Shakespeare's Lasting Impact on Literature

Abstract

When reflecting upon the influence of Shakespeare’s plays on literature, it is striking that there seems to be hardly a lone segment of English literary history untouched by the hand of the Bard. Scholars have examined his impact upon the works of giants such as Goethe, Voltaire, Byron, Milton, Keats, Dickens and Faulkner; his plots have been re-interpreted over and again, seen in recent decades in modern stories for young adults such as West Side Story and The Twilight Saga.