Shakespeare is important because he has made a significant contribution to the English literature through his work on Drama or Plays. Reading and analyzing his work also provide insight into the culture and society around those times.

Hope this answers your question.

Shakespeare wrote about the human condition - he pushed boundaries by writing plays that appealed to everyone, not just the rich. And he even abandoned traditional verse structure at times. When there weren't the words to say what he wished, he created new ones. When he felt a story needed telling, he told it. He unabashedly shared his soul with his audiences and readers - the mark of not only a writer, but an artist.

Shakespeare is important for the following reasons: (Not in order of importance.)

He wrote beautifully. Some painters have a talent for using colors uniquely, and create beautiful paintings. Shakespeare created beautiful works of art with his unique use of the English language.

His poems had an important impact on the poets who followed him, and his plays had an impact on the playwrights who followed him. One easy way to asses any writers or painters importance is to look at the influence they had on other artists. The greater the impact the more important the artist. After Picasso, painting was never the same.

Shakespeare had a profound understanding of us human beings: How and what we think, what we feel, how and why we act. His work may be written in a difficult language to understand, but hundreds of years later, Romeo and Juliet's love isn't. 

There are countless more!

Matthew

 Shakespeare is important because of his knowledge of human nature which basically remains the same throughout time.

His works, especially the plays, show the striking similarities between humans regardless of the time or period highlighted.

One has only to look at some of the main characters in his plays to see the worse (Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Iago) and the best (Banquo, King Duncan, or Cordelia,King Lear's youngest daughter) in human nature.

The plays reveal all aspects of our characters and natures,and as a result, they will remain timeless reminders of the heights to which we humans can aspire,and the depths to which we can descend when we are overly ambitious.

Barbara J H.

River Forest, Illinois

Shakespeare holds up a literary mirror to the face of humanity and has forced us all to stare into its reality.  We may frown, we may laugh, we may cry, we may emphathize, we may be confused, we may question, but most certainly Shakespeare causes us to make decisions about WHO we are and WHERE we are in the world.  It only takes one look into the mirror before we realize we must continue to stare, briefly glance or quickly walk away.

Nirupama is right! Also, Shakespeare is the quintessential word smith. He (literally) invented over 2,00 words in the English language, many of which are still used today (eyeball, dawn, barefaced, etc).