William Shakespeare remains among the most revered playwrights of the English language. The fact that his work survives today is a testament to his ability to enthrall and entertain an audience. Of course, knowing how great a writer Shakespeare was does not necessarily make his plays any easier to read. In this topic, you explored some strategies on how to read and understand dramatic works. Dramas are meant to be performed in front of an audience. So, if you can visualize the action, hear the characters in different voices, and track the action of the plot, you will be better equipped to understand the play. Likewise, learning that Shakespeare used techniques like inversion, ellipses, and blank verse will help you to put his archaic English into today's modern English.