First off. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. D8 I'm debating if it should be in the Literature Spot or here. It's a discussion. ._.; So I chose this forum. And sorry if it's a repeat topic. o.o; I haven't been here all that long.

Okay. So. Shakespeare. World known play writer and seemingly a huge influence on the English language today. The world's plagued with his works everywhere, especially school and theaters.

But what might have happened if Shakespeare never graced our world with his plays? Would we speak the same as we do (English speakers that is)? What would teachers pick on students with to write essays about? Would there ever be anything to "replace" saying's related to Romeo & Juliet or other plays that have inspired sayings?

Er, main question here. Any thoughts on where we'd be if Shakespeare never showed up?

(Sorry. I made a spelling mistake on the poll. >-<; )

I don't think things would be much different without Shakespeare, essays would change, maybe some acting jobs would be lost... but not a massive impact. It's not like people walk around going "Romeo, romeo, where for art thou" ^^

@Jon: They don't? XD Joke. But yeah, probably. I see many references to it though and it just gets me thinking what people would say instead if Shakespeare wasn't around.

Our vocabulary would probably have been far more limited than it is now. Shakespeare had a habit of just inventing words left, right and centre. xD

Shakespeare's stuff is largely plays though, so I'm not sure what impact he would have had on our literary development.

Maybe the rumours are true and he stole it a lote of it off of other authors, so we'd still have all the things he wrote, under different names?

@Neshaka: o.O I've never heard those rumors. 8D I doubt he stole the ideas, only took the basics of some from somewhere else and expanded with humor and other traits. Same with every other author/play writer out there really.

His plays expanded our vocabulary a lot as you just suggested with the words he made up, and with vocabulary comes the expanding of literature (or the downfall as txt tlk has come to teach us. As my English teacher says).

Ugh, text talk. D8
about.com has an selection of some words and phrases he at least brought to popularity.
The language was evolving quite quickly at that point, so whether the word wouldn't exist at all, or whether it would just be a different word with the same meaning, is a question I don't have the time to research properly. xD

DX I know, makes me wonder what Shakespeare would say about txt tlk. *gigglesnort*

"Thou art making a mockery of that which you were taught! Speaketh with thou vowels boy/lass!"

XD About.com gives me pop-ups so~ much. ._.; Thankfully most of them are stopped. Well. Even if people did have time to do the research, I doubt anyone would be able to come out with a satisfactory answer anyway. XD

The world with out Shakesphere I think would be less plays and different books in Freshman English classes at my school. We would probably speak the same and some other person probably would've taken his spot.

@Serenity - Maybe. 83

It is probably better to have Shakespeare around than not, but I still wouldn't read most of his stuff. Ugh.

Although we don't go around saying "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo," we do quote Shakespeare a lot more than people realize. How many times have you heard someone say "All's well that ends well," or talk about the green-eyed monster of jealousy? And although "assassin" was already a word, the first recorded usage of "assassination" comes from Hamlet. He brought a lot into the language.

As for our literary development, I'm really not sure. A good study of British literature will cover a whole lot more than Shakespeare, even if a secondary school class might not. He didn't create any new literary styles, but there is a reason it's known as the "Shakespearean sonnet."

Shakespeare didn't steal any of his words from other authors, but it was the tradition of his time to reuse old plotlines and story ideas, so yes, all his plays came from outside stories. There are other rumors, though, that Shakespeare wasn't really well, Shakespeare, but that someone else used the Stratfordian(?) actor's name as a cover up. Some people say he was really Queen Elizabeth, or Christopher Marlowe, or Francis Bacon, or someone else. This mostly comes from people who don't think middle class William Shakespeare had a good enough education to write so very beautifully.

what might have happened if Shakespeare never graced our world with his plays?

about the same. we would just be quoting and making movies about a different play and writer.

Would we speak the same as we do (English speakers that is)?

a lot of the words and the way the lines are written in Shakespeare's plays, are just for the play.
its about drama and making things seem bigger than they are.
its like fancying up the language.

Example
"Man, you straight stupid!"
"You sir, are clearly an ignoramus!"

What would teachers pick on students with to write essays about?

0_o other playwrites?
lol there are a lot of plays/poems/stories that are similar to Shakespeare's that were before his time and after, to those who have never heard or read of him.
and people usually write things that relate to life and romanticize them.

Would there ever be anything to "replace" saying's related to Romeo & Juliet or other plays that have inspired sayings?

:? thats a bit complicated to me. since Rememberable Quotes are something that fans latch onto. half the time i dont think writers have an intention of creating a Quote that people will use long after their time.

I don't think the world would be quite the same without his influence. I mean there are soo many quotes that people use that originate from his work, or even storylines. I thought I would hate Shakesphere, and, well I do sorta hate reading it, but afterwards, once I've read and know the story, I just love him && his work! <333 ^-^;;

One thing about Shakespeare is that he was, of course, only one of many playwrights from his time, and his works have just somehow managed to largely eclipse most those of most of his contemporaries. Plays by Marlowe and others survive, but they aren't very well known. Thus, even without Shakespeare, we would still have lots of material from the period. That, plus plenty of literature from other periods, would leave English teachers with more than enough to have their students write essays about.

As for language, sure Shakespeare coined a lot of phrases or even words that we use now ('there's something in the wind' or making 'gossip' a verb - both of these are from Comedy of Errors), but I doubt he was the only one to do so. Still, he may have done more in the line of making up or changing words than many of his contemporaries did. As for phrases, I agree with Bunai: they're just strings of words that happen to stick with people. After all, we don't much refer to 'carps of truth' or declare that 'daylight and champaign do not discover more' (Hamlet and Twelfth Night, respectively).

That's true. We probably wouldn't have some of the same words without him.