When writing a story or a play, or really anything that involves characters that come to life on the page, one, as the author, must become one with the character, know every motive, every small detail, and love them for you alone know their true self. This process of developing characters is lengthy, however, as it is not easy to just get to know someone in a day or in a manner of pages. This what astonishes me about Shakespeare, for his characters are so well developed, yet he has so many works of literature, that there is no actual way that he could have connected with each and every character he names. So how do his characters seem so real, all through a manner of small dialogue and emotion-filled monologues?
I have two theories:
Historically, we know that Shakespeare's plays were performed not just in front of royalty or commoner, it was both. This is why there are low blow jokes that are said in common wording, and beautiful and powerful messages said in by sonnets and lengthy poems. He was writing to please all audiences and achieved this through the development of his characters.
Who would be likely to like a character like Lear? It is the mixture of royalty and good intentions and then everything eventually going to shit. And what about the characters that have to climb their way up to get power, someone like Edmund?
I'm just saying, that his characters are well developed because they are supposed to be relatable to his audience, which is basically everyone so yeah...
My next theory, although a bit harder to show a lot of evidence for is the fact that Shakespeare is a total badass and is laughing up in heaven at how much though and meaning we put onto his drunk night poems and plays.
Well played Shakespeare, well played.
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