Begin at the beginning...

Shakespeare.

Shakespeare is always a good place to start. ;-) I've been interested in drama since I was little, but it was Shakespeare who really made me fall in love with literature. It was my freshman year of high school, and I was taking my very first literature class. (Homeschooled, for those of you who don't know. I took enrichment classes all throughout high school. I'm sure this will come up again.) We read a few other classics, and then we were assigned to read Macbeth. It probably wasn't the first play I'd ever read, but it was the first Shakespeare play, which opened up a whole new world for me. I was captivated. Witches, portents, plots, murder, guilt, betrayal, foreshadowing, revenge - my brain teemed with all these elements as I lived and breathed in the world of Scottish kings and noblemen. I was both enthralled and horrified by the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. I volunteered to read aloud every chance I got - I even dressed up in a medieval dress I owned and wore it to class one week so I could be more "in character." (Yep, I was THAT kid. Okay, deep down, I guess I still am). Reading Macbeth was a defining moment in my life. It was the impetus that would later propel me to both my decision to study literature and my decision to teach drama. I believe that's why, even if it's not considered his "best" or "greatest" work, Macbeth will always be my favorite of all Shakespeare's plays.

Oh yes - did I mention he invented his own words? One more reason why Shakespeare is awesome. Here are just a few example of common words coined by The Bard.

‎20 Words We Owe to William Shakespeare:

1. Addiction: Othello, Act II, Scene II

2. Arch-villain: Timon of Athens, Act V, Scene I

3. Assassination: Macbeth, Act I, Scene VII

4. Bedazzled: The Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, Scene V

5. Belongings: Measure for Measure, Act I, Scene I

6. Cold-blooded: King John, Act III, Scene I

7. Dishearten: Henry V, Act IV, Scene I

8. Eventful: As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII

9. Eyeball: The Tempest, Act I, Scene II

10. Fashionable: Troilus and Cressida, Act III, Scene III

11. Half-blooded/hot-blooded: King Lear, Act V, Scene III/ Act III, Scene III

12. Inaudible: All’s Well That Ends Well, Act V, Scene III

13. Ladybird: Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene III

14. Manager: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, Scene I

15. Multitudinous: Macbeth, Act II, Scene II

16. New-fangled: Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act I, Scene I

17. Pageantry: Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act V, Scene II

18. Scuffle: Antony and Cleopatra, Act I, Scene I

19. Swagger: Henry V, Act II, Scene IV/A Midsummer Night’s

20. Uncomfortable: Romeo and Juliet, Act IV, Scene V

For a more detailed explanation, and to view each word in context, visit this site.