Shakespeare in Love, directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, has had favorable responses since the film was released in 1998. It is about the forbidden love of Shakespeare and a noble woman, Viola de Lesseps. A secret love affair between Shakespeare and Viola runs parallel to the romance of forbidden love between Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare and Viola quote many lines from the play Romeo and Juliet. In the film, the fictional plot and dialogues are mingled with the real situation. In Shakespeare in Love, Shakespeare, who is disguised as a woman at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, makes a bet of fifty pounds with Wessex. If the play Romeo and Juliet can capture the nature of true love, Shakespeare will win the wager. The Queen, who is a witness to the wager, asks Viola a question: "Can a play show us the very truth and nature of love?" The Queen believes that "playwrights teach nothing about love," but Viola believes that a play can present the nature of love. The Queen's opinion of the play reflects that of Plato, who criticized literature for being merely an imitation of the ideal which is removed from truth or reality. On the other hand, Viola's position reflects Aristotle’s argument that poets present things as they should be and things that may happen according to the law of probability. In the theater, Viola plays Juliet and Shakespeare plays Romeo, and the audience is moved by their passionate actions. Finally, the Queen admits that the playwright has won the wager, accepting the opinion of Aristotle because she thinks that Romeo and Juliet effectively portrays the nature of true love. The film Shakespeare in Love is largely fictional. However, it embodies the effect of imagination on the fictional and the real, and proves the positive effect of the play in which the fictional and the real are mingled together.

Shakespeare in Love, directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, has had favorable responses since the film was released in 1998. It is about the forbidden love of Shakespeare and a noble woman, Viola de Lesseps. A secret love affair between Shakespeare and Viola runs parallel to the romance of forbidden love between Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare and Viola quote many lines from the play Romeo and Juliet. In the film, the fictional plot and dialogues are mingled with the real situation. In Shakespeare in Love, Shakespeare, who is disguised as a woman at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, makes a bet of fifty pounds with Wessex. If the play Romeo and Juliet can capture the nature of true love, Shakespeare will win the wager. The Queen, who is a witness to the wager, asks Viola a question: "Can a play show us the very truth and nature of love?" The Queen believes that "playwrights teach nothing about love," but Viola believes that a play can present the nature of love. The Queen's opinion of the play reflects that of Plato, who criticized literature for being merely an imitation of the ideal which is removed from truth or reality. On the other hand, Viola's position reflects Aristotle’s argument that poets present things as they should be and things that may happen according to the law of probability. In the theater, Viola plays Juliet and Shakespeare plays Romeo, and the audience is moved by their passionate actions. Finally, the Queen admits that the playwright has won the wager, accepting the opinion of Aristotle because she thinks that Romeo and Juliet effectively portrays the nature of true love. The film Shakespeare in Love is largely fictional. However, it embodies the effect of imagination on the fictional and the real, and proves the positive effect of the play in which the fictional and the real are mingled together.

Shakespeare in Love, Romeo and Juliet, the fictional and the real, Plato, Aristotle