TheSnob

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Who Influenced Shakespeare?

Usually we talk about who Shakespeare influenced, but never the other way around. I recently learned that the story of Romeo and Juliet was borrowed from the old Greco-Roman myth of Pyramus and Thisbe, the tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers (likewise a rather shallow depiction of romance). Who and what else influenced Shakespeare, the greatest writer of the English language?

i really like this topic! it will be interesting to see what pops up (shakespeare being my favorite playwright) I like that you leave it to the writer to choose the plays instead of being tightknit on certain ones so they can do some research as well – scole 9 years ago
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I think this will make a great topic to approach. Since there was no actual law of copyrights, there are numerous and familiar literature pieces that have borrowed from ancient stories. – Arazoo Ferozan 9 years ago
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As You Like It's influence is incredibly interesting, for anyone who decides to tackle this beast of a topic. – chandlerwp 9 years ago
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It's actually not true that we never talk about who influenced Shakespeare. By reading his plays and poems we can see clear influences from Homer, Plato, Virgil, Ovid (who was his source for the Pyramus and Thisbe legend), Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Plutarch, Holinshed, Montaigne (particularly from the 1603 translation by John Florio), Spenser, Marlowe, and countless others. His works also illustrate that he had an extensive knowledge of a wide array of non-literary subjects, including (but not limited to) medicine, law, court politics, geography, sailing, witchcraft, falconry, and fencing, which surely necessitated a lot of reading. In the appendix to her book Sweet Swan of Avon, american scholar Robin P. Williams (no relation to the late comic) compiled a list of nearly every literary source which the poet must have read - as evidenced by references to them in some capacity throughout his body of work, thereby not counting anything that he may have read for pleasure without making any allusions to - and it wound up being eight times more than the total traceable sources of Ben Jonson, who is considered by many to be the second smartest playwright of the age. – ProtoCanon 8 years ago
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Many of the plays were not original ideas, but rather based on several source materials. Troilus and Cressida is a great example for instance as an Italian writer expanded of of Homer and the story got rewritten a couple of times--even by Chaucer!--before the Shakespeare even wrote his version. Focusing on a couple plays might help narrow the focus – ckmwriter 8 years ago
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Another thing to consider is that many of Shakespeare's plays were "work shopped" in the Globe Theater. He would write the greater chunk of the script, pulling from Classic sources, but he would revise them with both cast a crew. Also, as ProtoCanon mentioned earlier, many of his plays were directly influenced by classics and to put it lightly, many of them could be considered adaptations or "fan ficitons" (to put it bluntly). I think a better question would be, although greatly influential and a master of language in his own right, how much of Shakespeare's material was directly his own? Considering the work shopping, the borrowing from other sources, etc. how much did Shakespeare actually create? Perhaps this needs to be better worded (I'm struggling myself to plot this question out correctly) but I still think these things should be considered when writing for this topic. – Mela 8 years ago
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Latest Comments

Apr 19, 2016 TheSnob Inside Out is definitely another recent children’s film with a darker tone. The film grapples with the feelings of depression and hopelessness that are familiar to folks like me who had to leave their childhood homes like Riley did. It is important for films to bring these childhood issues to the forefront.	Should Children's Films be Dark or Light?
Apr 19, 2016 TheSnob I think that it has been made clear that the masses can accept implicit LGBTQ+ ideas in their Disney films, but it will be decades before we see an explicitly queer plot or main character from Disney. This is perhaps unfortunate, but we will get there eventually.	Is the World Ready for an LGBTQ Disney Princess (or Prince)?
Apr 19, 2016 TheSnob As incredible as that sounds, the last thing Hollywood needs is another adaptation of Cinderella.	Is the World Ready for an LGBTQ Disney Princess (or Prince)?
Apr 19, 2016 TheSnob I for one disagree. I think that Gone Girl works as a profound sociological examination on contemporary media as it demonstrates the fascination news-consumers have with violence, and the way that such instances of violence in the form of biased media publications and news stories can become sensationalized, especially in the case of violence against women, as the author often demonstrates here.	What The Audience Got Wrong About "Gone Girl"