I loved how Shakespeare in Love offers the audience a new perspective from which they can view a work of art. Rather than seeing the product and wondering about what inspired its ending or who was the source of inspiration for the hero or heroine, the audience gets to watch the process while continuously looking for parallels between life and the artwork it inspires. In flipping this arrangement, the movie conveys several important points about how an artist creates a work of art. First, Shakespeare in Love reminds us that art needs an audience. The power of art rests in its ability to move an audience. Some told Will they wanted a comedy, others told him they wanted a play involving battle, and still others told him he should change his title. The array of suggestions with which Will constantly met underscores the fact that audiences are not passive observers. Rather, they have expectations and stories they want to see come alive. A writer has to find a story that resonates with all these desires or transcends them to create a new common desire to fill through his or her story. Also, Shakespeare in Love communicates that art creates a story out of the beauty, tragedy, excitement, suffering, triumph, and so on of the world. As the relationship of Will and Viola changed, the script transformed to reflect these changes. In a way, the parallel the film creates between life and art serves as a reminder that people should find the aspects of art that move and inspire them in real life. It assures us that the adventure, love, mystery, and passion found in art exists in the world as well.

In addition to challenging the way audiences usually view art, the film also challenges notions of love. Will had a wife, and Viola was betrothed to another man. When their relationship overcame one obstacle, another one sprung up in the distance. Will and Viola acted out their love on stage but were forced to part once they left this stage. As opposed to capturing the love story that ends with two vowing to grow old together or not grow old without one, the film captures the power of a love that will “never age or die.”