(In Chronological Order)

1. Two Gentlemen of Verona
2. Taming of the Shrew
3. Henry VI, part 1
4. Henry VI, part 3
5. Titus Andronicus
6. Henry VI, part 2
7. Richard III
8. The Comedy of Errors
9. Love's Labours Lost
10. A Midsummer Night's Dream
11. Romeo and Juliet
12. Richard II
13. King John
14. The Merchant of Venice
15. Henry IV, part 1
16. The Merry Wives of Windsor
17. Henry IV, part 2
18. Much Ado About Nothing
19. Henry V
20. Julius Caesar
21. As You Like It
22. Hamlet
23. Twelfth Night
24. Troilus and Cressida
25. Measure for Measure
26. Othello
27. All's Well That Ends Well
28. Timon of Athens
29. The Tragedy of King Lear
30. Macbeth
31. Anthony and Cleopatra
32. Pericles, Prince of Tyre
33. Coriolanus
34. Winter's Tale
35. Cymbeline
36. The Tempest
37. Henry VIII

So, is it worth studying stories written by a guy who lived 400 years ago?

Actually, William Shakespeare's writing has had a tremendous influence right up to the present day.

For example, here are some quotes that you must have heard - and all of these quotes are from Shakespeare's plays.

My salad days, when I was green in judgment

Antony and Cleopatra

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,

As You Like It

(Referenced in Elvis Presley's song "Are You Lonesome Tonight?")

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Murder most foul

Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio,
a fellow of infinite jest,

The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

This above all; to thine own self be true.

To be, or not to be: that is the question.

Hoist with his own petard.

Good night, sweet prince.

O that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.

perchance to dream

Brevity is the soul of wit

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil

. . . The play's the thing
wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your philosophy

What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason.

Hamlet

"The Undiscovered Country" is the title of the sixth Star Trek movie.
"Perchance To Dream" is the title of a "Twilight Zone" episode.
"The Conscience of the King" is the title of a Star Trek episode.

The better part of valour is discretion

He will give the devil his due

Henry IV - Part I

He hath eaten me out of house and home

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

Henry IV - Part II

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

Henry V

Quoted in the movie "In Like Flint" (1967)

By that sin fell the angels.

Henry VIII

This is the ending line from the "Outer Limits" (1963) episode "The Bellero Shield"

It was Greek to me

Cowards die many times before their deaths;
the valiant never taste of death but once.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves

Beware the Ides of March

Cry "havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war

The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.

Julius Caesar

("The Evil That Men Do" is a 1984 film.)
("The Dogs of War" is a 1980 film.)

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!

Never, never, never, never, never.

You have begot me, bred me, loved me
I Return those duties back as are right fit.
Obey you, love you, and most honour you.

King Lear

"Never, never, never, never, never."
and
"You have begot me, bred me ..."
(Both are quoted in the movie "Theater Of Blood")

Knock, knock! Who's there, in the other devil's name?

If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly

Is this a dagger which I see before me?

A dagger of the mind, a false creation

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.

Macbeth

"The Sound and the Fury" is a novel by William Faulkner
"All Our Yesterdays" is the title of a Star Trek episode
"Dagger of the Mind" is the title of a Star Trek episode and a Columbo episode
"Something Wicked This Way Comes" is a Ray Bradbury book and the title of a movie.

It is a wise father that knows his own child.

All that glisters is not gold

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Merchant of Venice

"A Quality of Mercy" is the title of a Twilight Zone episode.

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

A Midsummer Night's Dream

T'is neither here nor there

O! Beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on ...

Othello

... let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings

Quoted in the movie "In Like Flint" (1967)

... he is come to open
The purple testament of bleeding war

"The Purple Testament" is the title of a "Twilight Zone" episode.

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle ...
This fortress built by Nature for herself...
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England

Quoted in the movie "Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon" (1942)

Richard II

A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

Now is the winter of our discontent

Richard III

("Winter Of Our Discontent" is also a novel by John Steinbeck)

... what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

She speaks, yet she says nothing

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet.

He jests at scars that never felt a wound.

Romeo and Juliet

We are such stuff as dreams are made on

O brave new world that has such people in it

The Tempest

"Brave New World" is the title of a novel by Aldous Huxley
"The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of" is a song by Carly Simon
and Humphrey Bogart states this quote in "The Maltese Falcon" (1941)

If music be the food of love, play on

Some are born great, some achieve greatness,
and some have greatness thrust upon them

Twelfth Night

Well, you've just read some very familiar quotes and also have seen how some present-day authors have "borrowed" from Shakespeare.

There have been many major motion pictures that have been based directly on Shakespeare's plays:

• Romeo and Juliet (1936) (1954) (1966) (1968) (1996)
• Hamlet (1948) (1990) (1996)

and that is a listing that just barely scratches the surface.

There have also been many films based on Shakespearian plays:

• Manchurian Candidate (1961) - Hamlet
• West Side Story (1961) - Romeo and Juliet
• Forbidden Planet (1956) - The Tempest
• 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) - The Taming of the Shrew
• Men of Respect (1991) - Macbeth

Again, that lists a small part of all the films, television shows, books, etc based on Shakespeare's plays.

Search the Internet and you'll find much more information.

Perhaps one of the more unusual references to Shakespeare is in the Beatles' song "I Am The Walrus". Listen to the end of the song. What you will hear is a BBC presentation of "King Lear" and the words are from Act 4 Scene 6 Lines 273 through 281:

If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my body;
And give the letters which thou find'st about me
To Edmund earl of Gloucester; seek him out
Upon the British party: O, untimely death!

I know thee well: a serviceable villain;
As duteous to the vices of thy mistress
As badness would desire.

What, is he dead?

Sit you down, father; rest you

Give it a try. Those particular lines were chosen randomly from a program that just happened to be airing when the song was being recorded or when the song was in post-production. Those lines and their references to death, give the ending of that song a certain creepiness.
It's well worth a listen.