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Friday, November 28, 2025
Shakespeare By The Numbers: 64 violent deaths, 1,700 new words, 1,800 movie credits
New York Theater: William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays (10 tragedies, 10 histories, 17 comedies) and 154 Sonnets — 884,647 words in all.
He is said to have invented 1,700 words in the English language
4 comments:
Sid J
said...
I often wonder just how often the stuff that happens in Shakespeare plays actually happened in shakespeare’s time and place. Like, were people actually being stabbed, poisoned, baked into pies, and eaten by bears often of was this all in the name of dramatic effect? But, I think this is yet another testament to Shakespeare’s effect on the stories we right and experience today. Shakespeare is the bedrock for most modern tropes and story arcs, and is an incredible reference for how entertainment developed to be what it is today. While today we see less people beheaded, dying of broken hearts, or eating hot coals, the symbolism of those tragic ends persists in other, more normal ways. I think it’s very cool how we started out with big, grand stories with lots of allegory and appeals to morality and now we still have those stories, but we have found ways to express those elements of life more subtly and recognizably.
This was an absolutely fascinating article to read. As a statistics man myself, I found this article absolutely fascinating to see all of the numbers and all of the stats of Shakespeare's work. I specifically found all of the death stats absolutely fascinating. I had no idea that there was such a common thread between his plays in the different ways that people died in them. I love that 2 people got baked into a pie. Honestly, I was a little surprised that only 2 people died of a broken heart. Lol, 1 is just “dropped dead” and another is “smothered by a pillow.” These are hysterical out of context. I also personally love just a little bit to think about the conspiracy that it wasn’t just one man, because that is fun to think about. I don’t know if I actually believe it, but it is fun to consider even as a joke. But in actuality, that was a lot of plays in a short amount of time.
This was a very interesting read. I definitely was aware of Shakespeare’s tendency to violently and brutally kill off characters, but this put into perspective just how often he does it. It’s funny some of the ways in which they die, too, like being baked into a pie, being eaten by a bear, eating hot coals, and even just dropping dead. Like, dude who hurt you, why does everything you write end up with violent deaths?? I also found the part where they talked about how many words Shakespeare invented to be quite fascinating. Again, obviously, I knew he invented a lot of words in the English language, but I really didn’t realize how many, or how many of them are things that are very commonly used today, like addiction, assassination, and impartial. I’m not a Shakespeare girly (I know it’s an unpopular opinion for someone who goes to theater school), but there's no denying how much of an impact he has had.
The headline itself for this article is enough to introduce the impact of Shakespeare, yet it doesn’t even scratch the surface when it comes to what the rest of this article has to say about the topic. It’s purely a list of some of the things Shakespeare has contributed to our modern understanding of media and literature, yet it says so much about the legacy Shakespeare has left behind. I found it surprising that only two of the violent deaths depicted in Shakespeare’s works were of a “broken heart”, though it makes sense when considering what dying of a “broken heart” genuinely entails (if even real and not metaphorical). I also had no idea that one of the violent deaths happened to be of getting “eaten by a bear”! What I found the least surprising fact in this article, was that Shakespeare’s works are credited in 1,875. I honestly thought it may have been more given how frequently Shakespeare is alluded to across all modern media.
4 comments:
I often wonder just how often the stuff that happens in Shakespeare plays actually happened in shakespeare’s time and place. Like, were people actually being stabbed, poisoned, baked into pies, and eaten by bears often of was this all in the name of dramatic effect? But, I think this is yet another testament to Shakespeare’s effect on the stories we right and experience today. Shakespeare is the bedrock for most modern tropes and story arcs, and is an incredible reference for how entertainment developed to be what it is today. While today we see less people beheaded, dying of broken hearts, or eating hot coals, the symbolism of those tragic ends persists in other, more normal ways. I think it’s very cool how we started out with big, grand stories with lots of allegory and appeals to morality and now we still have those stories, but we have found ways to express those elements of life more subtly and recognizably.
This was an absolutely fascinating article to read. As a statistics man myself, I found this article absolutely fascinating to see all of the numbers and all of the stats of Shakespeare's work. I specifically found all of the death stats absolutely fascinating. I had no idea that there was such a common thread between his plays in the different ways that people died in them. I love that 2 people got baked into a pie. Honestly, I was a little surprised that only 2 people died of a broken heart. Lol, 1 is just “dropped dead” and another is “smothered by a pillow.” These are hysterical out of context. I also personally love just a little bit to think about the conspiracy that it wasn’t just one man, because that is fun to think about. I don’t know if I actually believe it, but it is fun to consider even as a joke. But in actuality, that was a lot of plays in a short amount of time.
This was a very interesting read. I definitely was aware of Shakespeare’s tendency to violently and brutally kill off characters, but this put into perspective just how often he does it. It’s funny some of the ways in which they die, too, like being baked into a pie, being eaten by a bear, eating hot coals, and even just dropping dead. Like, dude who hurt you, why does everything you write end up with violent deaths?? I also found the part where they talked about how many words Shakespeare invented to be quite fascinating. Again, obviously, I knew he invented a lot of words in the English language, but I really didn’t realize how many, or how many of them are things that are very commonly used today, like addiction, assassination, and impartial. I’m not a Shakespeare girly (I know it’s an unpopular opinion for someone who goes to theater school), but there's no denying how much of an impact he has had.
The headline itself for this article is enough to introduce the impact of Shakespeare, yet it doesn’t even scratch the surface when it comes to what the rest of this article has to say about the topic. It’s purely a list of some of the things Shakespeare has contributed to our modern understanding of media and literature, yet it says so much about the legacy Shakespeare has left behind. I found it surprising that only two of the violent deaths depicted in Shakespeare’s works were of a “broken heart”, though it makes sense when considering what dying of a “broken heart” genuinely entails (if even real and not metaphorical). I also had no idea that one of the violent deaths happened to be of getting “eaten by a bear”! What I found the least surprising fact in this article, was that Shakespeare’s works are credited in 1,875. I honestly thought it may have been more given how frequently Shakespeare is alluded to across all modern media.
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