Past Faulkner; Other Modern Woks Influenced by Shakespeare

I wanted to look over some of the other popular modern works that have been influenced by Shakespeare. In addition to just listing some of my findings I have also decided to look at how this has kept Shakespeare's legacy alive throughout time.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead: This is a comedic play that has become a great study for English majors. The play takes two minor characters from Hamlet, the courtiers, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and tells a story from their perspective while the events of Hamlet occur offstage.

What this does for Shakespeare's legacy: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is a play commonly studied in English courses from as early as High School English courses to upper level collegiate courses. This exposes students of literature, even at a young age, to a Shakespearen classic, and allows for the entertainment of the comedic play to provide a good relationship between student and Shakespeare to exist. In addition, Tom Stoppard's play keeps Shakespeare's characters alive. While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor Hamlet characters, it open up a window that keeps Shakespeare's original work evolving.

Lion King: The famous Disney movie, The Lion King, is based off the plot of Hamlet and deals with the same themes of revenge.

The Lion King introduces a very young audience to one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. While such a young audience might not understand some of the themes of revenge, or even the plot development that is similar, they will come to recognize the similarities when they are introduced to Hamlet. I found an article online that compares the characters of Hamlet with those of The Lion King. In conclusion the article says: "Although much of modern entertainment may look like new entertainment on the surface, if we probe deeply enough, we can find connections to some of the greatest literature of all time. Shakespeare is probably one of the most influential writers of all time . . . His plays are continuously redone and reperformed, his sonnets quoted in many a song and story, [and] his histories the basis of many school lessons.

Twilight: I haven't read or seen any of the Twilight series, but I know enough about it to recognize some similarities between Romeo and Juliet. While I cannot comment too extensively, I can probably generalize and say that any conflicted love story (which is almost all of them) has some tie back to Romeo and Juliet. However, in Twilight, instead of the difference being fueding families of Montague and Capulet, the conflict is vampires and humans. Almost any story, where the lovers have a conflict, can be traced back to Romeo and Juliet.

These are just three of the many and many that have traces of Shakespeare in them.

http://www.lionking.com/Hamlet-TM.html, Hamlet and the Lion King. 1998.