Mark Twain And Shakespeare Research Paper

Out of the two hundred and fifty-three most famous authors from America and Britain, I chose to write about Mark Twain and William Shakespeare (List of Famous Authors, 2012). These men are both well-known across English speaking countries for their work in literature. Mark Twain lived 1835-1910. Mark Twain’s real name was Samuel Longhorne Clemens. William Shakespeare lived from 1564-1616.

Mark Twain was an American author and humorist. Mark Twain wrote his autobiography before he died and it was not to be published until after his death. This was due to the fact that he talked freely in it, without minding his words, and did not want to know people were reading it until he was gone. In the book, The Autobiography of Mark Twain, he says that

It is constantly washing its face, its eyes, its ears, its nose, its teeth, its mouth, its hands, its body, its feet, its hind legs, and it is thoroughly convinced that cleanliness is next to godliness… In all my seventy-two years and a half I have never come across such another ass as this human race is” (Twain & Neider, 1959). Mark Twain continues to talk about how dirty the human race is, and no matter how we clean we will stay dirty. He claims that he is clean by saying, “I prefer to be clean in the matter of raiment-clean in a dirty world” (Twain & Neider, 1959). He wears white to be clean in a dirty

We study Shakespeare even when we are in middle school, even though we may not understand everything he is saying. His work is beautiful. We use his words in everyday life. “To be or not to be”, from Hamlet, is a very popular quote of his. Romeo and Juliet is a popular play for schools to read, and William Shakespeare wrote it when he was only thirty-three years old. William Shakespeare is the greatest author from Britain because all of his work influences our studies and he influences other writers. He had a way of writing that was different from others of his time. Christopher Marlowe was born the same year as William Shakespeare and was an experienced man and great writer, but he died in 1593, at the age of twenty-nine. If William Shakespeare would have died the same year, Marlowe would hold the title of the greater writer. John Heminges and Henry Condell said, “His mind and hand went together” (Wells, 2003). William Shakespeare was known for his imagination and expression while he was writing, they came out