The Timelessness of William Shakespeare

The reasons the works of William Shakespeare are still studied and performed today are multi-faceted. They go beyond the lyric quality of his verse, the humor of his comedies, or the doomed heroes and romances of his tragedies. The allure of Shakespeare, and what keeps his work relevant after hundreds of years, are his characters. Shakespeare's characters are more than just their roles in the story, hastily painted heroes or overtly malevolent villains. They are fully realized, possessing flaws and traits that the audience can recognize in themselves and everyone they know.

Shakespeare's characters are not only a product of his literary genius, they are a direct result of a culmination of Renaissance ideas. The importance and value of the reasoned individual, the self-determining power of man, all of these neo-classical ideals were at odds with medieval thought of the individual as a cog in a larger wheel, born to serve country, humankind and God. However, Shakespeare took the power of the individual reason one step further, and shows us the dark side, or the adverse effects. While early renaissance men such as Castiglione and Pico glorified the achievements that could be attained through reason, in Hamlet, Shakespeare effectively shows reason turned inward upon the individual, causing the indecisiveness that ultimately results in Hamlet's ruin.