" Yes, indeed, flawed and very human beings who still found themselves at the top of the social tree because God willed it so,"
I couldn't agree more Charmion - I'm not sure whether you are with what I am saying or agin' it
It seems to me that many of Shakespeare's plays are allegories - oblique references to events nearer his time in a period where it would have been fatal to be outspoken towards the Monarch and the establishment - I don't think that makes him a lackey; just careful

Dick
You are killing this thread by swamping it with undigested cut-'n-pastes which confirm my opinion that you have probably never seen a play by Shakespeare or, if you have, you haven't absorbed it
If you want to take part in this enjoyable discussion you started, please give us YOUR opinion and not the hastily gathered opinions of others
Please don't get this thread closed - that's what's likely to happen if you continue
Shaw once said "I'm a better playwright than Shakespeare - I've read everything he wrote", more recently, Martin McDonagh said something similar.
Both are among my favouriie playwrights - they are excellent writers WITH A FINE SENSE OF HUMOUR
You really need to sort out which is which
Tolstoy's War and Peace heroes and villains were Tsarist lackeys and members of the Russian elite - just like Shakespeare's were members of the English elite
Jim