Influence and Importance
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Influence and Importance
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William Shakespeare ranks as the
most popular authors in the
English language.
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In 2000 British citizens voted him
the Man of the Millennium —the
most important person since 1000
A.D.
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He is credited with 37 of the
world’s most heralded pieces of
drama and literature, including:
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Give Shakespeare his due: he is
the greatest writer of all time
Romeo and Juliet
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Influence and Importance
• Influence and Importance
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His poems and plays are the most
quoted pieces of writing other than
the Bible
• Shakespeare is credited with
37 of the world’s most
heralded pieces of drama and
literature, including:
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Romeo and Juliet
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Influence and Importance
• Influence and
Importance
• Besides his plays, he is
also credited with
penning 154 sonnets that
are often considered
some of the finest poetry
ever written
• His plot dynamics,
characters and ability to
write comedies, tragedies
and histories has never
been duplicated by any
other scribe
Shakespeare’s Plays
• Shakespeare’s Plays
– Comedies: light and amusing,
usually with a happy ending
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All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
Comedy of Errors
Love's Labour's Lost
Measure for Measure
Merchant of Venice
Merry Wives of Windsor
Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado about Nothing
Taming of the Shrew
Tempest
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Winter's Tale
Shakespeare’s Plays
• Shakespeare’s Plays
– Tragedies: serious dramas with
disastrous endings
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Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
Troilus and Cressida
Shakespeare’s Plays
• Shakespeare’s Plays
– Histories: involve events or
persons from history
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Cymbeline
Henry IV, Part I
Henry IV, Part II
Henry V
Henry VI, Part I
Henry VI, Part II
Henry VI, Part III
Henry VIII
King John
Pericles
Richard II
Richard III
• 10 Famous
Shakespearean Quotes
1. "This above all: to thine own self be
true." (Hamlet - Act 1, Scene 2).
2. "There is nothing either good or bad,
but thinking makes it so." (Hamlet - Act
II, Scene II).
3. "It's not enough to speak, but to speak
true." (Midsummer Night’s Dream - Act
5, Scene 1).
4. "Et tu, Brute?" (Julius Caesar - Act 3,
Scene 1).
5. "Neither a borrower nor a lender be; for
loan oft loses both itself and friend."
(Hamlet - Act 1, Scene 3).
6. "The course of true love never did run
smooth." (Midsummer Night’s Dream Act 1, Scene 1).
7. "Be not afraid of greatness: some are
born great, some achieve greatness
and some have greatness thrust upon
them." (Twelfth Night - Act 2, Scene 5).
8. "All the world's a stage and all the men
and women merely players." (As You
Like It - Act 2, Scene 7).
9. "There's daggers in men's smiles."
(Macbeth - Act 2, Scene 3).
10. "All that glisters is not gold." (Merchant
of Venice - Act 2, Scene 7).
• 10 Famous
Shakespearean Quotes
on LOVE
1. Love looks not with eyes, but with the
mind." (Midsummer Night’s Dream - Act 1,
Scene 1).
2. “When I saw you I fell in love, and you
smiled because you knew. “(Hamlet, Act
2, Scene 2).
3. "A heart to love, and in that heart,
courage, to make love known“ (Macbeth
Act 2 Scene 3)
4. “Love sought is good, but given unsought
is better.” (Twelfth Night Act 3 Scene 1).
5. “Who ever loved that loved not at first
sight? “ (As You Like It - Act 3, Scene 5).
6. “If music be the food of love, play on.”
(Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene I)
7. “Love is blind, and lovers cannot see, The
pretty follies that themselves commit”
(Merchant of Venice - Act 2, Scene 6)
8. "The course of true love never did run
smooth." (Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act
I, Scene I).
9. "When you depart from me sorrow abides,
and happiness takes his leave.“ (Much
Ado About Nothing - Act 1, Scene 1).
10. "They do not love that do not show their
love." (The Two Gentlemen of Verona –
Act 1, Scene 2)
Shakespeare’s Continuing Presence
• Shakespeare in His Time
• Shakespeare presented his
plays at inns, courtyards, royal
palaces, private residences
and playhouses such as
Blackfriars and the Globe
Theatre, built in 1599.
• Shakespeare in Our Time
• Shakespeare’s plays continue
to be produced even today.
Over 250 film adaptations of
his plays have been made.
Shakespeare has been seen in current
media from The Simpsons to modern
adaptations of his works like Hamlet
Shakespearean Myth
• Myths About Shakespeare
• Many scholars have asserted
that a man of Shakespeare's
pedigree lacked the
sophistication to produce a
great body of brilliant work
(despite the probability he was
educated at the respected
King’s New School in
Stratford).
• As a result, some tried to give
credit for his works to other
great authors of his time.
• These thoughts have mostly
been discredited due to
historic dates not matching
Shakespeare Timeline
• Important
Shakespeare Dates
and Events
• Estimated Birth in
1564
– Born in Stratford,
England, about ninety
miles northwest of
London.
• 1582 at the age of 18,
married Anne
Hathaway
John Shakespeare's house, believed to be
Shakespeare's birthplace, in Stratford-uponAvon.
Shakespeare Timeline
• Important Shakespeare Dates
and Events
– The Lost Years
• Between the middle
1580s and 1592 there
is little information
about Shakespeare’s
activities
• In 1592 he emerged
in London and began
his legacy as the
world’s most famous
writer
Shakespeare Timeline
• Important Shakespeare
Dates and Events
• 1592 theatre were closed
due to plague. The result
was the beginning of
Shakespeare’s poetic
career
• 1594 the theatres
reopened and
Shakespeare joined a
newly formed drama
group called the Lord
Chamberlain's Men
– Shakespeare served as
both a writer and actor for
the company
Shakespeare Timeline
• Important Shakespeare
Dates and Events
• 1597 Shakespeare’s
success as a writer and
businessman resulted in
him owning the secondbiggest house in
Stratford, for himself and
his family.
• 1599 Shakespeare
became a major
shareholder in the Globe
Theatre, which housed
many of his most famous
plays
Shakespeare Timeline
• Important Shakespeare
Dates and Events
• 1603 Queen Elizabeth
died and shortly after
Shakespeare’s acting
company was elevated to
the title of the ''King's
Company'' or "King's
Men".
• 1604 Shakespeare
participated in the
coronation of King James
I and Shakespeare and
the other members of his
company became officers
of the royal household.
Shakespeare Timeline
• Important
Shakespeare Dates
and Events
• 1616 Shakespeare
died on the same
date on which he was
believed to have been
born, April 23.
– The cause of his death
is the subject of
conjecture.
• Shakespeare's
funerary
monument in
Stratfordupon-Avon.