William Shakespeare, 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616, was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the most excellent writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist.
Few poets have been even close to as essential and influential to the evolution of a language as William Shakespeare was to English. His most decisive influence on the tongue was his diction. Scholars estimate that Shakespeare used at least 20,000 words in his work overall and that he invented about 1,700 of those words.
Literary Favorites in this blog have influenced other authors and literature itself. No one else will likely be found to equal Shakespeare's influence.
The New York Times commented on Shakespeare by quoting Harold Bloom, who said: "that after 400 years, Shakespeare's genius is alive and well". They add to this Bloom's thought that "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare is a secular scripture from which we derive much of our language, our psychology, and our mythology."
Harold Bloom is a Shakespeare Scholar and Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale. He was a former Harvard Professor, and it isn’t easy to write about Shakespeare without referencing him.
Dr. Samual Johnson said, "The essence of poetry is invention; such invention produces something unexpected, surprises, and delights.
Bloom said this thought led him to name the book "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human," which is reviewed on this site in the Review Section. It states that Shakespeare remains so popular, and his memorable characters feel so real because, through them, Shakespeare invented something that hadn't existed before.
Good authors often explain that they find their stories' characters before writing them. Some say the character comes to them in their thoughts. The key is to listen closely to the characters; they will tell you the plot once you find them.
No other author seems to have such deep character development as Shakespeare does. The characters seem to have no end of surprises in who they turn out to be, and then add to this that they change as their life impacts them. Bloom offers insight into why this is. He said of Falstaff and Hamlet that they were "free artists of themselves.” He spoke of Shakespeare that the knowledge he gives us is not language but diction, the choice of words.
Quotes
“Shakespeare is the happy hunting ground of all minds that have lost their balance.”
“With mirth and laughter, let old wrinkles come.”
“With mirth and laughter, let old wrinkles come.”
“Et Tu, Brute?”
“Wise “All's well that ends well.”
“Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.”
Click covers below
