Older Than They Think/Theatre: Difference between revisions

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** ''[[The Tempest]]'' was inspired by an actual shipwreck caused by a hurricane; the description of Bermuda, where the victims landed, just sounded that cool to English audiences.
* While [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s ''plots'' might not be as original as people think, his use of language certainly was, and that leads to this trope in and of itself. As quoted in ''The Story of English'':
{{quote| ''If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise - why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I were dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord! Tut, tut! for goodness' sake! what the dickens! but me no buts - it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare. (The Story of English, 145)''}}
* ALL plays created from the Renaissance until the end of the Neoclassical period were based on pre-existing play or histories, usually Greco-Roman. There were actually rules that playwrights HAD to do this.
** That's not exactly true for comedy. An examples is [[Niccolo Machiavelli]]'s comedy, ''La Mandragola'', set in modern Florence and were not based on any historical event or classical play.