A bit of what I would want to say to the Bard, if I had the chance.
To W. Shakespeare:
I’m not sure that you would be familiar with the idea of “fan mail.” Or rather, I’m sure you would not be familiar with the modern usage of either of those words and may form in your mind an image of a lady using chain mail to fan herself in the middle of a hot summer. So perhaps I should explain first.
Quite simply, I am an admirer of your work, and would like to detail why.
When I read your work, I see myself and my experience. Your ability to make the most astonishing events seem familiar and relatable is extraordinary. I am not a Danish prince and have no murdered family member to avenge, but I understand Hamlet in a very personal way. I am not a banished Duke’s daughter who lives in a forest and randomly runs into a guy I had a crush on, but I see so much of myself in Rosalind.
In part, that’s what all fiction does. But I have not yet found any artist who can do this in as profound, real, and accomplished a way as you.
I admire the beauty of your writing. I admire the fearlessness in your work. The raw emotion that you are willing to share with your audience. Being an artist means baring a bit of your soul and if you had any hesitation in doing that, I don’t see it in your work.
I admire your work ethic and creative output. Your career was, perhaps, shorter than it could have been, but it seems that when you chose to write, you wrote day and night like you were running out of time.
I admire that you weren’t afraid to break the rules. You made your own.
I’m not sure you ever really intended to end up a writer. You were always a man of the theatre. I think it would shock you to no end to find out that your work is still being read and performed today, more than 400 years later, and that it has, without exaggeration, shaped the world of literature.
We’d have a lot to chat about, you and I. A lot of questions I’d love to ask. But I suppose there’s not much to do about that at the moment.
For now, there is only this remaining:
Your work is appreciated. And I know writing is hard. So thanks for doing it.
