William Shakespeare Remains a Literary Legend - Research Paper Example

An In-Depth Examination of William Shakespeare William Shakespeare is a well-respected literary figure, whose works inspire the imaginations of contemporary literary students, scholarly educators and general society alike, something incapable of being accomplished by many different writers throughout history. Shakespeare maintained a unique ability to encapsulate a wide range of human behavior and emotional capacities using simplistic, yet highly-insightful and articulated narratives which are still relevant to the human condition today. His ability to elaborate on the good and evil of men, coupled with fascinating dialogue which provided plots that were both humorous and perceptive, appealed to both lower-class and upper-class audiences, creating an opportunity to contemplate one’s own strengths and failings as human beings. Shakespeare’s unique ability to connect with diverse audience demographics and solidify the human condition has transcended the passage of time, making him a literary legend. Shakespeare’s work were reflective of the time period in which he lived, which also provides a unique historical record of social and political attitudes which occurred during the Elizabethan Age, making him an interesting figure for study and scrutiny. Shakespeare was fortunate, having been born during the reign of Elizabeth I who radically improved the social and economic stability and opportunity in England. Elizabeth was highly-devoted to theater and literature and believed that the arts were fundamental to ensuring a positive legacy of the English Empire and improving lifestyle of English citizens. During Elizabeth’s reign, the Spanish Armada was defeated, establishing England as the most dominant commercial and military power throughout the world, creating a more influential merchant middle-class capable of exploring a better quality of lifestyle. Economic prosperity fulfilled a sense of security for the English people of the time, providing opportunities for all to explore theater and improved general social lightheartedness and humor unparalleled in a difficult English history of oppression and poverty. The domain of psychology recognizes that when a human achieves a sense of security and social belonging, it improves well-being, esteem and the motivation to better oneself to become fully self-actualized (Weiten and Lloyd 248). Hence, the period provided a social and economic environment where becoming cultured and educated were significant goals and ambitions. Shakespeare’s works exemplified the time period in which he lived in very distinct ways. Most notably was how Shakespeare portrayed Henry VIII, the predecessor to Elizabeth I. King Henry VIII was often criticized during his reign as being pompous, arrogant and unsympathetic (Ives 31). Henry VIII had also created significant economic problems in England by demanding the debasement of English coinage, deliberately lowering the total value of a country’s currency by reducing the precious metal content of coins. The King required £2.13 million to fund his endless recurring wars and, along with coinage debasement, Henry VIII increased citizen taxes. This led to an inflationary environment, a common outcome in debasement policy (Spufford 365). This made life much more difficult for common men during the King’s reign where agricultural products witnessed a 338 percent inflation increase. Henry VIII simply blamed upper class society for these economic problems rather than changing monetary policy. Hence, Shakespeare’s works reflected celebration and glory of the Elizabethan Era were the economy stabilized and lifestyles were improved through more liberal and inventive economic policy. In Henry VIII, Shakespeare portrays the King as an individual who is quite effortlessly deceived and who was rather naive (Betteridge and Lipscomb 18). Shakespeare depicts Henry VIII as being robustly in pursuit of personal pleasure and self-gratification, the solidified and stoic master of his household, and even tyrannical. Shakespeare’s inflexibility and stoicism is seen in Henry VIII when Bishop Gardiner attempts flattery to sway the King’s position. Henry simply states that such activity is appalling and akin to a spaniel, a wagging tongue incapable of such persuasion (McMullan 32) and, essentially, a wasteful activity that to Shakespeare’s Henry, was akin to a cruel disposition and a bloody; vernacular still utilized today in English society to express disgust. Shakespeare’s Henry VIII uses this dialogue as a means of creating humor in the audience, mocking Henry as somewhat of a deplorable man without the same types of virtues and legitimacy that Elizabeth I brought to England. By using sarcastic and rather disrespectful dialogue to paint the picture of Henry as a tyrant and highly-prideful, audiences that remembered the difficult living and poor economic environment of England had cause to reflect and to express amusement in a new England with much more prosperity. Additionally, Henry had greatly expanded the power and authority of the English Crown during his reign through the implementation of the Divine Rights of Kings and Henry VIII asserts that the King’s inability to reconcile God’s will with the law created discourse that caused chuckles and distaste (congruently) for an England under Henry’s rule that was inefficient and even promoting of citizen destitution. From a different perspective, Shakespeare’s Henry VIII illustrated a new type of enlightenment regarding political power, capturing the hearts and attention of the audience whose needs were now being considered by a more socially-minded Queen who transcended the tyranny and oppression of a previous ruling regime. Prior to the Elizabethan Age, violence as a means of conquest was a standard way of living for ruling regimes, citizens and military in an effort to gain control and authority throughout the world. Production of a play that did not focus on violence and war inspired a new concept of power that was more celebratory toward Elizabeth I and condemning of oppressive ruling regimes. Henry VIII showed how Shakespeare was instrumental in changing social and political attitudes to embrace more liberal monarchies with consideration of the needs of lower-class members of society in exchange for brutality and manipulation. Henry VIII portrayed King Henry as being illogical and somewhat manipulative, giving audience members an opportunity to reflect on transformation of political authority and a more prosperous British future. Through plot and character discourse, Shakespeare’s Henry VIII created audience responses in his depiction of a less-violent portrayal of the previous ruling monarchy during a transformational period where witnessing bloodshed and being oppressed by scheming regimes had once been commonplace. Henry VIII encapsulated a new type of social thinking, one where human value transcended a historical English society that was often unspeakable and dreadful in its sadism. Recognizing the power of Shakespeare’s ability to transform human thought and behavior with clever and compelling narratives is likely another reason why the literary figure is so well-respected and popular today. Shakespeare seems to recognize that true enlightenment, concepts considered during the Renaissance, begins with being free-thinking and liberal and that it requires a blend of comedy, tragedy and absurdity to effectively change social attitudes and values. This is what made his work so compelling and interesting during his time period as it challenged the status quo of politics and social order and ideologies. It would appear that the most common themes throughout Shakespeare’s work is the promotion of new social thinking, providing opportunities to examine oneself in comparison to the social environment, to enlighten oneself about how to be a better human being. In Henry VIII, Shakespeare illustrates the capacity for human inflexibility which is evident by the humorous and contemptuous portrayal of King Henry. In this play, these scornful and poor human attributes are overcome with positive ideals, such as love and empathy (the portrayal of Elizabeth I’s ruling ideology), making people and England better places. It seems that Shakespeare attempts to bring out the most constructive attributes of his audiences to affirm that enlightenment can be achieved through careful self-reflection, humor and maintaining a remembrance of the past to become more open-minded and tolerant society members. Works Cited Betteridge, Thomas and Suzannah Lipscomb. Henry VIII and the Court, Art, Politics and Performance. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2013. Print. Ives, Eric. “Will the real Henry VIII please stand up?” History Today 56.2 (2006): 28-35. Print. McMullen, Gordon. King Henry VIII: The Arden Shakespeare. London: Thomson Learning, 2000. Print. Spufford, Peter. Money and its use in Medieval Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Print. Weiten, Wayne and Margaret Lloyd. Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century, 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing, 2010. Print. Read More