Knowing that he borrowed from certain plots, knowing he had a classical education, and knowing he was probably a member of the 'wrong' religion in the Elizabethan police-state would make him a most fascinating interview concerning other subjects besides drama and literature.

Today is April 23, the feast day of St. George, in the church calendar, and on this date in history, according to historical computations, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564.

Also on this date in history, in 1616, Shakespeare died. This is a Julian Calendar date as under the Gregorian Calendar, these two dates would be May 3.

I can add little to the luster of the one single person who has had the most impact on the English Language.

Why certainly I would give my debt of gratitude to this great and wise ruler of words. He wrote many different plays about many different subjects. He proved that love could conquer and destroy. He proved that people trust what they can't see, he proved that most people do not know what thier true intention is, only that one exists. He has written well over 300 plays of all generes. Some of his best examples are truly without even trying. That is the whole confounding experience of life, it just keeps bringing you different questions to experience and to decide to trust or reject what ones heart hopes to be, versus not trusting nor not knowing ones true intent. His stories will stay through the course of history, and some will achieve greatness because of something they have read that made profound sense out of virtue and other wonderous happenings. Even the tradgies have amusing sense of mirth. A whole dialect of amazing delight to think of 2000 years with so much less, this man achieved so much more.

Certainly a big influence on Western literature,but overall not such a "mover and shaker" of history.

We're still doing remakes of his plays for the silver screen and on stage how many years after this guy keeled over??? Someone didn't pay attention in English class, obviously. One of the great lumenaries of his day, and we all still enjoy his plays, even if you don't realize the influence on Hollywood at first. :)

who cares about this guy he just wrote a bunch of boring poems.

How can you compare a man you wrote plays to people who invented the technology that keeps us alive, fought wars that determined what tongue we speak (and what mr. playwright spoke) and came up with the political and moral codes by which we live? Expression is great and I am in no way saying his works are not a joy to hear, but without Locke I woundn't have the right to hear them, without the people who invented all these medicines I wouldn't be alive to hear him, with those who command the vast armies of history my culture wouldn't even be here! Nor would his! He is an artist, not a great influence on the path of history.

I think many people would be surprised to see how different the world would be if Mr. Shakespeare had never been born. His importance goes far beyond a required segment of your high school English class. This man's plays are a basic cornerstone in an artistic medium that offers an outlet of expression to us all. Theatre, whether drama, comedy or tradgedy, has always been more than simply entertainment. In a very real way it is also an ongoing attempt to define and play out our existence as we search for what makes us different and what makes us the same. There is a reason for Shakespeare's longevity and there is a rare purity about it.

Greatest of playwrites, no one comes close except Euripides (and he lived nearly 2,500 years ago). His plays, sonnets and poetry have had an influence on modern English and culture that is impossible to comphrehed. You cannot understand English unless you study Shakespeare. Children should start reading Shakespeare in Grade one.

Overrated!!!

The World is but a stage, and the internet a feeding ground for plagiarism. So is literature, and Shakespeare is responsible for many plagiarized works, including Oedipus' stories which Shakespeare stole from Thespis, an ancient Greek playwright whom did not regain credit for his works for almost another five centuries. Shakespeare did however, lay out the groundwork for modern theatre, an accomplishment which bestowed him a seat in history's hall of fame.

If he really wrote everything he purportedly wrote, he is the greatest writer who ever lived. If Dame Rowling can be a billionaire writing about sorcerer wannabes, then Shakes should be a trillionaire.

A great playwrite, to be sure, but how influential was he, really? He is not considered to have been of too much importance outside the English-speaking world, and even less outside of the West. He just wasn't THAT influential.

Sir Ian McKellan, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ben Kingsley are just a small number of some of the best actors around today who have all been classically trained thanks to the genuis of William Shakespeare. When you look at the text, verse, character, language and the many other ways Shakespeare told his stories and take into consideration the time most of his work was written you can do nothing but admire pure genius.

Shakespeare wrote about universal themes using archetypal images and plots. I believe his stories have lasted to this day because of this fact. In fact, some of his stories have their roots in tales told thousands of years before Shakespeare wrote his plays. Star Wars is actually on the same level (a hero myth). I think Shakespeare was only influential in that the themes of his stories are timeless and based in our collective unconscious, but that's enough.