# Why Shakespeare? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-shakespeare/573583 "2011-03-05T15:36:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-shakespeare/573583/41 "2011-03-07T17:06:29Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > We also happen to have a very large collection of his works, in reasonably reliable form. This large body of work lends itself very well to the needs of the academic world, and gives Literature bods a lot to study and analyse. This is, I think, exceptionally important. No matter how good Shakespeare is, either in absolute terms or just compared to his contemporaries, the fact that the First Folio was created so quickly after his death, and in such reasonably good form, and that there were many other sources also available for study, was invaluable in cementing him as the preeminent voice of that era. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-shakespeare/573583/42 "2011-03-07T17:37:38Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Newcomer: Shakespeare’s plays are not novels and are not meant to be read as such. They are poetry and prose that is meant to be recited by actors. See a production of _Hamlet_ with a good actor as the Prince of Denmark and you will understand why this is one of the supreme works of the English language. and world theatre. > And Tolstoy’s comment about all of his characters using the same language is sheer bullshit. I acted in _Henry_ \*VIII \*last summer and there is a vast difference in the language of two of my characters, Sir Thomas Lovell and Porter’s Man. Normally, I love Russian literature, but I am beginning to understand why I never cared for Tolstoy. Wow… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-shakespeare/573583/43 "2011-03-07T22:15:49Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > Some argue quite the opposite… again, Tolstoy says it better than anyone: We might find Shakespeare’s language stilted _now_, but other playwrights were worse then. The point is that it absolutely wasn’t florid or overblown (like other playwrights of the time) but more reflective of how people actually spoke then. Audiences then, like now, expected the language to not be exactly what they’d say to their neighbor. And Shakespeare reflected that better than anyone, particularly in the speech of his “dregs” of society. Rather like how no one now speaks like Joss Whedon’s or Kevin Smith’s characters, but some of us wish we could. I wonder how much Shakespeare Tolstoy actually watched. (Like **Peyote Coyote** says, it absolutely should be seen whenever possible, read only when necessary). And I wonder how good his translations were. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-shakespeare/573583/44 "2011-03-08T01:51:57Z")
We quote his works so often, without realizing it. Shakespeare is woven into the warp & weft of English, inextricably. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-shakespeare/573583.md?page=2)