Students all over the U.S. are taught about the works of the great poet, William Shakespeare. The question asked by many is “Why is this really necessary? Is Shakespeare even relevant anymore?”. To answer these questions what must be understood is what Shakespeare has done and how he has affected people based off his many unique plays, poems, and stories.
Due to the great span of time from Shakespeare’s lifetime to ours, much of the vocabulary he uses is dated and struggling to comprehend for modern day readers. Many use this as an excuse to say Shakespeare is a hassle and irrelevant. What is being ignored here is the fact that William Shakespeare truly did play a noticeable role in the history of the …show more content…
Looking at these stories he composed, they don’t seem all too impressive or unique. What must be taken into account is the time that they were written. What may seem to be a generic or common story now, was not contemporary with anyone else’s literature at the time. These stories paved a path to be followed for other writers as well as introduced new topics and brought new ideas to the table. His plays are not only performed in theatrical and cinematic productions but are also used as a base for other movies taking his ideas and incorporating new ones with them. These adaptations can be seen easily such as Disney’s “The Lion King” which although loved by many people, it is really a new take on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet. Another children’s film based off Shakespeare’s plays is “Gnomeo and Juliet” which is clearly a take on “Romeo and Juliet”. The children watching these movies enjoy them but don’t know who the true mastermind behind all of it is. Another instance of a film using a Shakespearean idea is the famous “West Side Story” which bases of “Romeo and Juliet” but uses gangs instead of families. People love these films but have no idea that they were all adapted from Shakespeare’s works. This leaves Shakespeare creditless and seemingly