Shakespeare, Master of the Language .
Lasting for over 400 years, Shakespeare's works have been regarded as some of the most admired of all time. Many people have written essays, even books, on what made him such a good writer or if he was really that good at all. These reasons can be construed many different ways, but there is no way of knowing who is right or wrong, so all they can do now is argue. After reading Shakespeare or after hearing someone praise him, many questions come to mind. Why was he so popular? What is it about his writing that made his works stand the test of time, where other writers of that period were erased by the dust of time? Was he really the best? Some essayists stated their opinions of these questions, some blatantly, others between the lines.
The character development is seen as one of the reasons of Shakespeare's immense success as a writer. J.B. Priestley commends Shakespeare in Macbeth for the lines of the character Macbeth. He compares Macbeth to a poet because what he says is so brilliant. Priestly also explains how Shakespeare doesn't just make Macbeth the usual criminal, he makes him imaginative so he does have a conscience to deal with, and this gives his character a more human aspect. This can be applied to Sam Raimi's film, A Simple Plan, because the audience found themselves on the edge of their seat when they thought Hank was about to get caught. The audience of both A Simple Plan and Macbeth saw the human viewpoint of the characters, when, if another murderer was about to be caught, they would want them to be thrown in jail. Priestly adds that the real tragedy of Macbeth is not that a bloodthirsty, power-driven tyrant uses any means possible to gain his position as king, rather it is that a once-honorable man compromised his morals under self-ambition and he slowly murdered himself doing so. But even Priestly, as complimenting as he is towards Shakespeare, doesn't think his work is perfect.