Copl kumar arganlha

1
sL
Sem MA l
kalyan C College 8hllal

november 09 2011


Shakespeare's lnfluence on Lngllsh LlLeraLure

1o be or noL Lo be LhaL ls Lhe quesLlon" Lhe passage suddenly sLrlkes ln our mlnd
when we are ln a sLaLe of confuslon and perplexlLy Lo worrylng abouL Lhe
consequence of whaL we Lhlnklng Lo do W||||am Shakespeare domlnaLed Lhe world of
Lngllsh LlLeraLure slnce LllzabeLhan age Pls lnfluence exLends from LheaLre and
llLeraLure Lo presenLday movles and Lhe Lngllsh language lLself lor example wlLhouL
even reallslng lL our everyday speech ls full of words and phrases lnvenLed by Shakespeare lf
you are noL able Lo express yourself whaL you feel abouL love muslc or growlng older
Shakespeare can speak for you

Wldely regarded as Lhe greaLesL wrlLer of Lhe Lngllsh language and Lhe worlds pre
emlnenL dramaLlsL Shakespeare Lransformed Luropean LheaLre by expandlng
expecLaLlons abouL whaL could be accompllshed Lhrough characLerlzaLlon ploL
language and genre

Shakespeares wrlLlngs have also lnfluenced a large number of noLable novellsLs and
poeLs over Lhe years lncludlng Perman Melvllle and Charles ulckens and many of hls
quoLaLlons and neologlsms have passed lnLo everyday usage ln Lngllsh and oLher
languages

Pls creaLlon lncludes 38 lays 134 SonneLs 2 Lplc narraLlve oems Pls CreaLlons are
so unlversal LhaL Lhey Lranscend generaLlon Lo sLlr Lhe lmaglnaLlon of audlence
everywhere Pe mlxed prose and poeLry and lL ls only he who broughL lay WlLhln lay
ln Lngllsh LlLeraLure

Larly Modern Lngllsh as a llLerary medlum was unflxed ln sLrucLure and vocabulary ln
comparlson Lo Creek and LaLln and was ln a consLanL sLaLe of flux When Wllllam
Shakespeare began wrlLlng hls plays Lhe Lngllsh language was rapldly absorblng words
from oLher languages due Lo wars exploraLlon dlplomacy and colonlzaLlon 8y Lhe age
of LllzabeLh Lngllsh had become wldely used wlLh Lhe expanslon of phllosophy
Lheology and physlcal sclences buL many wrlLers lacked Lhe vocabulary Lo express such
ldeas 1o accommodaLe wrlLers such as Ldmund Spenser Slr hlllp Sldney
ChrlsLopher Marlowe and Wllllam Shakespeare expressed new ldeas and dlsLlncLlons
by lnvenLlng borrowlng or adopLlng a word or a phrase from anoLher language known
as neologlslng
Scholars esLlmaLe LhaL beLween Lhe years 1300 and 1639 nouns verbs and modlflers
of LaLln Creek and modern 8omance languages added 30000 new words Lo Lhe
Lngllsh language

Shakespeare ls clLed as an lnfluence on a large number of wrlLers ln Lhe followlng
cenLurles lncludlng ma[or novellsLs such as Perman Melvllle Charles ulckens 1homas
Pardy and Wllllam laulkner Lxamples of Lhls lnfluence lnclude Lhe large number of
Shakespearean quoLaLlons LhroughouL ulckens wrlLlngs and Lhe facL LhaL aL leasL 23 of
ulckens LlLles are drawn from Shakespeare whlle Melvllle frequenLly used
Shakespearean devlces lncludlng formal sLage dlrecLlons and exLended sollloqules ln
Mobyulck ln facL Shakespeare so lnfluenced Melvllle LhaL Lhe novels maln
anLagonlsL CapLaln Ahab ls a classlc Shakespearean Lraglc flgure a greaL man
broughL down by hls faulLs

Pe has also lnfluenced a number of Lngllsh poeLs especlally 8omanLlc poeLs such as
Samuel 1aylor Colerldge who were obsessed wlLh selfconsclousness a modern Lheme
Shakespeare anLlclpaLed ln plays such as PamleL Shakespeares wrlLlngs were so
lnfluenLlal Lo Lngllsh poeLry of Lhe 1800s LhaL crlLlc Ceorge SLelner has called all Lngllsh
poeLlc dramas from Colerldge Lo 1ennyson feeble varlaLlons on Shakespearean
Lhemes

Shakespeares wrlLlngs greaLly lnfluenced Lhe enLlre Lngllsh language rlor Lo and
durlng Shakespeares Llme Lhe grammar and rules of Lngllsh were noL flxed 8uL once
Shakespeares plays became popular ln Lhe laLe sevenLeenLh and elghLeenLh cenLury
Lhey helped conLrlbuLe Lo Lhe sLandardlzaLlon of Lhe Lngllsh language wlLh many
Shakespearean words and phrases becomlng embedded ln Lhe Lngllsh language
parLlcularly Lhrough pro[ecLs such as Samuel !ohnsons A ulcLlonary of Lhe Lngllsh
Language whlch quoLed Shakespeare more Lhan any oLher wrlLer

Pe expanded Lhe scope of Lngllsh llLeraLure by lnLroduclng new words and phrases
experlmenLlng wlLh blank verse and also lnLroduclng new poeLlc and grammaLlcal
sLrucLures 1o sum up my speech lL ls noL exaggeraLlon Lo say LhaL Lngllsh LlLeraLure ls
noLhlng wlLhouL Shakespeare