{"id":8875,"date":"2018-04-23T15:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T14:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/?p=8875"},"modified":"2019-01-08T11:05:50","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T11:05:50","slug":"why-well-always-need-shakespeare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/2018\/04\/23\/why-well-always-need-shakespeare\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll always need Shakespeare"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you were to consider who the greatest writer in the English language was, would you pick William Shakespeare? Many would and even more than 400 years since his death, Shakespeare is as prominent in class rooms and lecture halls as ever.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re all pretty aware of how important his texts have been when studying English, but are you aware of how Shakespeare has influenced some of our favourite songs or films? Even our day-to-day speech is sprinkled with Shakespearean language.<\/p>\n<p>For starters, Shakespeare invented around 1,700 words \u201d\u201c this includes words still used frequently today like \u201d\u02dctranquil\u2019 and \u201d\u02dcassassination\u2019. It\u2019s estimated that one in every 100 words we speak today were invented by William Shakespeare himself.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from the singular words, there are terms and phrases still in circulation today. If you\u2019d ever said something is \u201ca foregone conclusion\u201d\u009d or a \u201csorry sight\u201d\u009d, you\u2019ve Shakespeare to thank for that.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FqukPY7kasg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Some of these phrases, taken from his works, have slotted into songs spanning across all kinds of genres. Morrissey\u2019s love of literature is well-known and he\u2019s taken inspiration from Shakespeare. The Smiths track <em>You\u2019ve Got Everything Now<\/em> opens with the line \u201cAs merry as the days were long\u201d\u009d which is a reference from the play <em>Much Ado About Nothing<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Morrissey isn\u2019t the only one. The \u201cpound of flesh\u201d\u009d Courtney Love sings about on Hole\u2019s biggest hit <em>Celebrity Skin<\/em> can be traced back to <em>The Merchant of Venice<\/em>, as can the term \u201cgood riddance\u201d\u009d. It would go on to be used as the title of Green Day\u2019s track <em>Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)<\/em> that has been used for end-of-high school videos for 20 years.<\/p>\n<p><em>Romeo and Juliet<\/em> has had a huge impact on music, film and how we speak. A \u201d\u02dcRomeo\u2019 is someone who is thought to be a persistent romancer. Singer Taylor Swift openly takes inspiration from the play in her track <em>Love Story<\/em>, with both characters named. <em>West Side Story<\/em> is also based on the play; the Jets and the Sharks represent the Montagues and Capulets, with Tony and Maria representing Romeo and Juliet respectively. The Montagues and Capulets also get named checked in Arctic Monkey\u2019s single <em>I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p>Fourteen years before Alex Turner sang about his favourite Shakespeare work (we imagine it\u2019s his favourite), West Coast rapper 2pac also quoted the Bard. Tupac Shakur\u2019s debut album, <em>2Pacalypse Now<\/em>, features a song called <em>Something Wicked<\/em> which opens with the line \u201csomething wicked this way come\u201d\u009d. This is taken from Act 4, Scene 1 of <em>Macbeth<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uE7qjQlfoRs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Aside from the wide range of film adaptations \u201d\u201c many of which Kenneth Brannagh has had a hand in \u201d\u201c plenty of beloved films are based on Shakespeare\u2019s work. Teen movie <em>10 Things I Hate About You<\/em> starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger is based upon <em>The Taming of the Shrew<\/em>. Stiles portrays Kat, who is seen as the \u201d\u02dcshrew\u2019 \u201d\u201c her younger sister Bianca is not allowed to date unless Kat does too. Aside from the movie taking inspiration from the play, there are little clues that relay back to Shakespeare, too. Kat and Bianca\u2019s surname is Stratford, a nod to the Bard\u2019s homeplace; Patrick\u2019s surname is Verona, which is Petruchio\u2019s home and their high school is Padua, named after the play\u2019s setting.<\/p>\n<p>John Madden\u2019s 1998 film <em>Shakespeare in Love<\/em> was pretty loosely based on William Shakespeare\u2019s life but there are strong references to <em>Romeo and Juliet<\/em> and Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare\u2019s contemporary is portrayed in the film. <em>Shakespeare in Love<\/em> was immensely popular, earning more than 10 times its budget at the box office. It swept up at the Oscars too, taking home seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.<\/p>\n<p>Disney\u2019s <em>Pocahontas<\/em> is also inspired by renowned Shakespeare play <em>The Tempest<\/em>. Yes, it\u2019s inspired by the Native American princess, but the Hollywood story has taken notes from Shakespeare. In <em>The Tempest<\/em>, war breaks out when travellers land on an island and cannot understand the current inhabitants, with a love story thrown into the mix. The Shakespearean version is much more fitting for a Disney Princess classic than the historical background.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ULwUzF1q5w4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>When it comes to TV, one of the strongest links between Shakespeare and modern television is <em>House of Cards<\/em>. Kevin Spacey, who starred as corrupt politician Frank Underwood, has openly said his character would not exist were it not for <em>Richard III<\/em>. Both leads are manipulative and more than willing to undermine those around them. They are determined to be successful and powerful, which drives them to becoming violent. But we are compelled by both characters, who break the fourth wall, and are undoubtedly brilliant and intelligent.<\/p>\n<p>William Shakespeare\u2019s influence is still very much felt to this day! Want to delve into these modern day, updated works? You can at <a href=\"https:\/\/store.musicmagpie.co.uk\/\">musicMagpie Store<\/a> \u201d\u201c you\u2019ll receive FREE delivery on your order, too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you were to consider who the greatest writer in the English language was, would you pick William Shakespeare? Many would and even more than 400 years since his death, Shakespeare is as prominent in class rooms and lecture halls as ever. We\u2019re all pretty aware of how important his &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":8876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1796,16,159],"tags":[1797,1574,1581],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8875"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8878,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8875\/revisions\/8878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}