Shakespeare
yesterday was exactly 400 years dead, hozzah! Wait, no, is that cause to
rejoice? I guess it is just a good time to celebrate what he brought to the
world.
There are
many art forms that provoke emotional response. Dance can bring you waves of
happiness, or a feeling of great gravity towards a situation; art can do much
the same, as can music, warming the soul, lifting spirits, displacing you from
that which is around and about. However, there is something different about the
art of the bard. Taking words, strings of 26 letters in different permutations
and repetitions, that are used all the time, across all reaches of life, and
transcending them to do so much more than just tell a story. It is not a skill,
but a super power. To be able to write in such a way as to mimic the human
tongue, and make the stories come to life on the stage is a form of magic. That
was Shakespeare. Magic!
He has left
a legacy, that I truly believe will last as long a we! It has given people of
different nations, creeds, and contexts an equal field for soulful expression.
It has been translated into eighty languages across the globe, being performed
in Japanese, Hebrew, and Russian, along with being
translated into… Klingon…
He invented over 1,700 words we use
commonly, by changing nouns into verbs,
verbs into adjectives, and connecting words that before hand would never have
been seen together! Such as eyeball, dexterously, and watchdog. It is reported that ten percent of
the most commonly memorized phrases, are those that were coined by Shakespeare.
You, I bet, Break the ice, and Kill with
kindness, regularly,
well you should Give the devil his due,
and acknowledge that Shakespeare was the one who gave you that terminology.
Some may think that Shakespeare is outdated, and with such
convoluted Elizabethan language, has no place being taught in English classes
across the world, that children should be learning from more, contemporary classics.
But Shakespeare is the root to so many of these books. Moby Dick, from Macbeth
and King Lear, Dead Fathers Club, from Hamlet, or Brave New Girl, from The
Tempest.
Then there are those whom say, “unless you are a die hard
fan of the Bard, out of school, you don’t really notice him in the rest of your
life.” You may not notice him, but he is there, in the music you listen to; The
Beatles, Mumford and Sons, Taylor Swift {T-swizzle}… The shows you Netflix
binge on; Breaking Bad with hints of Macbeth, Empire modernizing King Lear, and
House of Cards with Frank Underwood showing many traits of that of Richard III.
The films you watch; West Side Story from Romeo &
Juliet, The Lion King from Hamlet, 10 Things I hate about you from Taming of
the Shrew, Batman…Okay not Batman, but still… though Hamlet perhaps?
Shakespeare gave me a voice in school through acting, and
like many other teenagers, it is what built my confidence. It has inspired me,
maybe not in as grand a way as some, but is definitely one of the influences I
have to thank for when I do seek to entertain people, or write privately. I do
not read regularly, but I do read Shakespeare, and yes I know it should be
seen, and acted, but the direction through the expertly placed words, builds up
all the stage and lights you need. In fact, I believe I may have read more
Shakespeare, than all other book put together… Shakespeare and acting, is what
built up a creative streak in me, that keeps me sane when the numbers and
formulae get dull. I would not have the ability to speak publicly if it weren’t
for me performing soliloquies in English, or Drama. Now he is not by any means
my whole identity, but truly, I would not be who I am today without
Shakespeare.
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