By Safae Kajouane
Rabat – April 23 marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. Events and performances around the globe are being held to honor him and his great work.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616, Stratford) was an English poet, playwright and actor, commonly regarded as the finest master of the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist. He is frequently called England’s national poet, and the “Bard of Avon.”
Shakespeare’s gift to English literature cannot be underestimated. He contributed over 1700 words to the English language, many of which have found their way into modern common usage. He changed verbs to adjectives, nouns into verbs, added prefixes and suffixes and much more.
It has been almost 400 years since William Shakespeare’s death, but his plays and sonnets still play a major role in modern literature. We all have read or heard about his wonderful works. Many people say that Shakespeare’s traditional style is hard to read and difficult to understand.
Notwithstanding, Shakespeare has written some preeminent pieces of literature that employed drama and comedy as the main elements. Shakespeare has written plays from all genres including drama, thriller, psycho-thriller, romance and comedy. Shakespeare wrote about love and politics in a fascinating way as well.
Shakespeare’s plays, sonnets and narrative poems are popular reading material around the world. Much of his works are studied in schools as part of the curriculum. Additionally, there are hundreds of textbooks explaining the finer points and details of his works in simple English. Many Shakespearian plays have been translated into famous films like The Lion King – based upon his play Hamlet – while Shakespearian sonnets appear in music and books across the world.
The most popular Shakespeare plays including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Henry V. His works are considered a great legacy that millions of people across the world celebrate on the anniversary of this death by watching, reading and debating the secrets of Shakespeare’s art, life and greatness.
