Monday, April 4, 2011

Updated Hub Post: Shakespeare's Influence on Modern Literature

So I decided to update my Hub Post to include a thesis and conclusion. With my Shakespeare class, and this blog, I have really been able to use some freedom and study what I want to, in relation to Shakespeare. My topic of choice has been Shakespeare's influence on modern literature. I have specifically been looking at Shakespeare's influence on William Faulkner, however I am now going to turn my attention these last three weeks to what this all means.

Thesis: Shakespeare's influence on William Faulkner and modern literature has not been his legacy of plot designs and characters that modern authors have used as tempaltes in their own work, yet Shakespeare's plot designs and characters have inspired the furthering of the literary cannon. Because of Shakespeare's story-telling methods, modern authors, such as Faulkner, have been able to continue to reinvent methods of story-telling.

I first looked into some of the tactics that Shakespeare used to create his enduring plot structures and characters through the lens of language. Shakespeare's language in Richard II and Hamlet create either reflection (inaction) or action.

Here is a study of the biographical similarities between Faulkner and Shakespeare. I took a look at this just to get started. Interestingly enough there are some strong similarities between the two authors, however, this is not the cause for their success as writers.

A comparison of Macbeth's soliloquy and The Sound and The Fury. This was the first post of a few where I compared The Sound and The Fury to Shakespeare's works. While much of this soliloquy can be related to the plot/characters of The Sound and The Fury, it is interesting to see how Faulkner takes some of the original themes from Shakespeare's work and translates them into his own work.

Character analysis of Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury. In this post I took a closer look at the characters in The Sound and The Fury. Faulkner created his own, original, pedestrian in nature, characters.

A comparison of Shakespearean and Faulknerean (?) characters. I compared some of Faulkner's characters to Shakespeare's characters. While there is plenty to compare, I think I should note that there is drastic differences, supporting my claim that Shakespeare did more than just lay a template for future authors, he paved a way for authors to invent characters.

Conclusion: From what I have done I can say that Faulkner has further created and explored plots, themes and characters that relate to human experience generally. He did this without copying Shakespearean theory and templates, and has thus expanded modern literature from Shakespeare's influence.

I recognize that I need to create better cohesion between my posts, and in turn my entire blog. As I finalize some of my research on Faulkner, and other modern literature that has been influenced by Shakespeare, I plan on creating more unity. So be looking for an updated Hub Post and conclusion.