“Beware the Ides of March.”
(Soothsayer, Julius Caesar, Act 1 Scene 2)
Today, March 15th, was known as the Ides of March on the Roman Calendar. It was a day for settling debts long due and for observing religious ceremonies. Now, we remember it as the day Julius Caesar was assassinated. More often than that, however, we remember the quote “Beware the Ides of March” spoken by a soothsayer (prophet) to warn Julius Caesar of his imminent death in Shakespeare’s eponymous play 'Julius Caesar'. So, why do we think of Shakespeare's play and iconic quotes first, rather than the historical event itself?
There's no denying that Shakespeare has had an immense impact on the world of literature and the English language and, while his history is not always accurate (to be fair he didn’t have the sources we have now), his historical plays serve as a stepping stone for us to develop our own interest in history. Needless, to say Shakespeare had an epic influence then and now. Let’s look at some of the ways Shakespeare still influences the modern world.
Many of his works were likely lost to time, unpublished, or screwed up in a ball and thrown across the room, but as far as we know Shakespeare penned about 39 plays, over 150 sonnets, 2 narrative poems, and several other unclassified works. Through his writings, Shakespeare is credited with inventing over 1700 words, while for some of these he may be just the first to put them to paper or he may have altered pre-existing words, it is still an impressive feat. Furthermore, he altered verbs to become adverbs and adjectives and added suffixes and prefixes to various words to alter their meanings. Here are our top ten words invented by Shakespeare: dauntless, tranquil, zany, bandit, frugal, gloomy, swagger, gnarled, jaded, and hobnob. The longest word Shakespeare ever utilised was ‘honorificabilitudinitatibus’ - say that 10 times fast! He is also credited for creating some common phrases we still use to this day, such as: break the ice; cold comfort; in a pickle; wild goose chase; it’s Greek to me; cold-blooded/hot-blooded; what’s done is done.
However, creating words and phrases wasn’t Shakespeare’s only contribution to the English language and literature. Shakespeare’s works expanded on our ideas of plot development, genre, and characterisation. Even today, we still build our writing on the structure that he pioneered. It is no wonder Shakespeare is the most common writer studied in high school English classes. During the time of Shakespeare’s publications, spelling and grammar improved across the country, and he is even said to have aided in the standardisation of the English language. Shakespeare’s stories are still used today to inspire movies, television, and more. His plot lines, tropes, and character stereotypes have been readapted over and over again throughout generations to reach the audience of their time.
For example:
10 Things I Hate About You (film, 1999) - Taming of the Shrew
She’s The Man (film, 2006) - Twelfth Night
My Own Private Idaho (film, 1991) - Henry IV
Romeo + Juliet (film, 1996) - Romeo and Juliet
The Lion King (animated film, 1994) - Hamlet
O (film, 2001) - Othello
Throne of Blood (film, 1957) - Macbeth
Hamlet 2000 (film, 2000) - Hamlet
Forbidden Planet (film, 1956) - The Tempest
Gnomeo & Juliet (animated film, 2011)- Romeo and Juliet
West Side Story (musical, 1961) - Romeo and Juliet
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (film, 1966/play, 1990) - Hamlet
Ran (film, 1985) - King Lear
Motocrossed (film, 2001) - Twelfth Night
Lady Macbeth (film, 2017) - Macbeth
The King (film, 2019) - Henry V
A rather random tale of Shakespeare's influence is the story of King Richard III's bones. In a very roundabout series of events, Shakespeare’s play Richard III led to the discovery of King Richard III’s bones underneath a car park in Leicester (where the Grey Friar’s Priory previously stood) in 2012. The search for the missing bones of the last King to die in battle was largely spurred on by the Richard III Society whose goal is ‘to secure a more balanced assessment of the king and to support research into his life and times’. They strongly disapprove of Shakespeare’s portrayal of Richard III as a deformed and villainous King and seek to rectify his reputation. There is a channel 4 documentary on these events titled ‘Richard III: The King in the Car Park’ and a 2022 movie titled ‘The Lost King’. It is shocking and slightly scary to see how much a writer like Shakespeare can shape our idea of history and our perception of historical figures. With that in mind, always take Shakespeare’s historical plays for what they are - historical fiction. While Shakespeare did research his plays, the sources available then were often inaccurate. Not to mention, the stories flitting about then were largely impacted by Tudor bias and gossip. Additionally, Shakespeare had to write not only to please his Queen and later King, but also the masses who would probably be snoring in the wings without Shakespeare’s added drama and tragedy!
A little tidbit to inspire or motivate or remind us of the thread between past and present. Shakespeare's life was shaped by plagues. Grim, I know, but also ... slightly relatable. Shakespeare was born during a plague and after the loss of his siblings, his parents did everything in their might to ensure his survival and as we all know, they succeeded. Plagues continued to make their violent way around London throughout Shakespeare's life but he never left the city and he never stopped writing. In fact, Shakespeare is known to have written some of his greatest works during and after these outbreaks, such as King Lear, Timon of Athens, Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth, and Coriolanus. It is also said that due to theatres closing during plague outbreaks, Shakespeare saw an opportunity to experiment with his writing and began to write more and more sonnets. Our world is still, in 2023, recovering from and dealing with Coronavirus but I hope Shakespeare's work can remind you that beauty and new beginnings can be borne of hardships.
All in all, Shakespeare has had an unprecedented impact on the English language, literature, media, and history. Shakespeare loved drama, moral dilemmas and romantic tragedies (I wonder what he’d think of Eastenders) and we will be studying his work, remaking his stories and using his words for years to come. While his memorable words may come to mind before the poor betrayed Julius Caesar on this date, would we think of Julius Caesar at all today if not for Shakespeare? That is the impact of his work.
If you were to create a word or phrase like Shakespeare often did, what would it be?
Oh, and remember … Beware the Ides of March …
Holly Myers
