William Shakespeare is such a read, learned, referenced, and noticeably timeless author that, in our culture today, many people like to claim some sort of expertise in Shakespearean subject matter. We all know of his major works, we all know about his childhood, and we all know that he was able to reach all classes of people (and still can) with his lyric poetry. 

     However, to fully grasp the essence of what gives Shakespeare's works this timelessness, I believe it to be all but unnecessary to study in depth the dates and theaters and specific vocabulary of these writings and performances; instead, we should turn our key focus to the intense emotion of his writings. Human beings relate to emotion; love of art, be it paintings, poems, dance, theater, prose, or merely an acute awareness of ones self and of ones surroundings, is key in producing this emotion, and is therefore absolutely necessary to the human experience. It was Shakespeare's grasp of this that led not only to his success, but to his timelessness. 


-AS