23 April is the birth date of probably the world's most famous literary figure - William Shakespeare.
Popular opinion suggests that if Will was writing today he'd be penning scripts for TV soap opera.
I'm not so sure.
Shakespeare is a master at human emotion - love, hate, jealousy, envy, lust - always staple food for the soaps - but his plays have other facets too that make him just as compatible with the current romance scene.
You wouldn't often find the following in a modern soap, but they're favourite Shakespearean motifs.
Identical twins
Storms
Magic woods and islands
Witches
Magicians
Mistaken identity
Prophecy
Ghosts
Magic artifacts - books, handkerchiefs, flowers
Love at first sight
Fairies
Sexy faeries
Journeys to exotic places
Remote and lonely houses with mysterious inhabitants
Castles
Riddles and treasure hunts
Battles and sword fights
Any of these sound familiar?
Bet you've read a current best seller with at least one of these in it in the last month.
So - maybe William in the 21st century would be topping the New York Times Best seller list?
3 comments:
Maybe not a modern soap, but I think Dark Shadows had pretty much everything on your list at one time or another. Maybe Will was "ghosting" the episodes.
Pat
Yeah, Dark Shadows and a recent one I can't think of now, that was based on the paranormal realm with witches, etc.
That being said Shakespeare's plays are phenomenal in scope, story and emotion.
Happy Birthday, Will, wherever you are...
Paranormal soap - that's a new one for me - but then paranormal is not supposed to sell here in the UK :)
Gritty UK soaps like Coronation Street and EastEnders definitly don't have swords and magic in the script.
Post a Comment