ABSTRACT
According to data from the website Open Source Shakespeare, the average number of words in a Shakespeare play is 22,595. Both Shakespeare’s first tetralogy and Game of Thrones build plots with plots within plots, like Russian nesting dolls. In both Shakespeare’s histories and Game of Thrones, the nested plots generate much of the scope and intrigue of the texts, leading many characters—like Richard III and Jaime Lannister—to switch from protagonist to antagonist, or vice versa, as storylines expand and perspectives shift. The strong fan bases of both Shakespeare’s history plays and Game of Thrones exhibit something called the IKEA effect. The fandoms of Shakespeare and Game of Thrones even collide in the Twitter account @ShakesOfThrones, which puts Game of Thrones dialog into Shakespearean language and posts Game of Thrones visuals for Shakespearean speeches, in addition to providing more traditional essays.
