Is Shakespeare still relevant?

William Shakespeare 

The language of Shakespeare is not fully spoken today, 500 years since the plays were first performed in Elizabethan England. Why is the average Arab student studying Shakespeare today?

A controversial question that is constantly brought up by people, 'Is Shakespeare still relevant'?? 

How can we dare bring that up? With all the positive things i've mentioned about this man, would I doubt his existence in the following generations? I personally believe that when a person, as long as they've done something to the world and be called a legend, shall never be forgotten. 

And Yes, Shakespeare is a legend, and yes, he did do something to our world. 

With our accumulated knowledge and strong education, Shakespeares' plays speak better to our modern audience 'bewildered by change, ambiguity and senseless violence' than they did to the Victorians who couldn't understand why Shakespeare would write about people dealing with such things. 

How we live our lives has changed overtime, what Shakespeare has written is relevant to our day to day themes of love, tragedy, friendship, guilt, honour, greed, ambition and etc.. It's timeless!

Mixed feelings experienced in his plays 

Shakespeare's plays are considered to be classics in English literature for their structure (mostly dramatic) and evocative language. 

Studying and appreciating Shakespeare helps students develop a certain mental discipline in analysing the language. This is very true in my experience, as at the beginning of the term, flicking through the pages of Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, would you not see me smile but frown at his senseless language. I honestly could not understand it. HOWEVER, in class gradually we started analysing his language, watching the Macbeth movie, reading the scenes over and over, and receiving constant and very helpful explanations from Ms Billie. Later on, my group and I chose a particular scene to perform. This is really when I started getting into it. Just by reading your lines and knowing where to go can help with the required characterisation and body language. So if hadn't have performed, I wouldn't have had a deeper understanding of what really happened in the play. And besides, we have kinaesthetic learners in this world.

Shakespeare's Movies 

Movies based on Shakespeare plays continue in their popularity. His 'created' language is still used today in the English language, which is really a worldwide language. (Who knew he invented the word 'Swagger'?). Anyhow, reading Shakespeare is important because, we still use many similes and metaphors of his works and even in our daily conversations. Shakespeare was also the first to define many psychological disorders and personality types that later psychologists use today.

Shakespeare is truly an inspiration, as film students study Shakespeare and his works, they [not all] get inspired and understand the way of his writing and plot twists. In return produce creative and loved movies like Lion King which was based on Hamlet and Lion King II, based on Romeo and Juliet. I know, I had no idea either! 

While it may appear that a lot has been changed, the essence of Shakespeare has not been lost, it has merely been adapted for younger audiences of today. Time to time we need someone to remind use of life lessons, and reading one of Shakespeare's plays is full of them. As we read his plays, we benefit, can we be generous and let the next generations do so too? 
As a wise man once said: "The golden age is before us, not behind us."

Sources:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/william-shakespeare-is-still-a-relevant-literary-voice-writes-christopher-bantick/story-e6frfhqf-1226626195470

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090526-144005.html

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100511105825AAfwYbc

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/williamsha120827.html