William Shakespeare in meme

400 years after his death, the Internet and pop culture finds ways to keep the words of the Bard alive... and us laughing

Today is the day William Shakespeare died, exactly four long centuries ago, and continued to live on in the books... of history and his own.

In a world that rapidly clicks away at its devices, and filled with people possessing the attention span of a gnat, what relevance does the Great Shakes' works hold today? New agers, at least, have found a way to immortalise his words in that most millennial of pastimes: memes. Quotes from the Bard's works, his prolificity, and his penchant for killing off even our favourite characters are all the subject of tongue-in-cheek memes on the Internet now. As one of those popular memes go, "Think he (Shakespeare) has no swag? He invented the word." Did you say you hate Shakespeare? There's a meme for you: "Thou art unfit for any place but hell". Another one: "There was Hamlet... before emo existed."

In the run up to the Bard's death anniversary, a survey also found that his works are way more popular outside the UK (big surprise, puh!) - mainly in Commonwealth countries that have a rich appreciation for English language literature. All the more reason why Shakespeare's words need to be constantly reinvented.

Even if it means placing him in the light-hearted context of a meme or a pun that we can all giggle at, or Shakespeare bots tweeting made-up funny quotes, or posting a funny Shakespeare meme on Facebook - it keeps his words alive. Will needs a hipster avatar to move with the times - to not be one is out of the question.

For all you know, had he been alive today, Shakespeare might have said, with his inimitable wit:

"Love me or hate me

both are in my favour.

If you love me,I'll always be in your heart,

but if you hate me,I'll always be in your meme."

(Psst. the original quote ends with the word "mind". And it's not by Shakespeare - the Internet wrongly attributes it to him).

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