But I can talk about what makes Shakespeare so special to me:
(I lifted much of the following from one of my previous answers: http://www.quora.com/Is-T
1. His use of language is unparalleled or close to it. He was a master of choosing the right word or phrase for what he was trying to say. He was a genius when it came to inventing totally surprising yet deeply evocative ways of saying things. He worked artfully within a rigid set of constraints (blank verse), but, like an expert jazz musician, stretched those constraints to their limits.
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UPDATE: I've been thinking about this some more, and I fear that when I talk about creative use of language, people will think I mean puns, complex metaphors, alliterative effects, and other show-offy devices. And to an extent I do, because Shakespeare was brilliant at linguistic pyrotechnics.
But, for my money, what he did best was "say what I want to say but in a better way than I ever could have said it." (And yet, using his lines, I can say it.) Which is what all great poets do. They give expressive voice to the human condition. What makes Shakespeare great is that he does it constantly. For almost every feeling it's possible for a human to feel -- for almost every situation it's possible for a human to get into -- Shakespeare has a powerful verse, speech, sentence or phrase about it.
Those of us who know his works well find lines popping into out heads all the time, explaining to us how we feel -- the same way a great song can do that.
Just the other day, my wife posted on Facebook how she got in trouble at work for telling the truth. She complained that she's damned whatever she does -- whether she's honest or deceptive. I found myself immediately thinking of the Fool in "King Lear."
I marvel what kin thou and thy daughters are: they'll have me whipped for speaking true, thou'lt have me whipped for lying; and sometimes I am whipped for holding my peace. I had rather be any kind o' thing than a fool: and yet I would not be thee, nuncle; thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides, and left nothing i' the middle ...
When I am wronged because someone doesn't like the way I look -- or the fact that I'm an American or an atheist or whatever, I think of this famous speech, from the "Merchant of Venice."
Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
When I've been accused of something I didn't do, I think of Hermione in "A Winter's Tale"
Sir, spare your threats:
The bug which you would fright me with I seek.
To me can life be no commodity:
The crown and comfort of my life, your favour,
I do give lost; for I do feel it gone,
But know not how it went. My second joy
And first-fruits of my body, from his presence
I am barr'd, like one infectious. My third comfort
Starr'd most unluckily, is from my breast,
The innocent milk in its most innocent mouth,
Haled out to murder: myself on every post
Proclaimed a strumpet: with immodest hatred
The child-bed privilege denied, which 'longs
To women of all fashion; lastly, hurried
Here to this place, i' the open air, before
I have got strength of limit. Now, my liege,
Tell me what blessings I have here alive,
That I should fear to die? Therefore proceed.
But yet hear this: mistake me not; no life,
I prize it not a straw, but for mine honour,
Which I would free, if I shall be condemn'd
Upon surmises, all proofs sleeping else
But what your jealousies awake, I tell you
'Tis rigor and not law. Your honours all,
I do refer me to the oracle:
Apollo be my judge!
When I'm jealous, I've think of Helena in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," saying,
How happy some o'er other some can be!
Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.
But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so...
When I am filled with joy, awe and admiration, I feel as Miranda does in "The Tempest."
O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!
When I hate myself, I think of Hamlet's "O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!" and when I've looked upon something ghastly, I think of Ophelia's "O, woe is me, / To have seen what I have seen, see what I see!"
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2. He created psychologically complex and extremely memorable characters that are malleable enough for thousands of actors to put their unique stamps on them. He was also expert at juggling many characters at once.
3. He wrote narratives of many different genres, excelling at each. He was a master at plotting and at interweaving serious content with humor.
4. He was a brilliant rhetorician, able to craft arguments as well as the best lawyers who argue cases before Supreme Court.
5. He had a sponge-like mind and was able to write with knowledge about all sorts of fields.
6. He was able to simultaneously focus on the tiny nuances of day-to-day life and huge, profound philosophical questions.
7. He was enormously influential on Western Culture. His influence, though it's waxed and waned, has remained in place for centuries.Written 24 Oct 2012 · View Upvotes
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