William Shakespeare was an English poet, actor, and playwright, known as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He was born in April 1564 and died on 23 April 1616. Shakespeare wrote three main sorts of plays, histories, comedies and his most well known, tragedies. His plays include Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer’s Night Dream and Macbeth. He mostly got his inspiration from Chaucer. He uses several of Chaucer's poems as sources of his plays. 400 years later, these world-renowned plays are still taught widely in schools and provide morals that are still relevant. Shakespeare is still relevant today as his works provide insight into human choices and experiences. His works are universal and their morals and character will always be relevant.
Shakespeare’s plays are very important in today’s society as they teach morals that help us govern the decisions we make and rightly justify our actions and intentions. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the central character, Hamlet and his uncle plot to kill each other however end up dying in the process thus portraying the moral of how revenge can be deadly. It is suitable in today’s society as Disney has adapted Hamlet into the Lion King animation, the 46th highest-grossing film of all time. This proves that it is as relevant as it was when written and targets multiple generations in realising morality. Another example is Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, where the main theme is the corrupting power of unchecked ambition The story revolves around Macbeth murdering King Duncan to take the Scottish throne for himself to achieve his ambition but dies himself. This is apt to today’s society because ambition for power is not always necessarily a good thing and sometimes makes people follow a cunning path to achieve their ambition. Through the use of the above examples, Shakespeare’s plays are still relevant to modern society.
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Shakespeare writes about characters that are relatable and understandable. The tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet is about a pair of star-crossed lovers who come from feuding families. The pair try to elope in secret but commit suicide in the end. This story portrays to the reader that it is acceptable to have the freedom to love whomever you wish. This is relevant in modern society as love and happiness are nurtured, along with the freedom to love whoever you love. This is shown through the metaphorical phrase “Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake- it's everything except what it is!” This explains that love is a mixture of all kinds of emotions, happiness, sadness, and excitement, and should always be relished. Shakespeare explains that love is beautiful in all forms and should be treated with utmost care. Shakespeare weaves the story in his play through the use of strong and relatable characters.
William Shakespeare is still known and relevant in modern day society for his exquisite plays and the renditions of them that still keep the story alive today. This is because Shakspeare’s plays teach great moral values and messages and have characters that are easily relatable to modern audiences. Ben Jonson once stated “Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time!”, meaning that as long as there is love and hate, ambition and hope, dignity and loyalty and good and evil, Shakespeare’s works will always be relevant.
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