William Shakespeare Research Paper

558 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Influences on Shakespeare's works

Throughout the middle ages, Shakespeare’s works are subject to a large and wide range of needs and demands. His writing influenced and changed a lot of people, but mostly in the Renaissance period. William Shakespeare's work inspired and influenced many things such as literature, present-day movies, and the English language itself. He is regarded as the greatest writer and novelist in the history of the English language by many people, and the most famous dramatist in the world. Shakespeare is described as “The Man of Words” because he introduced nearly 3,000 words into the English language. Shakespeare used 26,066 unique words in his poems, plays, and other writing. Most people today use 7,500 to 10,000 unique words that in their writing and speech. Shakespeare lived in the Renaissance; he made people move away from their restrictive ideas, by making a movement. …show more content…

He expanded the dramatic potential of plot, genre, language, and characterization. Shakespeare influenced many eminent writers and novelists such as William Faulkner, Thomas Hardy, Herman Melville and Charles Dickens. In the beginning of the Renaissance period, Europeans had restrictive ideas of middle ages, Shakespeare mad them change that. Shakespeare’s writing made a great influence on the entire English Language, during and after Shakespeare’s time. When Shakespeare’s plays became popular in the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century, they helped with the contribution of standardizing the English Language, with many phrases and words made by Shakespeare embedded in the English Language.

Among Shakespeare's most noteworthy commitments to the English dialect must be the presentation of new vocabulary and expressions which have advanced the dialect making it more brilliant and expressive. Warren King clears up by saying that, "In the majority of his work – the plays, the pieces, and the story lyrics. Shakespeare utilizes 17,677 words: Of those, 1,700 were initially

Show More
Related

  • Writing Devices in Romeo and Juliet

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, there have been few writers whose works have influenced society more than those of the English playwright William Shakespeare. His use of language in all of his plays, especially Romeo and Juliet, is one that impacts its audience both emotionally and intellectually. For anyone wishing to pursue a career specifically in the Language Arts, the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare should be continued to be studied and analyzed for its unique and clever uses of English dialect.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Nick Bottom In A Midsummer Night's Dream

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    The English Resistance was a time period in which greater plays, sonnets, and writer became famous. William Shakespeare was the most famous writer to come out of this time period and is the best english writer of all time. Known for the creative use of words, he wrote thirty-seven plays and one hundred fifty-four sonnets. He even invented new words, if there were no words in the english language that truly expressed what he wanted. Shakespeare has common characteristics and attributes that he exhibits in his writing; influences by society and family member also affected his writing as well.

    Read More

  • Neoplatonism in Shakespeare and its Effect on Modern Literature

    2064 Words  | 5 Pages

    Few writers have managed to enter the world-wide public consciousness as well as Shakespeare; everyone knows his name and can terribly misquote his plays. Yet, for all his popularity, many of his critics have called him unlearned, saying his plays are entertaining but shallow. These same critics often point at the many inconsistencies of his writing, claiming that Shakespeare was not trying to convey anything but witticisms and beautiful sounds. Of course, even his harshest detractors acknowledge his plays and sonnets have influenced the world's literature on a scale that is intimidating; every writer of his era stood in his shadow, and modern literature stands on his shoulders. Shakespeare was a product of his time as much as any man must be, and his writing is rife with the ideals of Neoplatonism, which was only just surfacing in the European realm of thought as Shakespeare began writing. Platonism and its effect on Shakespeare, and in turn his effect on modern literature, has had lasting repercussions.

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare: A Legendary Author

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...somewhat to fit the modern English language. William Shakespeare was truly a legendary author that helped expand the English language we speak today. His remarkable work will help teach and influence English for many years to come.

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare Research Paper

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    He wrote many different works as in plays and poems. “In addition to his thirty-seven plays, Shakespeare wrote an innovative collection of sonnets and two long narrativ...

    Read More

  • Christopher Marlowe Conspiracy Research Paper

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    Both writers used an average of 240 four-letter words per thousand, 130 five-letter words, and 60 six-letter words, with other word-lengths close if not exact. Baconian compared “the distribution curves of Bacon and Shakespeare, he found no match; comparing Shakespeare’s plays with those of his contemporaries he noted a 4-word ‘spike’ that no other playwright replicated except Marlowe” (The Shakespearean Authorship

    Read More

  • Figurative Language In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

    540 Words  | 2 Pages

    Did you know Shakespeare wrote 37 plays? In his plays, poems, or anything else, Shakespeare used figurative language in many ways. In the play Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, figurative language is used to reflect detailed imagery to the reader. Shakespeare, the greatest writer in the English language, created over 20,000 words we still use today. With these words, Shakespeare creates imagery in the mind of the reader. Through Shakespeare’s use of similes and personification throughout Romeo and Juliet he provides creative and masterful use of imagery for the reader.

