman standing up to male authority or figurehead, like a
father, and being assertive and determined to stick by the man she
loves instead of marring someone else. This is seen in Romeo and
Juliet when Juliet stands up to her father when she won’t marry Paris
and when she will go as far as take a drug to make her seem dead so
that Romeo will come and carry her away to run off, she is terrified of
waking in a tomb filled with corpses but nevertheless takes the drug.
Viola from Twelfth Night is another powerful woman, when she
shipwrecks on a beach on Illyria she loses her twin brother but her
first instinct isn’t to cry for help or appeal to others as a helpless
woman for support; she dresses s a man to disguise herself then finds
a job as a servant in the home of a Duke. Throughout the play she
feels free, she can move around without a man always in her shadow
chaperoning her, she gets used to protecting herself, and makes her
own decisions. She even gains the ability to manipulate her
circumstances to ensnare the Duke into marrying her.
Nevertheless, Shakespeare didn’t become an icon in British culture
just because he could connect with audiences then, and now, and bring
up controversial scenarios in his plays, it was also because of how he
changed British culture by changing the English language. The Oxford
dictionary defines culture as “The arts and other manifestations of
human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” and “The ideas,
customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”. In
summary, these definitions mean that art, literature, customs and
traditions, food, language, and other philosophies and beliefs are what
make up the culture and are what effects and sway culture over time.
Culture is influenced greatly by the language we speak and the diction
we use. This is further supported by American cultural anthropologist
Alfred L. Kroeber who stated “culture began when speech was
present, and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further
development of the other”.
As stated, language and diction over time will influence and change a
culture, and vice versa. It is said that Shakespeare created over 1,000
common words and phrases in the English Language not only by
creating words on his own but by changing nouns into verbs for
example “to torture”, he also turned verbs into adjectives, and he
linked words together that had never been used before like “pomp and
circumstance” from Othello or “full circle” from Macbeth.
A reason why Shakespeare is such an important figure in British
culture is because he changed the way we communicate in the English
language, we almost quote him every day. A few of these words and
phrases was used include “Dead as a Doornail” which was first used
in Henry VI Part 2, “Best foot forward”, the word bedazzled, and the
phrase “Break the ice” were both used in The Taming of the Shrew,
“cold-blooded” can be found in King John, the word scuffle is in
Antony and Cleopatra, and many more. He even created and
popularized various female names like Jessica (which is from The
Merchant of Venice), Miranda (from The Tempest), and Olivia (from
Twelfth Night).
Another way Shakespeare influenced British culture was how for
years after his death he would be influencing the work of many artists,
writers, creators, and others around the world and in Great Britain. An
example from around the world was the writer Herman Melville who
famously created the novel Moby-Dick, which is based on Macbeth
and King Lear. In addition, in 1961 American directors Jerome
Robbins and Robert Wise filmed West Side Story, which is inspired
by Romeo and Juliet. In British culture, however, there are numerous
writers that created work based on Shakespeare. Aldous Huxley, an
English writer, and philosopher, created the novel Brave New World,
published in 1932, which was influenced by Shakespeare’s The
Tempest. Josephine Tey, a Scottish author, in 1951 created the novel
The Daughter of Time in which the idea of the book was influenced
by Shakespeare’s Richard III. And finally, the book Bell, Book, and
Candle created by English playwright John van Druten was influenced
by King John.
