What Gives Shakespeare His Enduring Edge?

Image Credit: Ale Argentieri / Shutterstock.com, Shakespeare Statue and Fountain in Leicester Square, London

WHAT GIVES SHAKESPEARE HIS ENDURING EDGE

WRITTEN BY S.J. ROBINSON

S.J. Robinson, Editor, Fringe Magazine

All the world's a stage, and all men and women merely players.

~William Shakespeare

SHAKESPEARE FOR EVERYBODY

When I began researching this article, I was surprised to find a dry, elitist snob-factor when it comes to discussing Shakespeare. It seems that some experts, mainly scholars and academics, have taken it upon themselves to be the self-appointed custodians of Shakespeare's literary legacy to the exclusion of everybody else. These 'experts' frequently indulge in constructing walls of complex literary scholarship around a vibrant, active mind that was more in touch with humanity as a whole than they would care to admit to. In short, Shakespeare's plays are for everybody to enjoy and marvel at. They contain memorable messages concerning topics such as love, greed, power, redemption, mercy and forgiveness, which are rich in universal truths rather than 'elitist' truths. In this article, I will show how this universal aspect within Shakespeare, when combined with a bursting palette of colourful language and a penchant for beautifully resolved endings, gives his art an appeal that endures far beyond the literary Renaissance period in which it was written.

HIS UNIVERSAL OR 'GLOBAL' APPEAL

One very obvious example of the universal appeal of Shakespeare is Romeo and Juliet, with its irresistible theme of what 'true love' is and how difficult it is to attain and maintain in a world where dark forces perennially conspire against it. When we first meet Romeo, he is love sick over Rosaline, but is confused about it because it is not the real thing, and on some deep level beneath his pain and suffering, he is aware of this, saying : "This love feel I, that feel no love in this". His love is unrequited, and this unpleasant experience leads him onto his first encounter with Juliet and the picture-perfect sweetness of 'love at first sight' and what it reveals to him: "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night" [Act 1, Sc 5]. The enamour of this true love is something quite different to what he has experienced previously - it is shy, courteous, gentle on the heart, tenderly felt, and imbued with romance. Romeo, however, soon learns that the path of true love is in no way less challenging than that of unrequited love, and he and Juliet struggle to overcome the obstacles which impede it, only for the whole thing to end in the lamentable and tragic deaths of this pair of 'star-crossed lovers'. The universal and epic nature of this story, and the playwright's attempt to understand key aspects of the human condition - in this case, love and hate - are a large part of what gives literature and art the power to transcend its own time and place.

- Statue of Juliet from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, located in the Casa di Giuletta, Verona, Italy.

Image credit: Joaquin Ossorio Castillo / Shutterstock.com

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