How Did Shakespeare Influence Modern Culture

The influence of William Shakespeare’s plays on modern culture, especially in television and movies, is apparent. The plot of Disney’s the Lion King is based off of the plot for Hamlet; Arthur Laurents’ West Side Story is loosely based off of the plot of Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night has been the basis for countless teenage romantic comedies. Aside from regurgitating the same overused plots for blockbuster movies, public figures can be found quoting Shakespeare in their speeches, interviews, and even on tattoos. In fact, Shakespearean themes and details are so embedded within our culture that the original context is frequently overlooked, ignored, and even forgotten. Individuals may use parts of a work to emphasize a point, regardless of …show more content…
When references to Shakespeare are used in political settings, the issues being “discussed” are usually in contexts that have no relevancy to the plays from which they are derived, and frequently over exaggerate the perceived or invented flaws of an individual who has a different perspective on a particular issue. Three particular Shakespearean characters are used as archetypes for comparison of character and behavior: Lady Macbeth, Romeo, and Hamlet. All of these characters cause death, whether intentionally or not, all of these characters have been defining figures in literary conceptions of tragedy, and all of these characters have different American political connotations than what was originally intended by the great playwright. For example, a “Lady Macbeth” is a female politician who will stop at nothing to achieve their own ambitions; a “Romeo” is a persistent philanderer rather than a lover who is faithful until death; and a “Hamlet” is an indecisive over-thinker. In American politics, these archetypes pay no attention to the stories, other characters, and circumstances of both the setting of the play and the age in which they were