    Read More

  • The Influence of Shakespeare

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare has perhaps contributed the most to the English language of any writer known to man – literally. Over 1000 words and phrases that he coined as part of his plays and prose are now in common use across the globe. He changed nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, added on previously unheard-of prefixes and suffixes and in some cases made words out of nothing. Even culturally sensitive words such as ‘ode’ (The ANZACS) and scientific jargon (‘epileptic’) are in fact products of Shakespeare. Bernard Levin probably summed this up best when he wrote: “If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle.

    Read More

  • Does Shakespeare matter?

    437 Words  | 1 Pages

    William Shakespeare has become landmark in English literature. One must be familiar with the early days of English literature in order to comprehend the foundation of much of more modern literature’s basis. Shakespeare’s modern influence is still seen clearly in many ways. The success of Shakespeare’s works helped to set the example for the development of modern dramas and plays. He is also acknowledged for being one of the first writers to use any modern prose in his writings.

    Read More

  • Historical Context for Shakespeare's Plays

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    Arguably the greatest playwright of his time, perhaps in all of history, William Shakespeare's literary works have had a tremendous impact (see Appendix 2). Reaching into the pop culture of the modern world through movies and quotes used in everyday conversation, Shakespeare's influence is astounding (see Appendix 1). One rarely stops to think, however, about events that had an impact on Shakespeare's life, particularly his writing. The outbreak of the plague, social disparity, political unrest, just a few of the historical happenings that impacted Shakespeare's plays, including Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Henry IV

    Read More

  • Shakespeare Compared To Today

    534 Words  | 2 Pages

    If you have ever read or seen a Shakespeare play you know how much different we talk today, then he did. According to the article called "Shakespeare: words, words, words" by S.S. Morty, it says, "Surely Shakespeare took full advantage of the unparalleled linguistic freedom to incent, to experiment with, and to indulge in lavishly." In his time, he did not have any grammars or dictionary he had to follow. Knowing that he did not have to follow anything he made up a lot of his own words. When he would produce a play, the audience a lot of the time didn't know and understand some of the words that were in his play. They wouldn't know the words because they didn't have anything to know the definition of them. This explains how and why Shakespeare spoke the way he

    Read More

  • Skakespeare and his style of writing

    2363 Words  | 5 Pages

    Shakespeare’s plays are a product of the Elizabethan theatrical context in which they were first performed. A lot of pressure was put on Shakespeare as he wrote his plays because he was not allowed to upset the royal family. His style would have been different than others in those times and a lot more thought has gone into his writing than people listening would think. Usually, the audience take for granted the cleverness and thought of Shakespeare’s writing, however, now we have studied and gone into great detail about Shakespeare’s writing, we can appreciate it more than they did:

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's Influence on the English Language

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare’s ability to mold the English language into eloquently written poetry gave him the ability to affect the language as he did. Hundreds of clichés that are used daily by English speakers were invented in Shakespeare’s writings. Few people are aware, but expressions such as “dead as a doornail” (Henry IV, Part II) or “something wicked this way comes” (Macbeth) can both be accredited to Shakespeare. In The Story of English, Bernard Levin writes that “if [the reader] cannot understand my argument, and [declares] ‘It's Greek to me’, you are quoting Shakespeare” (McCrum, Cran, MacNeil 99). Levin is simply reminding the reader that much of common English speech can be traced back to idioms used in Shakespeare’s writing. Shakespeare even took the liberty to invent words of his own, supposedly inventing over one thousand commonly used words. Shakespeare was able to create words in multiple ways, including changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and coming up with words that were completely original (pathguy.com). Shakespearian words include “assassination” and even “obscene” (McCrum, Cran, MacNeil 99), and other such words that are used by English speakers daily. Although a number of writers have used the English language to their advantage, no writer has taken the language to the level that Shakespeare was able to do.

    Read More

  • The Meaning Of The Word Harmoy

    426 Words  | 1 Pages

    The amount of creativity and individuality Shakespeare had is astonishing. What I find even more amazing is how natural his words have become nowadays. Words like dishearten, inaudible, and even eyeball have become part of everyday speech

    Read More

  • Analysis of William Shakespeare´s Life

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare got much recognition in his own time, but in the 17th century, poets and authors began to consider him as the supreme dramatist and poet of all times of the English language. In fact, even today, no one can match his works or perform as well as he did. No other plays have been performed as many times as Shakespeare’s. Several critics of theatre try to focus on the language of Shakespeare and to take out excerpts from the literary text and make it their own resulting in various persons, poets, authors, psychoanalysts, psychologists and philosophers.

    Read More

More about William Shakespeare Research Paper

Open Document