8-2ShakespearesInfluences

Role Models //Answer prepared by Joey J// William Shakespeare has accomplished many goals. In only 23 years, he wrote 38 plays which is over one play a year. Though, he was not just a play writer, but he also was an artist of excellent sonnets. The website, William-Shakespeare info, says that h e is the most widely read of all authors. The popularity of the Life and Works of Shakespeare, in English speaking countries, is second only to the Bible. Those credentials represent how prosperous and prestigious Shakespeare truly was. Shakespeare would not be able to achieve all of the goals that he has without some of the men who influenced him. One of the men that influenced William Shakespeare was named Publius Ovidius Naso. Terry A. Gray, from Shakespeare Palomar, says that Ovid's influence on Western art and literature cannot be exaggerated. The //Metamorphoses// is our best classical source of 250 myths. "The poem is the most comprehensive, creative mythological work that has come down to us from antiquity". Based on its influence, "European literature and art would be poorer for the loss of the //Metamorphoses// than for the loss of Homer" (Hadas). Ovid was a major inspiration for Dante Alighieri, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, and John Milton. If Virgil is Rome's greatest poet, Ovid is the most popular (even in his own time; Ovidian graffiti has been found on the walls of Pompeii). Another man that had a great impact on Shakespeare's life was Christopher Marlowe. PBS says that Christopher Marlowe was born in 1564, the same year as Shakespeare, and was a product of the same social class. Unlike Shakespeare, however, Marlowe was university-educated. PBS says that this solid foundation in the classics made him a talented translator and also informed his "darkly hip" poetry. __Christopher Marlowe__ (5-7), by Tobert E Knoll says that Marlowe popularized a change in the way poetry was written, heavily influenced by Latin. By the late 1580s his way of writing was the state of the art, to which almost all other writers aspired. His work could show terrific empathy with a morally ambiguous character. Oddly enough, Ovid influenced Marlowe and both of those men influenced Shakespeare. Shakespeare was influenced by other author's writings. Michael Best from internet Shakespeare says most of his [Shakespeare's]comedies were influenced by others plays, for example, Love's Labor's Lost was influenced by //The French Academie,// by Pierre de la ayudaye. This means that Shakespeare's masterpieces were not done alone, but he would use other plays to get ideas and thoughts for his own plays. These influences were consistent through his histories, poems, tragedies, and romances. Sometimes he would find plots in plays, poems, or prose narratives already published. Also, Shakespeare would occasionally pick up ideas for characters, or even adapt his favorite passages. __Shakespeare's Storybook__ (7-8),by Patrick Ryan and James Mayhew, states that one of Shakespeare's earlier works called, "The Taming of the Shrew", is based off of a fairy tale called "The Devil's Bet". The tale, "The Devil's Bet", is about a water demon that continues to play tricks on his bad tempered wife. In "The Taming of the Shrew", a woman has a very bad temper. Shakespeare used the idea from "The Devil's Bet" and applied it to his own play. All in all, it seems to me that William has not credited his helpful friends enough, so he couldn't have done all of his work if it were not for others work.

[] Works Cited Best, Michael. "Shakespeare's Life and Times." //Internet Shakespeare//. Internet Shakespeare Editions. 21 Apr 2009 .

Knoll, Robert. __Chirstopher Marlowe__. New York: Twayne's English, 1969.  Ryan, Patrick, and James Mayhew. __Shakespeare's Storybook__. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Barefoot Books, 2006.  "William Shakespeare Biography." //William Shakespeare info//. William Shakespeare Site-Map. 14 Apr 2009. <