Over the course of time, many different artists have offered worthy contributions to various art forms and mediums. These multiple artists have managed to entrench themselves as pioneers and leaders of their respective genres and interests due to creativity and quality. Some of these composers have even shaped new forms of art and creative outlets. One such artist is William Shakespeare, the famous English poet behind plays like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. Shakespeare’s plays have managed to gain and maintain cult followings for hundreds of years. Shakespeare is arguably one of the biggest and most notable names in literary history thanks to his extensive contribution to the English theatre. With such great influence and cultural reach comes …show more content…
The fact that Shakespeare’s plays have had such an impact on the world draws a particular idea of the nature that the plays adopt depending on the region in which they are being treated. When a particular focus is placed on viewing Shakespeare in the Arab world, many interesting points can be discovered. Although the exact period in which Shakespeare’s plays began to resonate in the Arab world is not certain, it is noted that in the early 19th century, poets and writers began to study and translate his plays (Litvin, Hamlet's Arab Journey,p17). The way in which writers such as Sulayman Al-Bassam have altered aspects of Shakespeare’s plays to make critiques and observations about their own culture bring to light just how important the plays are on a world stage. Although William Shakespeare has evidently made a massive contribution to English theatre, it is also true that his work has played an integral cultural role in regions such as the Arab World. By examining various aspects of the Arabic theatre, it will be made evident that Shakespeare has played a very important role in artistic Arabic theatre …show more content…
On one hand, it can be argued that Shakespeare’s plays are today, more popular than ever and they occupy a large role in modern theatre. However, perhaps a more interesting facet of Shakespeare’s work is that although it was written over centuries ago, many of the ideas and critiques of society and culture are still valid today. Shakespeare was an English man who wrote plays that carried many similar themes such as love and betrayal but he often incorporated many critical undertones in which he offered what could be viewed as his own opinion on many social and cultural realities. Many of these ideas are still applicable today and this is perhaps one of the reasons that Shakespeare’s plays have managed to not only stay relevant, but also gain popularity. An important issue in the Arab world is the idea of post colonialism. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, many Arabic countries became colonized by Britain and Italy. Historians and social studies experts have written on the nature of the postcolonial Arab world, painting it as a sometimes-complicated fixture. For example, in certain regions such as Algeria, the French colonization brought with it the imposition of French as the official language. This adoption of a new official language caused the Arabic tongue to fade over time. In this sense, the Arabic language became a sign of resistance and defiance.