William Shakespeare: Star of Stage and Screen 

Welcome to EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today, we complete our 

story about the English writer William Shakespeare. Last week, we talked 

about Shakespeare's life, his plays and poems.

Now, we talk about the events and cultural influences that affected 

Shakespeare and his art. We also discuss the countless ways his works have 

influenced language and popular culture. So, in some ways, Shakespeare 

remains as alive today as he was in the time of England’s Queen Elizabeth 

the First, when he lived and worked.

VIOLA: "Master Shakespeare ...

Good sir, I heard you are a poet ...

But a poet of no words?"

That was part of a dancing scene from the popular nineteen ninety-eight 

movie "Shakespeare in Love." The film suggests one way in which 

Shakespeare might have been influenced to write "Romeo and Juliet:"

because of his relationship with a brave and lovely woman. The movie is 

only very loosely based on real events, but it is a wonderful story.

Many of Shakespeare's works were influenced by earlier writings. During this 

time, students would probably have learned several ancient Roman and 

Greek plays.  It was not unusual for writers to produce more current 

versions of these works. For example, in his play "The Comedy of Errors" 

Shakespeare borrows certain structural details from the ancient Roman 

playwright Plautus.

For his tragic play "Macbeth," Shakespeare most likely used a work on 

Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information. It is also no accident 

that this play about a Scottish king was written a few years after James the 

First became King of England in sixteen-oh-three. This new ruler was from 

Scotland and London was alive with Scottish culture. Shakespeare may have 

borrowed from other writers, but the intensity of his imagination and 

language made the plays his own.

Shakespeare was also influenced by the world around him. He describes the 

sights and sounds of London in his plays. His works include observations 

about current political struggles, the fear of diseases, and the popular 

language of the city's tradesmen and other professionals.

Shakespeare's knowledge of the English countryside is also clear. His works 

include descriptions of deep forests, local flowers, and the ancient popular 

traditions of rural people.

Shakespeare became a well-known writer during a golden age of theater. His 

years of hard work paid off. Over the years, he invested income from his 

acting company by purchasing land and other property. He retired to the 

countryside a wealthy man. William Shakespeare died in his hometown of 

Stratford-upon-Avon in sixteen-sixteen at the age of fifty-two. While many 

plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his 

art live on.

It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which Shakespeare's works 

have influenced world culture. But we can give a few important examples. 

The first example would have to include his great effect on the English 

language. During his time, the English language was changing.  Many new 

words from other languages were being added.

Shakespeare used his sharp mind and poetic inventiveness to create 

hundreds of new words and rework old ones. For example, he created the 

verb "to torture" and the noun forms of "critic," "mountaineer" and "eyeball." 

Many common expressions in English come from his plays. These include 

"pomp and circumstance" from "Othello," "full circle" from "King Lear" and 

"one fell swoop" from "Macbeth."

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is the home of the 

largest collection of Shakespearean materials in the world. For example, it 

contains seventy-nine copies of the first printed collection of Shakespeare's 

plays. The First Folio was published in sixteen twenty-three, after his death. 

It contained thirty-six of his plays. Without this important publication, 

eighteen of Shakespeare's plays would have been lost.

The Folger also has more than two hundred examples of Shakespeare's 

Quartos. These earlier publications of the plays were smaller and less costly 

to print.

You might be wondering which versions of Shakespeare's plays are read 

today. Scholars who work on publishing many of the plays make careful 

choices about whether to use words from the First Folio, or the Quartos.

The Folger Library also holds exhibits about the Renaissance period and 

Shakespearean culture.

The list of cultural creations influenced by Shakespeare is almost 

endless.  From paintings to television to music and dance, Shakespeare is 

well represented. For example, the nineteenth century "Otello" by Giuseppe 

Verdi is an opera version of the tragic play "Othello." It is about a ruler who 

believes wrongly that his wife has been with another man. One famous song 

from this opera includes the wife, Desdemona, mournfully singing "Ave 

Maria."

Over a century later, the American songwriter Cole Porter transformed the 

Shakespeare comedy "The Taming of the Shrew" into the musical play "Kiss 

Me Kate." The musical was later made into a movie. Songs like "Brush Up 

Your Shakespeare" are popular favorites.

In nineteen fifty-seven the famous jazz musician Duke Ellington released 

"Such Sweet Thunder." In the song "The Telecasters" Duke Ellington 

musically recreates the three witches in Shakespeare's "Macbeth." Ellington 

uses three trombone instruments.  His use of silent breaks adds a special 

tension to the song.

Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim worked together on a modern 

version of "Romeo and Juliet." Their popular musical play took place on the 

West Side of New York City. The opposing groups are a gang of young 

people and a group of new immigrants. The award-winning movie version 

came out in nineteen sixty-one. Here the main character Maria sings about 

the happiness of being in love in "I Feel Pretty."

It is not just new versions of the plays that live on in popular culture. 

Shakespeare's plays have been translated into every major language in the 

world. All across the United States, the plays are performed in schools, 

theaters and festivals.  There are over one hundred Shakespeare festivals 

and many permanent theaters that perform his works.

We leave you with words of praise by Ben Jonson, a playwright who lived 

during Shakespeare's time. Mister Jonson knew long ago that the works of 

Shakespeare would hold their magic through the ages.

"Triumph, my Britain, thou hast one to show

To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe.

He was not of an age, but for all time!"

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. Steve Ember 

and Barbara Klein were our announcers. Our reader was Shep O'Neal. I’m 

Mario Ritter. You can read and listen to this program on our Web site, 

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learningenglish.voanews.com. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in 

VOA Special English.