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Shakespeare - A Literary Giant In The 21st Century

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Shakespeare in the 21st century!

In my opinion, Shakespeare is, indeed, one of the greatest poetry- and playwright the world has seen. Even today, in the 21st century, his plays and especially its themes, are up-to-date. This fact is clarified by various remakes of his plays nowadays.

Anyway, I think that calling him the "man of the Millenium" would be too exegerated. I really admit that he was a genius and I demonstrate great respect for works like "Romeo and Juliet". Besides, I really look up to the great success his works had and still have. Of course, his remarkable giftedness cannot be denied. Nevertheless, I think that there are many other talented writers who are very often even not really famous. All in all, I would say that Shakespeare was a great Bard, but for me he is not THE Bard.

by Katarina M.

I agree with Katarina; there are many other talented writers. But what was in his time and is still today so special and fascinating about Shakespeare and his work, is his genius language. I'm sure everybody, who joined his plays in the globe, even one who wasn't able to see the scenery, was caught by the atmosphere, created by his words. Another point is the way he developed his characters. I think that people, who read his works can somehow identify themselves in one of them, because he really understood the human nature.

by Galina

In my eyes the important function of Shakespeare as a giant playwright is indisputable but I also think that there are many other quite good writers who can compete with him.

Nevertheless is "the Bard" one of the best and has written a lot of plays which are even today popular and well known. Nearly everybody could tell you the name of one of his most successful plays f.i. "Romeo and Juliet". I guess Shakespeare is still topical because his influence on language, theatre, poetry and even modern movies can be seen everywhere. As Galina has mentioned, people can also identify with the caracters of his "timeless" plays. Perhaps is "ageless" the right phrase to descripe his recipe for success.

Anna-Lena

I agree with my three predecessors and I think it is also very important how Shakespeare's sonnets and plays have survied through the centuries and why other great poets never got the same popularity like he got. The fact that today's people identify with for example Romeo and Juliet and other characters from his plays is what makes him so special and to one of the greatest bards ever. Still today he has got a big influence on language, theatre and poetry. But I totally agree with Katarina that he is not "the Bard". There are other poets who did such an important and great work like he did.

Okka

In my opinion, Shakespeare is a great playwright and also his poems are about important themes that are still today interesting and up-to-date. I also assent to the views of Okka or Anna-Lena that Shakespeare is not the greatest poet the world has ever seen, but perhaps the most famous one. I guess his topics, which are often about love or personal conflicts are one reason why he still today has so many great admirer. Perhaps people relate to him and his words. I find it interesting to see how his plays have changed to new versions and how it thereby has developed a new character. I’m quite sure that Shakespeare will survive another years and that people get one’s inspiration from him.

Svenja

Shakespeare is popular since centuries and even if other playwrights from his time have written fascinating plays, it is a fact that he was the one who became famous. This popularity will not change to another poet of the Elizabethan age so many years later, no matter how many literature experts in the 21st century claim the unfairness of naming Shakespeare "the world's greatest writer" not concerning other great authors like for example Thomas Middleton ("True is that we have seen better plays", Gary Taylor). William Shakespeare is known by nearly all people in many different countries for a long time, because people can take something out of his plays for themselves and the way he wrote still touches people. In my opinion he is not forgotten, because he wrote about essential human feelings like love and lovesickness, jealousy and hatred. These are significant themes people have always been and will always be interested in. Especially today in the age of modern technology, plastic surgery and diets, people like to read about real problems and dramas in life like Shakespeare described them. It is still possible to identify with characters of Shakespeare's plays.The fact that he chose such essential topics combined with the beautiful language he used, made his words immortal.

Leonie W.

Shakespeare's works have and will remain. This is because of the universal themes of his achievements, which are present in most contemporary movies and books. Unfortunately, the original Shakespeare is present mainly in the educational systems. Even though the themes are everlasting, the language is not. It has changed so much over the centuries that it is hard to understand even for those who have British English as their mother tongue. Most adaptations of his works today either have to change the language or use supporting elements like the moving picture to get the story transported. Yes, Shakespeare will remain and even hold a great deal of influence. Yet, it will change in the future as it has changed in the past. Shakespeare will never be the same as it has been when books were still mass medium number one. Yes, Shakespeare belongs in the twenty-first century, but it is a different Shakespeare than four and a half centuries ago.

Christof S.

