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Famous Book Titles Inspired by Shakespeare
A simple Guide
William Shakespeare’s influence on literature has lasted for more than four hundred years. His plays and sonnets contain some of the most memorable lines in the English language. Because of this, many writers have borrowed phrases from Shakespeare when choosing titles for their own books.
Using a Shakespearean line as a title is not only a tribute to the playwright but also a way of adding deeper meaning to a story. Often the original quotation reflects the themes of the later novel.
Here are thirteen famous books whose titles come directly from Shakespeare’s works.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The title of Huxley’s famous dystopian novel comes from Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. In Act V, Scene I, the character Miranda sees a group of new people for the first time and exclaims:
“O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t!”
Miranda’s words express excitement and hope. However, Huxley uses the phrase ironically. In the novel, the “brave new world” is actually a controlled and dehumanising society where individuality has almost disappeared.
