Eviltree

Honestly, what was so great about this guy? I think people overinterpret his work. I just don't know why everyone thinks he was so great. I'm probobly being ignorant, but I really don't like the guy.

hilbert25

Well, I'm not the best person for this, but I'll start:

He's rediculously clever.

Everything he ever wrote was poetry, really. Back then, people didn't speak like he wrote, instead he wrote nearly everything in meter and it sometimes was awkward, other times it worked.

His stuff has so many levels it's not funny.

The stories he told are still being told today, in pretty much any media. Granted, he didn't come up with all of them, but he did manage to cover every important story.

And lastly, he was hired by Dream to write new stories, which just makes him a badass.

FleaCircus

And, he added an insane number of words to the English language, many of which are still in current usage (and not as slang, either).

I can understand not liking specific plays he wrote, or parts of plays, but things like Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliliquy or Mark Anthony's "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him" speech are amazing.

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Derwood

He invented 100's (if not 1000's) of words that we use everyday.

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Da Munk

Those were some of my favorite Sandman stories.

Gortexfogg

Take a look at any of his works and the way he puts words together. It's absolutely incredible. That's why he's the man.

pinklily

anagrams and puns. he was fabulous with them.
PS. the sonnets may be overanalized, but not his other work.

Cynthetiq

I didn't like the guy until I read the works, and saw how prevalent and common his work has invaded the world's consciousness.

Six Feet Under titled one of their episodes as such.

RUSH had part of this in their song Limelight in the 80s

10 Things I Hate About You in 1999 was just a remake of the play Taming of the Shrew.
it's more prevalent than you realize.

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Eviltree

Yes, it is indeed prevalent, but that is because of its fame. I think that if it wasn't quite so famous, it would not be nearly as sucessful. People most likely made movies out of them because people will recognise the connection, and thus make even more money for the film producer.
As for making up words, Dr. Seuss made up words, I can make up words, everyone can make up words, if those words were published to the extent that shakespeare's words were published, they would most likely be used as well.

ForgottenKnight

Shakespeare was extremely cleaver! When you read his plays there's humor on multiple levels. Some of it is blunt to where every idiot will understand it. Some of it is hidden to where only the educated would get the joke.

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Cynthetiq

sometimes that is the case such as the recent modern Romeo and Juliet.

But then there's also the less obvious, such as the Broadway play Kiss Me Kate, also a Taming of the Shrew variant.

There's only so many stories that can be told and unfortunately for many, the Greeks and Shakespeare seem to have come up with many of them first, or at least popularized them.

Before you completely dismiss him, look at the depth and breadth of his work. It's not like he just wrote a couple sonnets or even a few plays. Few people even TODAY with film, tv, or even books can even come close to the amount of work and impact that Shakespeare has.

Following the constraints of iambic pentameter the fact that he was able to be creative enough to write so much that was so popular.

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Eowyn_Vala

Shakespeare rocks! Most people that don't like him, either haven't read anything of his and understood it, or they didn't take the time to read it and missed all the important stuff. then again not everyone has to like shakespeare! It is a matter of taste in what people read. but if shakespeare wasn't so great then why do they use his works for teaching in high school, college, making movies that are updated versions to entertain the masses? It works for hollywood because shakespeare had awesome ideas that they can use and adapt and know that people are still going to be interested (for the most part)!

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Derwood

The biggest problem with shakespeare (and the reason many people dislike him) is that 95% of shakespeare productions are just plain awful. They are produced by amateurs or people who don't know what the hell they are doing.

Go see a shakespeare play at the National in London or at the Stratford festival in Canada.

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Moskie

Eowyn's got the right idea. Anyone who takes the time and effort to actually *study* Shakespeare's work cannot help but be impressed.

One thing that always amazes me about Shakespeare's work is that his plays can be interpreted and presented in an infinite number of ways, but doing so doesn't (necessarily) take away from the play's consistency. You can change the focus of the production to a character besides the main character, or completely change the setting, or put it on film... and it always works. To me, it just shows how solid and incredible Shakespeare's writing is.

Another thing to remember is that his plays are meant to be seen and not read. If I want to get into a play of his that I have no experience with, the first thing I do is grab a text of the play and rent a stage production of it on video. I read along as I watch, and it really gives a good introduction to the play. Get a standard production of it, not some radical interpretation (which can be good in its own right, but not as an introduction). I really recommend the BBC productions, which you can probably find in your local library.

So give the bard a chance. He won't disappoint.

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SecretMethod70

Some of Shakespeare's work is entirely hyped up and genuinely dous suck *cough* Romeo & Juliet which my high school AP english teacher described as drivel, pleasing me greatly *cough* but a lot of his work is genuinely excellent.

His use of puns is no less than genius in most instances. Many of his soliloquies aer amazing. But as someone earlier said, many productions of his work suck. And don't even bother with 90% of modern adaptations. (Although, Titus is an excellent film, but not indicative on Shakespeare in and of itself)

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Kadath

The St Crispin's day speech in Henry V is also excellent.
People have been cribbing his plots for centuries. He laid it all out.

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