If Shakespeare were alive today – he’d be ashamed of us

William Shakespeare is undoubtedly the GOAT of British writing and storytelling. His plays and poems are constantly rehashed and turned into blockbusters and musicals and modern-day retellings. So it’s easy to think that were he alive today, Mr Shakespeare might delight in the indelible impact he has had on British culture for so many hundred years.

Recently I attended a graffiti workshop in North London and I spoke to one of the artists, a critical young woman from South London. I asked her: ‘Why do you like to paint graffiti?’. Her answer stuck with me. She said: ‘I like graffiti over other forms of art because I know it is temporary. I will make my mark and come back a few weeks later and it will have been painted over or changed completely. It helps me be less of a perfectionist or control freak.’

I found this point of view very curious. And also, completely obvious. Not just about art but about everything we do in our short time on this earth.

We kind of all know the deal. We are here for a short time and not a long time. And once we are gone, the people we touched might remember us for a bit. And those younger than us. But ultimately, all we are is memories for our children.

So I began to think about the permanency of art and how necessary that even is at all. And Shakespeare is unquestionably the king of permanency. His body of work exceeds his peers considerably when it comes to impact on the modern world. Taylor Swift and Dire Straits are still adapting songs in his honour. Baz Luhrman is hiring Di Caprio to act out one of his plays. Shakespeare undoubtedly rules the roost.

Yet I wonder how the man would feel about all this, knowing 500 years after his death, we still kind of haven’t moved on. No one has painted over his graffiti, so to speak. A large part of me thinks he might be flattered. But a far larger part of me actually believes he might be embarrassed. Like when someone continually compliments your work to the point of sycophancy. I think Shakespeare might enjoy the praise initially, but then almost worry that anyone still remembers him. For I believe the greatest of artists understand their own lack of importance in the world.

If Shakespeare is any kind of artist, it is likely that he would have wanted the world to take what he started and run with it. And so that is what we probably should have been doing.

I believe we, as a world, owe Mr Shakespeare more than we have given him so far. It is for people all over the world to turn their ideas into plays and stories which last 500 years. I believe that any artist or creator of things who does so for the beauty of craft and excellence honestly hopes to be eventually forgotten.