The Greatness of Shakespeare

            Shakespeare once said "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them"- truly I believe he himself is greatness for his simple devotion and love for art and literature. Known as one of the finest poets of all time, Shakespeare is also acknowledged for the beauty of his words and thoughts; struck with rich emotions and the characters he's created are beautifully dimensional with both positive and negative attributes, as well as this he has taught us that mistakes and wrong-doings are allowed as long as we learn from them. Not only has he created such characters with strong charisma, but his themes- love, betrayal, esteem, bravery and political tragedy are yet still very much alive today. Society is interested in his work to this this day because yet after four hundred years, we are still able to relate to his characters. This is a man, who has helped define our sense of culture, however people know him more for his reputation than his legendary words. .
             Before Shakespeare's formation and death he was just an ordinary poet among many others. There are many factors that could have lead to his success such as his national identity and how it contributed to the public's interest; how the performance and theatre increased views; and the printing of his work and plays may have affected his reputation.
             In my strongest opinion, I argue that the main factor that has increased the status Shakespeare has today is National Identity. However other aspects such as "performance" and "printing" also play a role in Shakespeare's reputation and I believe all these factors are linked to each other- performance cannot be encouraged if printing does not support it and vice versa. In 1592, at the start of Shakespeare's career, a well-known writer at the time named Robert Green insulted Shakespeare by naming him an "upstart crow".