Want to sound erudite? A paragon of refinement? A beacon of academic excellence?

In simpler words, do you want to seem a well-read, well-educated snob?

What better topic than Classic Literature to dazzle your listeners with your interest and knowledge on a topic that is deemed to be the domain of scholars?

Spend some time in reading up about a few noteworthy names like William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, Christopher Marlowe, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Johnson, Charles Dickens, John Keats, Lord Tennyson, Alexander Pope and the like, and you can impress the not-so-well-read public with your intellectual superiority!

If you could bring yourself to read the actual works of these esteemed writers, that would be great! However, a simple online search for some trivia regarding the greats, can often give you some interesting material to discuss.

Let’s take Shakespeare, for example. You may have read some of his sonnets and plays in school. If you could remember a couple of lines from them, that would be great. However, you could do some research and get some trivia, as given below.

William Shakespeare – Ah, the greatest playwright in English literature! He is popularly called the “Bard of Avon”, on account of his birthplace being Stratford-upon-Avon, in England. Born in the mid-1500s, do you know, he was educated till school level, but never attended University? 

His wife was Anne Hathaway. In current times, Anne Hathaway is a famous actress, made famous by her roles in movies like The Princess Diaries and The Devil wears Prada. If you were to search for an image of the husband of the actress, you would be surprised at his resemblance with the bard. 

Whattay Coincidence!

Shakespeare wrote 39 plays, including timeless classics such as Hamlet, Othello and Macbeth. Did you know, Vishal Bharadwaj’s movies; Haider, Omkara and Maqbool, are based on the three afore-mentioned plays, respectively?

Shakespeare’s comedy, called “The Comedy of Errors” has inspired many Indian movies like “Choti si Baat”, “Angoor” and “Hera Pheri”, to name a few.

Shakespeare is also famous for Sonnets. He wrote over 150 sonnets. One of the most famous ones is  “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day”, where the poet praises the beauty of his beloved and claims immortality for the same, through his poem.

Did you know, phrases such as “Break the ice”, “in a pickle”, “Green-eyed monster”, “Wild-goose chase” and “All that glitters, is not gold”, to name a few, can be traced back to Shakespeare’s works?

In fact, the word swag is often thought to be derived from the word swagger, a word popularized by Shakespeare in several of his works, including “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Henry IV”.

Have Fun!