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9 Famous Book Titles Based on Shakespeare Lines
Authors have been finding book title inspiration in the Bard's verses for centuries: four centuries, to be exact! For #ShakespeareWeek, we've collected a few contemporary examples. From a dystopian thriller to a young adult tearjerker, these are the stories Shakespeare has inspired from beyond the grave. How many have you read?
BRAVE NEW WORLD
by Aldous Huxley
"Oh, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in 't!"
From The Tempest
ON SUCH A FULL SEA
by Chang-rae Lee
"On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."
From Julius Caesar
PALE FIRE
by Vladimir Nabokov
"And her pale fire she snatches from the sun:
The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
The moon into salt tears: the earth's a thief,
That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen."
From Timon of Athens
INFINITE JEST
by David Foster Wallace
"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite
jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his back a
thousand times, and now how abhorr'd in my imagination it is!
My gorge rises at it."
From Hamlet
"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite
jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his back a
thousand times, and now how abhorr'd in my imagination it is!
My gorge rises at it."
From Hamlet
by Aldous Huxley
"Oh, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in 't!"
From The Tempest
by Chang-rae Lee
"On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."
From Julius Caesar
THE SOUND AND THE FURY
by William Faulkner
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
From Macbeth
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
From Macbeth
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
by John Green
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
From Julius Caesar
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
From Julius Caesar
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
by Ray Bradbury
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."
From Macbeth
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."
From Macbeth
by Vladimir Nabokov
"And her pale fire she snatches from the sun:
The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
The moon into salt tears: the earth's a thief,
That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen."
From Timon of Athens
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Patrik
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Apr 20, 2016 06:20AM
There should be more of such events! Loving the Shakespeare week so far <3
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Every entry in the October Daye series has a title taken from Shakespeare.I don't think I would use a Shakespeare title for anything I was responsible for; sets up too many expectations. I always enjoy finding these kinds of references, though.
Didn't realize some of these were Shakespeare.
Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Every entry in the October Daye series has a title taken from Shakespeare.I don't think I would use a Shakespeare title for anything I was responsible for; sets up too many expectations. I always..."
At least one of those should have been on the list
Not a book title, but a movie title. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of? -- Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1 (the "To be or not to be" soliloquy
Georgette Heyer's Envious Casca
Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through.
See what a rent the envious Casca made.
Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd,
And, as he pluck'd his cursed steel away,
Mark how the blood of Caesar follow'd it
Let's not forget Pale Fire is named so because it was poking fun at the laziness of taking a line from Shakespeare and using it as a title."(But this transparent thingum does require
Some moondrop title. Help me, Will! Pale Fire.)"
My sister wrote a novel (as yet unpublished) that she titled How Far that Little Candle, which comes from a line in The Merchant of Venice
Don't forget "A Heart So White" by Javier Marias
I didn;t knew that the title of The fault in our stars was based on Shakespeare, thanks for the interesting fact!
Patrik wrote: "There should be more of such events! Loving the Shakespeare week so far <3"I agree!
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's NestRichard III - St. Crispin's day speech
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
John wrote: "At least one of those should have been on the list ."Agreed.
You can add to the list Antoine Volodine’s novel titled “Bardo or not Bardo”.
Agatha Christie used lots of Shakespeare's quotes to inspire titles and even plots!By the Pricking of My Thumbs (from Hamlet like the Bradbury book)
Sad Cypress from Twelfth Night
Come away, come away, death,
And in sad cypress let me be laid;
And there's of course the villain of
, based on Iago from Othello.
This is really interesting - I have read two of [the Shakespeare versions] in English class (Julius Caesar + Macbeth), and one of the modern day stories (The Fault in Our Stars). I'm looking forward to reading Huxley's Brave New World quite soon!
Jgrace wrote: "Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's NestRichard III - St. Crispin's day speech
From this day to the ending of the world,
But..."
I believe this speech is from Henry V - not Richard III.
Hamlet is my favourite so if I had to name a book I would use something from there (possibly from that soliloquy everyone and their mother knows, perhaps something like "Conscience does make cowards of us all" or "Currents turn awry") or "The Last Syllable Of Recorded Time" from Macbeth.
I would title a book "Sad Stories of the Deaths of Kings," which is from Richard II.
Jgrace wrote: "Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's NestRichard III - St. Crispin's day speech
From this day to the ending of the world,
But..."
Actually, this is from Henry V
Another Agatha Christie title- ' Taken at the flood'From Julius Caesar:
‘There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.’
How about a play title. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. The play is based on Hamlet. 
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
The quintessence of dust -- from Hamlet Act 2, scene 2What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world. The paragon of animals. And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
Jgrace wrote: "Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's NestRichard III - St. Crispin's day speech
From this day to the ending of the world,
But..."
Actually, this is Henry V.
