What Makes Shakespeare, Shakespeare

What Makes Shakespeare, Shakespeare There is little question that Shakespeare is the greatest, and most innovative writer to ever pick up a pen. His innovation with modern language and his invention of new words has changed the world in countless ways. However, that was not the only way that he advanced society. For example, Lady Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most groundbreaking characters, was one of the first female characters in literature to have personal power. As a result she was a driving force in the advancement of women in literature. Another of Shakespeare’s individualities is how he would often play with history in his texts, manipulating it in order to advance his plot lines. These three things together are what make Shakespeare one of the most groundbreaking and original writers of all time. Shakespeare’s vocabulary was immense, so immense that it surpassed even the dictionary at the time. Shakespeare is credited with coining over 1700 words commonly used in today’s society. Words such as “addiction”, “countless”, and “luggage” were never before heard until Shakespeare first used them in his works. Macbeth is a good example of his manipulation of words for his own benefit. Words such as “assassination”, “champion”, and “unreal” were all first seen in Macbeth and are still commonly used today. But Shakespeare did not only invent new words, but he also changed commonly used ones to better fit his purposes. Shakespeare would change verbs into adjectives, nouns into verbs, and connect words that had never before been used together. He would add suffixes and prefixes in order to say exactly what he was trying to say, and leave no doubt as to the message he was trying to convey. Lady Macbeth is Shakespeare’s most famous, as well as most frightening, female character. She shows strength and eloquence while maintaining a devious, cunning, and malicious manner. She is of the utmost importance within Macbeth, being a driving force for the plotline as well