Messages 2007
Shakespeare - other contemporary writers.
August 15 & 18, 2007
Santa Cruz, California
Received by FAB
I am here, William Shakespeare.
Mr. Ackroyd does a superb job, in Chapter 26, of describing the state of the dramatists’ art, and the influences of these contemporary dramatists, in London when I first settled there.
I will add that though I copied much in terms of ideas and verbal duplications, nevertheless I always had, even at that early time, my own unique vision. This vision was amplified and broadened when I came in contact with my fellow dramatists. It was, indeed, a revelation.
I did not socialize with these dramatists because most of them were irresponsible, dissolute, and wild, and I was a responsible father and husband. But the influences were there. I did, however, associate with them in a professional capacity, and I acted in some of their plays.
Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy inspired an early version of Hamlet, which he himself wrote. I adapted it and made it my own later, but retaining many elements of the plot.