Shakespeare's Influence On Theatre

Renowned for not only his famous plays, but also his poetic writing skills, Shakespeare, still to this day, impacts our everyday life. Whether it be inventing phrases or innovating the future of theatre, Shakespeare frequently motivates others to invent a new way of writing and acting. This effect is demonstrated in the two articles: “How Shakespeare Influences the Way We Speak Now” (written by Hephzibah Anderson) and “William Shakespeare’s Impact on Theatre” (written anonymously). In “How Shakespeare Influences the Way We Speak Now” Anderson details how Shakespeare invented commonly used phrases and merged words together to create new ones. In the second article, “William Shakespeare’s Impact on Theatre” the author describes the many ways
in which Shakespeare initiates a new era of theatre and play-writing. Nonetheless both articles illustrate how effective Shakespeare was, and still to this day. Thus, demonstrating that due to Shakespeare’s ever present contribution to the English language and the structure of a theatrical play, he remains an integral part of society and creativity.

Shakespeare contributed to the English language by creating new words and inventing catchy phrases that society still uses today.
According to “How Shakespeare influences the way we speak now,” Shakepeare has created phrases such as “in a pickle,” (referring to being trouble) “a wild goose chase,” (crazy adventure) and “the green eyed monster,” (refers to jealously). Although numerous writers have put their own spin on these catchy phrases, each new version relates back the original meaning of Shakespeare’s phrases. In other words, without the invention of these catchy phrases modern-day writers would have nothing to build upon when detailing their own work. For that reason, many considered Shakespeare as a building block when it comes to uniquely “express[ing] hope and despair, sorrow and rage, love and lust,” in vivid new ways (Anderson, paragraph 2). However, because many artists draw on him for inspiration in their own writings, some of his great works are now regarded as cliches. Despite the negative connotation associated with this word, it is treated as if it were a compliment due to the belief that all artists want their work renownedly known. In addition to Shakespeare’s widely known phrases, or rather his “cliches,” he has also invented words similar to the way he has created his catchy phrases. It is believed that “by merging existing words and anglicising vocabulary from foreign languages” Shakespeare managed to create over 15,000 words, most of which are used
in Shakespeare's plays (Anderson, paragraph 9). Regardless to this fact, some believe that Shakespeare’s contribution to the English language is overestimated and far fetched, but besides those few, many still praise Shakespeare's poems along with his plays. Therefore, Shakespeare not only contributed to the English language by generating new and catchy phrases, but also by merging words together in order to create another.

Likewise to how Shakespeare left a lasting impression on the English Language, he also paved the way for the future of all plays and musicals.
While he demonstrated his unique take on the specific words throughout his places, Shakespeare also introduced new elements that forever changed the performances of all theatres. His first remarkable innovation was engaging the audience. As a skillful tactic in his plays, Shakespeare imbued them with “universal truths of human existence” rather than having them “[act as] mirrors of the privileged life,” which most play writers had done before him. As a result of the realism integrated in Shakespeare’s writing, both the poor and the wealthy came to see his plays, causing Shakspeare to become popular. His second most accomplishing contribution to modern play-writing was the effect that his plays had on the audience. It was often during his plays that many audience members would “[become] vocal and often raucous,” which made it hard to tell who was actually performing the play and who was part of the attentive audience members. The third major modification of play-writing came regards to Shakespeare’s elaborate plots accompanied by complex characters. Through his multiplex characterization and invention of “genres that mixed both tragedy and comedy,” Shakespeare was able to create new experiences that utilized both storytelling and theatre. In consequence to Shakespeare’s never-ending drive to innovate the theatre, his work continuously
pushes other modern-day artists to initiate a more advanced era of play-writing and acting. For example, “the Royal Shakespeare Company has boldly embraced digital special effects for a new production of The Tempest in his birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon,”( CITATION). This is considered to be the first time that the latest technology will be used in any performance on stage. Overall, Shakespeare innovated the structure, plot, and appeal of play scripts, while also further affecting modern-day performance of plays.