Shakespeare, our contemporary?

Through our glog we aimed to represent visually how Shakespeare is present in our everyday lives. The English language owes a lot to him as tons of words were put into use because of their appearance in his plays - some of them being borrowings and others his own creation. We use the English language on a daily basis without realising that much of what we are saying is due to his brilliance. Even some proverbs and entire phrases or part of his soliloquys are employed as part of our everyday speech. Besides, there are plenty of songs based on his masterpieces; and appart from that, a large number of films have been made out of his plays or taking some aspects of them. Shakespeare is also present worldwide in places such as Stratford-upon-Avon, where his own house as well as his wife's cottage are open to the public as tourist attractions, and Verona where you can find Juliet's balcony and where couples from all over the world go to make their vows and promise eternal love as Romeo and Juliet do in the play. What makes Shakespeare our contemporary is the universality of the themes and values he depicts in his plays: love in all its forms, lust, appearance and reality, ambition, loyalty, order and disorder, identity, death and illness, good and evil, among others. It is impossible not to feel identified with some of his characters; and this is where his genius lies: he gave his characters and plays in general a universal appeal. ROMINA, AILÍN AND MELISA.