Why Shakespeare matters so much til now.

 Why Shakespeare?

Will we ever encounter another Will Shakespeare? If we do, there may not be the same number of admirers to construct his successor in the same colossal manner. Shakespeare has been adapting to every new age and generation, keeping up with huge strides, almost as a giant in a fairy tale walks across towns and cities, kingdoms and forests. He is totally alive in our lives because his phrases and aphorisms have stayed on, giving us the facility to express ourselves more aptly. His metaphors continue to have life and his plays still grip us. His magnification of Mark Antony has turned out to be a true r picture of his own stature: ‘His legs bestrid the ocean, his rar’d arm crested the world.’ Of course there have been attempts right from his own time, till the present, to pull down the giant and cut him to size. But the giant has walked on and only grown. I have taught Shakespeare over decades and constructed my own version of the giant. I confess that my version of the man is the one millionth version and may not affect the average reader at all; yet I will tell anyone who has the patience to hear me out that Shakespeare has constructed me even more than I have constructed him. He has made me a writer both directly and through those who wrote under his influence, people like Charles Dickens. I seem to have become a novelist only because Shakespeare’s language, his dramatization of situations and his presentation of ideas have settled in my mind and taken root there.