In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” when Peter Quince sees Bottom turned into an ass-headed figure, he cries in horror: “Bless thee, Bottom, bless thee. Thou art translated!”
Other characters in the play use the verb in similar ways to refer to a broad range of altered states. Helena hopes to be “translated” into Hermia, her childhood friend and rival, while a love potion transforms characters that come in contact with it.
Appropriately enough, translation has come to define Shakespeare’s legacy. Since the 16th century, his plays and sonnets have been translated and performed all over the world in an ever-growing number of languages, dialects, and styles. One of the most translated secular authors in the world, more than four billion copies of his works have been sold.
Why did Shakespeare—and not his contemporaries like Christopher Marlowe or Thomas Kyd—“go viral”?
A closer look reveals that his narratives contain qualities that are easily adaptable to different cultures and eras, and have given his works broad appeal outside his native England. It helps explain why, even before mass communication, Shakespeare was a hit with readers ranging from Soviet communists to German Romanticists like Goethe.
Plays Depict a Brave New World
Shakespeare’s global popularity is paralleled by the diverse settings of his plays.
