Clichés in Classic Literature

[grimmsly96]

 

 

Someone recently told me that Shakespeare is full of clichés. Initially, I thought that statement was ludicrous however after some thought, it is not hard to understand how someone may come to such a conclusion. What many people don't realize is that many modern works of literature, film, and television are actually based on classic literature. You don't have to look far to see Shakespearean clichés in a number of modern films. It is important to remember that Shakespeare invented many of these. Though they may be clichés now, that is only because they have been recycled over the centuries.

[SanguineSara]

I adore Shakespeare completely, but it's a bit ironic how our society encourages us to view him in such a stuffy, sophisticated light. In reality, Shakespeare was tasked with entertaining the "common folk" with his plays, and this shines through in most of his works. Most of his humor is actually pretty vulgar; as a matter of fact, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet begins with a rather extensive scene of what is basically just two men daring each other to bite their thumbs at people, which is the modern equivalent of flipping someone the bird. The quote "Exit, pursued by a bear" exists because of a stage direction provided in The Winter's Tale in which a character that needed to leave the scene to move along the plot is chased away by a bear that conveniently just appears. Any writer will tell you that's something only an amateur would do, and yet, one of the most renowned masters of the English language used it himself!

Of course, I agree with what you said about how many modern works are based on classics, particularly Shakespeare's works. Disney's The Lion King, for instance, was based off of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Many people hold the cynical view that "nothing is ever truly original," and while it logically makes sense to assume this is true, I personally don't particularly care for the pessimism associated with that.  Art is the purest expression of the soul, and clichés shouldn't hold your story back from what you originally wanted it to be, so long as you don't blatantly copy someone else's piece!