Why did shakespeare write the plays he is famous for?

Answer 1

Shakespeare wrote plays because it was his job. Shakespeare may have loved writing even as a little kid.

Shakespeare never answered this question directly, but we can easily guess several motivations for him to write his plays.

The first is a simple desire to please other people, to do something remarkable that will attract praise. All of Shakespeare's epilogues show that the intention of the players is to please the audience. In The Tempest, Prospero, delivering the epilogue, says "or else my project fails, Which was to please." and Puck in a Midsummer Night's Dream, says "give me your hands if we be friends".

A second motivation was probably a desire to comment indirectly on contemporary events, to offer praise or warnings. Julius Caesar, for instance, is clearly a sermon on how it is permissible to deal with tyranny, and Macbeth both flatters King James and warns him of the results of ambition taken too far. The England of his time was not a democracy, and such indirect commentary gave Shakespeare a much more powerful voice than he otherwise would have had.

But finally, and probably most important, Shakespeare wrote plays to make money. He came from a family of modest means, living away from London, and made himself into a "gentleman," a successful enterpreneur, and a considerable property owner, all through the power of his pen. Thus, despite the genius of his work, we need not doubt that the primary motivation for Shakespeare's plays was a common one -- to put food on the table for himself and his family.

Answer 2

Shakespeare wrote plays for the love of the English language and an inherent gift to be a writer. While he did better than some, financially, other playwrights of the time made far more money than William Shakespeare.

Answer 3

Imagine Shakespeare as a writer of screenplays for a TV series. Viewers are not going to watch the same show week after week. They need new material all the time, or they lose viewers to reality TV (which in Shakespeare's day was bearbaiting).

It was the same with Shakespeare. Records show that the playhouses like the Globe presented a bewildering variety of plays, presenting new plays constantly. Remember that Shakespeare was not the only playwright working at the time--there were a lot of them, and they all wrote a lot of plays, because of the high demand.

Answer 4

We don't know for sure, but remember that back then there were no movie scripts or other forms of drama... so if he liked his stories being acted out, then plays were the option. Because of his brilliant writing that is an accomplished feat of artistry, I imagine that he liked his chosen career greatly, enjoying the wordplay and the artistry of telling a story to an audience. That said, he did have to earn a living. Hopefully it was an enjoyable way to earn a living for him.

Answer 5

If your question is, "Why did Shakespeare like writing plays?" the answer is that he liked doing it for the same reason as an advertising man likes writing commercials. It was his job. He was an actor and a partner in his theatre company, but his special job was to write plays for the company. If he wrote good plays, lots of people would come to the theatre and make a lot of money for Shakespeare and his partners. And that would be good for everyone. But if your question is "Why did Shakespeare like watching plays, or the theatre business in general?" the answer is, probably for the same reason anyone likes watching plays: for entertainment. We have no evidence of what drove him into the theatre business in the first place, but we must guess that an enjoyment of theatre must have been one factor.

Answer 6

It was his job. That is one of the ways that he made his living.

Answer 7

For motivation Shakespeare studied all his other plays and studied others also fell in love with theatre and Romeo and Juliet was born

Answer 8

It was his job. He was an actor working with a theatre company. He got paid more for writing plays the company could put on.

Answer 9

He wrote plays because it was his job. He wrote long poems to publish and make money. He wrote sonnets for fun to give to his friends.

Answer 10

It was his job.