To paraphrase Falstaff, Shakespeare is not only witty in himself, but the cause that wit is in others. With its power and popularity, Shakespeare's art has prompted a seemingly endless stream of responses – some critical, some artistic; some celebratory, some reactionary; some which are themselves great works of literature, and some which are so bad that it becomes socially awkward to sit through them, that you feel sorry for the authors, and that you are embarrassed for the human race. Below is a sampling of some of the ways that Shakespeare has been picked up, played with, transformed, performed, adapted, criticized, theorized, and otherwise mobilized in modern culture.