the poet of nature the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life This means Shakespeare shows life as it truly is Kings queens servants and fools all act like real people Because human nature never changes Shakespeare s characters remain meaningful in every age Characters Are Types Not Individuals Shakespeare s characters are not limited to one time or place They represent human types Johnson clearly explains this idea He says In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual in those of Shakespeare it is commonly a species This means Shakespeare s characters stand for a whole class of people Hamlet represents the thinking man Macbeth represents ambition Othello represents jealousy Such characters can be found in every society That is why people from different cultures feel connected to Shakespeare Mixture of Joy and Sorrow Another reason for Shakespeare s universality is his mixture of comedy and tragedy Real life has both happiness and sadness Shakespeare shows this truth clearly His plays contain laughter and tears together This creates a whole new genre tragicomedy For example Shakespeare s famous play The Merchant of Venice is a tragicomedy Johnson supports this and says Shakespeare has united the powers of exciting laughter and sorrow not only in one mind but in one composition This mixture makes Shakespeare s plays closer to real life Different people enjoy different emotions Some enjoy humor others feel touched by sorrow Shakespeare gives both So all kinds of audiences find pleasure in his plays Freedom from Strict Dramatic Rules Shakespeare did not strictly follow classical rules like unity of time and place Johnson says this is not a weakness Life itself does not follow strict rules Shakespeare focuses more on truth and variety than on rules Johnson explains that the aim of poetry is not rules but effect He says The end of writing is to instruct the end of poetry is to instruct by pleasing Shakespeare pleases his audience while also teaching them about life His freedom makes his plays lively and natural not artificial Mirror of Real Life Shakespeare presents the real world with all its good and evil His plays show how life actually works Johnson beautifully says This therefore is the praise of Shakespeare that his drama is the mirror of life In Shakespeare good people may suffer and bad people may succeed This happens in real life too In conclusion Shakespeare s universality lies in his truthful presentation of human nature his timeless characters his mixture of joy and sorrow and his realistic view of life As Dr Johnson shows Shakespeare does not belong to one age or one nation He belongs to all humanity That is why he is still read performed and loved all over the world today