Shakespeare’s works are timeless. After four hundred years, people still read, study, and perform his plays and poetry. Almost anyone can quote from several of his works. The reason that people know them is because they have been a part of our culture constantly since they were published.
It is important to study Shakespeare because it is a part of popular culture. Popular culture refers to movies, television, and songs. Have you heard Taylor Swift’s song “Love Story” on the radio, which references Romeo and Juliet? Does your city have Shakespeare in the Park in the summer? Did you know that the band in the Harry Potter series is called the Weird Sisters, after the characters in Macbeth? I’ll bet you have heard comparisons of one’s love “to a summer’s day.” Shakespeare is everywhere. If you don’t study Shakespeare, you will miss these references. You won’t enjoy them or appreciate them, and you won’t understand them.
The greatest reason to study Shakespeare is that there is a reason it is still popular. The stories’ themes are timeless. These are tales of young love, madness, family drama, aging, ambition, murder, and intrigue. Shakespeare’s poetry is clever and beautiful. His plays cover multiple genres. When you read and study the plays, you have a greater appreciation for them. There are so many works, and they have so much to offer.
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