Much important has been mentioned by those above me already, such as Shakespeare's universal and timeless themes, the essential human desires his plays fufill and the characters of his plays, who are very easy to identify with for people all over the world. I think Christof made an important point in stressing the relevance of the Shakespearean language. The difficulties even native speakers have with Elizabethan English makes all of us more "equal" in the confrontation with Shakespeare's plays. People all over the globe do not only see the same universal topics in his poems and dramas, they also share the problem of understanding his words correctly. In my eyes, this will be the biggest challenge of future Shakespeare-Readers and therefore one reason why Shakespeare's popularity will not vanish within the next 100 years. People always wanted to explore things and solve problems they do not understand at first sight - reading Shakespeare becomes one of this unsolved problems.

Katharina K.

Shakespeare was defenetly one of the greatest writers in the world. But in my eyes his language does not fit into the 21st century at all. For most of the people his plays are so hard to understand, even for the English. His stories are touching, superior and timeless and I think a lot people should get to know them. So I really like movies like the film "O" (released 2001) which is based on the story "Othello" written by William Shakespeare but playing in the 21st century. So movies like this guarantee that his plays and stories will not be forgotten in the near future.

Meike

Shakespeare's most important facts in the 21st century have already been mentioned by the other predecessors above me, but I really like Leonie's point of view. I agree on her, because I also think that his plays are so popular and will remain another 400 years, because although Shakespeare is dead for a long time, he is repeatedly both re-written and performed in his original state for television and radio (i.e. "Romeo and Juliet". His plots are relativley timeless as you can see in Much Ado About Nothing (a boy and a girl don't like each other, then get together), but it is, agreed on Katharina K., an extraordinarily complex play at the level of language. For people living nowadays, it is very hard for people, even with English as their mother tongue, to understand Shakespeare's language. The time he lived in might seem alien to us and his language has not survived into the present day. So I really like the fact, that there are re-writted plays so that people in our century still get the great chance to understand Shakespeare's fascinating plays.

Christine

Shakespeare really is a great playwright, though I think that it is hard to judge whether he is the greatest or not. In my opinion even today every grown-up person should know Shakespeare and some of his words, poems or plays as it belongs to general knowledge. And because of the timeless themes the Bard chose it can even be fun to read Shakespeare. The only thing that might be disturbing is the language as Christof S. already mentioned. But I’ve got to agree to Katharina K. that this might be a big challenge.

Julia

In my point of view Shakespeare is one of the most important authors in the world, although he lived 400 years ago. I agree to Julia that it is a must for every adult and even for students to know some of Shakespeare´s works in general. At first sight the language looks a bit strange because of the old spelling of words, but there are also parallels to the german language, like thou or thee. When you read Shakespeare´s words, the pronouncing has a touch of german in it, so you can easily conclude the meaning. Before reading Shakespeare, I was a bit sceptical, but now I really enjoy reading this old, but still current style of language.

Ann-Christin B.

In my opinion Shakespeare had and will have an influence in the different centuries but I also think he looses importance in the period of time. While he was the greatest playwright from 1594 to 1600, he is only one of the greatest of the 16th century and today he (for many) he "only" belongs to general knowledge (Comp. Julia). In my eyes it is interesting to have an closer look in Shakesperian life and plays to get the feelings and the atmosphere of the seat in life in his time. Tereby the ones who are interested in Shakespeare, the language will not be a problem and for the others it might be a challenge (Comp. Katharina K.)

Jacqueline

In my opinion Shakespeare’s plays and poems should still be important for us. Even though he lived over 400 years ago and his works may seem outdated at first sight. But after reading or seeing one of his plays (and understanding it!) one can see, that his themes are timeless and everybody can identify with one of the characters. As Meike has pointed out, his language is hard to understand, so I agree that the modern interpretations are “Shakespeare’s future”. But after all, I think it is important to (at least) try to read one of his works in the original language. Who knows? Maybe it’s fun!

Cassandra

Shakespeare is still one of the most famous play writes in the world due to the fact that he has given us such complex but also common problems extremely well interpreted and put into the right words so that everybody can handle them and profit from them. Still there are people talking about him. Still there are people quoting his genius statements which are yet helpful even in contemporary issues. And still there are people having fun reading his acts because they are of great interest. I think Shakespeare remains a vital element, almost indispensable in our lives and we should hold him in high esteem just as much as we do with famous deviser (Einstein) or composers (Mozart).

By Antonia