I have no road, so I don’t need eyes; when I can see, I will also stumble and fall. We often lose care because of our self-confidence, but it is not as good as flaws that can be beneficial to us. ,------------------------William Shakespeare

Born in April 1564 in Stratford, England - May 1616 3 (April 23 in the Julian calendar), a famous British playwright and poet. His main works include "Romeo and Juliet", "Hamlet", etc.

Life

The great British playwright and poet William Shakespeare was born in Stratford, England in 1564. Although he received a good basic education, he never went to college. Shakespeare married a 26-year-old woman when he was 18 years old. He had three children when he was less than 21 years old.

A few years later he came to London and became an actor and playwright. He became famous in the theater world at the age of thirty, and four years later he became a leading figure in the British theater world. Over the next ten years he wrote such masterpieces as "Julius Caesar", "Othello", "Macbeth" and "King Lear".

Shakespeare lived in London for more than twenty years, during which time his wife remained in Stratford. Nearing the age of destiny, he retired and returned to his hometown of Stratford. Shakespeare died unfortunately around his fifty-second birthday in 1616. All his descendants have died out.

Shakespeare left thirty-seven plays to the world, including some general plays that he co-wrote with others. In addition, he also wrote one hundred and fifty-four sonnets and three or four long poems.

Given Shakespeare's genius, achievements, and reputation, it seems somewhat bizarre that his name does not figure prominently in this volume. I rank Shakespeare so low not because I don't appreciate his artistic achievements, but because I think literary and artistic figures generally have less impact on human history.

The activities of religious leaders, scientists, politicians, explorers, philosophers or inventors often influence the development of many other areas of human endeavor. For example, the progress of science has had a huge impact on economic and political affairs, as well as the development of religious beliefs, philosophical views, and art.

Although a famous painter may have a great influence on the works of later painters, his impact on music and literature may be minimal. In fact, he may have little impact on exploration and other fields of human endeavor. No impact at all. Similar statements apply to poets, playwrights, and music composers. Generally speaking, literary and artistic figures only have an influence on literature and art, and in fact only on the special field in which they are engaged. It is for this reason that not a single literary, musical or artistic figure is included in the top thirty, and only a few are included in this volume.

So why are there literary and artistic figures in this volume? This is because appreciating literature and art has a certain direct impact on everyone's life (although this impact is not always great). In other words, a person may spend part of his time listening to music, part of his time reading, and part of his time painting. etc. Even if the time we spend listening to music has no impact on our other activities (which is certainly an exaggeration), this portion of our time would still represent a boring time in our lives.

An artist may have more of an impact on our lives than the time we spend listening to, reading, or looking at his work. This is because his works are likely to have an impact on the creative activities of other writers, whose works are experienced and appreciated by us.

In some cases, literary and artistic works have more or less explicit philosophical content, which will affect our views on other issues. This is of course more often the case with literary works than with musical or artistic works. For example, in Romeo and Juliet (Act 3, Scene 1), Shakespeare has the prince say: "You cannot show mercy to murderers, otherwise you encourage murder." The point made here (whether people accept it or not) With distinctive philosophical content, it may have an impact on people's political attitudes, rather than other influences such as appreciating the "Mona Lisa"①.

There seems to be no doubt that Shakespeare is second to none among all literary figures. Relatively speaking, few people today talk about the works of Chaucer, Virgil, or even Homer, but if a Shakespeare play were to be performed, there would definitely be a large audience.

Shakespeare's genius for coining words is unparalleled and he is often quoted - even by people who have never seen or read one of his plays. Moreover, his fame is not a flash in the pan. His works have brought much joy to readers and critics for nearly four hundred years. Since Shakespeare's works have withstood the test of time, it seems reasonable to assume that they will remain popular for many centuries to come.

When evaluating Shakespeare’s influence, we should consider that without him, there would be no works of his at all (of course, similar arguments are suitable for every literary and artistic figure, but this factor is important when evaluating The influence of ordinary artists does not seem to be particularly important).

Although Shakespeare wrote in English, he was a truly world-famous figure. Although English is not quite a world language, it is closer than any other language. Moreover, Shakespeare's works have been translated into many kinds of literature, and many countries read his works and staged his plays.

Of course, the works of some popular writers are also despised by literary critics, but this is not the case with Shakespeare. Literary scholars spare no effort to praise his works. Dramatists for generations have studied his works in an attempt to capture his literary temperament. It is precisely because of Shakespeare's huge influence on other writers and his continued appreciation by the public that he receives a fairly high ranking in this book.