Historical Interview with William Shakespeare

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Me: Mr. Shakespeare, thank you for granting me this opportunity to interview you. As an aspiring writer, I have always dreamed about interviewing you – you are my idol.

Shakespeare: The pleasure is mine. I am honored to know that aspiring writers look up to me.

Me: Alright sir, let us begin. I have always wondered where you draw your inspiration from to write your riveting and informative plays. What or who inspires you? Do you have a role model that you look up to?

Shakespeare: Well, that is quite a several questions but I will try to answer them all. First, I write based on the occurrences of the day. I listen to what people are talking about on the streets and I dramatize it in a play. Besides, some of my plays are based on historical events that occurred in England (Mabillard). The politics of the court in England are specifically interesting and they inspire my writing. Now, about my role models, I love Geoffrey Chaucer and Plutarch. Specifically, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Plutarch’s Parallel Lives are my favorites (Mabillard). I have learned a lot from these ancient writers.

Me: Talking about your plays, Hamlet comes to mind. The play highlights the eternal deep-seated human conflict among other themes, which have been interpreted differently by various readers. However, the most outstanding issue in this play is the protagonist’s words “to be or not to be”, what exactly did you intend to achieve by using these words in the context of Hamlet?

Shakespeare: Well, I assume you have watched the play and if you have not I would request that you do for you to understand the meaning of these words within their context.

Me: Of course, I have watched them play, several times, I must admit. However, I want to hear from the horse’s mouth!

Shakespeare: Well, this sentence is a reflection of my conflicts in life and I believe everyone has his or her struggles and unanswered questions. However, we are living at a time when society and our culture do not allow us to express our concerns. The reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James I were characterized by tough rules that more than often lead to human suffering. Besides, I have questions about life and death – what is the point of existence? In the end, I realize that we tend to overthink, and thus, I am criticizing Hamlet for overthinking (Wilson 342). I know many scholars and readers have concluded that the soliloquy is about suicide, but that was not my intention (Wilson 132).

Me: Thank you for clarifying this highly controversial issue among scholars and your readers. Moving on, as an aspiring writer, sometimes I feel demotivated and discouraged to continue writing, especially when people are not willing to support my work. Who are some of the individuals that supported your work as you started? And do you think someone can make become rich writing?

Shakespeare: I feel you and I can certainly identify with your feelings of frustration and the ever-present thought of wanting to give up and quit writing altogether. It could be very disheartening when you have given everything, committing your heart, mind, and soul to produce what you think is a masterpiece only for the targeted audience to fail to appreciate your efforts. However, in my case, I mainly write for the theater and I think this aspect has given me a competitive advantage, as people are willing to pay and come to theaters and have some good time away from their busy lives. In addition, I am lucky to be supported by royal and noble persons including the Queen herself and King James I (Brown 174). One thing that people do not know about the Queen is that she is a fan of theatrical entertainment and she has been supporting the advancement of the English drama.

Did you know that the Queen translated one of Euripides’ tragedies from original Greek into English for her amusement and reading? (Brown 174). About your question on whether someone can become rich writing, I think you are asking the wrong question. If you go into writing purely to make money out of it, you will not become successful. We do what we do out of love and our unparalleled passion for writing and sharing our experiences with the world. While at it, I believe if you focus on developing your skills and become the best version of yourself then you can become successful, and make lots of money doing it.

Me: What influenced you to start writing? I mean it is an arduous task that takes a lot of thinking and time. Besides, it can be an unrewarding venture. So, what exactly motivated you to start writing in the first place?

Shakespeare: Well, I have been passionate about writing since I was a child. As I said earlier, you have to be intrinsically motivated as a writer, which means even when the external environment does not offer you a reason to continue writing; you can always go back to your soul and find the inspiration to write (Sheridan). Apart from personal attributes, the environment within which you exist can play an important role in shaping you into a writer.

For example, in our time in school during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, our days were long, almost over 11 hours. Therefore, I had enough time on my hands to study whatever I wanted and at a young age; I was drawn to literature, especially Latin writings. I also attended church services every Sunday and I could carefully watch what was happening concerning the doctrines that were being taught and how people conducted themselves.

All these factors worked in concert to shape me as a writer and throw me into the ring of writing. Specifically, I chose to focus on plays because I believe you can communicate critical elements of our culture through satire and dramatizing different occurrences. Perhaps when people interact with these plays they can have a moment of reflection and think about their lives and the norms and dogmas that they have come to believe in (“Shakespeare Life”).

Me: I was planning to ask about your style of writing and why you like writing about human tragedies but I think you have pre-empted the same. Would you shed more light on it?

Shakespeare: The thing with tragedies is that at the end of the play, people take time to ponder, analyze, and reflect on what they have just watched. This way, I can pass important information to people without them becoming defensive or weighing them down with historical facts. If I approached a group of people and started talking to them about the life of Julius Caesar or Coriolanus, very few would care to listen to what I have to say. However, when people see my plays, they get the same message at their pleasure (Mabillard).

Me: I know you have written a couple of tragedies and comedies. Do you have any favorites?

Shakespeare: Sure, throughout my writing career, I have written 10 tragedies and 18 comedies, and while I treasure all these works, I have some favorites with Romeo and Juliet being my choice. I know you are about to ask why I choose this work over the others, so just let me go ahead and explain. I believe that love is an empowering force that we are yet to comprehend as human beings. It runs deeper than mere confessions and flirting around driven by lustful desires. I think love is the glue that holds humanity together and that is exactly what I wanted to bring out in Romeo and Juliet. Yes, love is worth dying for and it can be irrational, violent, yet tender and caring at the same time (Sheridan).

Me: That is quite a revelation – I never thought of it from that perspective. Well, our time is running out, but one last question, what could you advise all aspiring writers?

Shakespeare: My word to anyone out there aspiring to be a writer is to never give up. The journey will not be easy, but ultimately your sacrifices will be rewarded. Most importantly, always follow your heart. Even if your convictions are against the norms of the day, just write what you think is right and express your ideas unequivocally. Finally, do not chase money, if you are good at what you are doing, the money will always follow you (Sheridan).

Me: Thank you so much, Mr. Shakespeare, it has been my pleasure to interview you. Goodbye.

Works Cited

Brown, Henry. Shakespeare’s Patrons & Other Essays. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1912.

Mabillard, Amanda. “What Inspired Shakespeare?” Shakespeare Online. 2000. Web.

“Shakespeare Life.” Folger Shakespeare Library, 2019. Web.

Sheridan, Mike. “So Who or What Inspired Shakespeare to Write?” Bakersfieldlad. 2012. Web.

Wilson, Jeffrey. “To Be, or Not to Be: Shakespeare Against Philosophy.” Shakespeare, vol. 14, no. 4, 2018, pp. 341-359.

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Historical Interview with William Shakespeare

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