Quote:
Originally Posted by GoSharks
As his works were written primarily for the stage, this goes without saying....however, I think one can take it a step further. Not everything written by classical authors was meant to be enduring. Some were meant to be inspirational, some educational, some recreational, and some just to put food on the table. His body of work certainly encompassed all of these purposes, the trick is to decide what your in the mood for.... 
I'm not sure what the purpose of Jane Austen's works was, other than to annoy Twain!  (ducking and covering now....) |
True and in the case of Shakespere we owe the preservation of his body of works not to the man himself but to friends of his who began compiling what became known as the first folio shortly after his death. I'm sure there were many men writing plays back then but most of them are long forgotten. For example the Coventry Carol is all that's left of a play based on the events of the 1st Christmas when Herod sent his soldiers out to kill the babes hoping to dispose of the Messiah by so doing. The carol was sung by the 'mothers' who were hoping to keep their children quiet so they wouldn't be murdered in their cribs. It was performed in Coventry England which is why the Carol is called the "Coventry Carol" to this day. Anyway there were probably a good many plays written based on the scriptures back then and in fact Shakespeare also based at least some of his plays on earlier works giving them a tweak here and there to make them different. In many cases those earlier plays are likely forgotten. He wrote for the people of his time. The common man who had few other amusements. I imagine if he could come back today and find his plays still being performed he'd be astonished.