his plays were burglarizedded by mr.odler, given happy endings and romeo and juliette not dead at the end. that was a bit of a downer. even shakespeare has a slump before he's established as the national poet and playwright. dickens too. we're at a point where i you're a writer in the english language you mu know about dickens. >> charlie: dpik ens and shakespeare on the same page? >> i think shakespeare comes in a lot when you think about dickens. one way to know why is to think of a character like scrooge. how does one come up with a scrooge or a hamlet? how does one come up with macawber? there's something about a creation or a character creation that becomes iconic the first time you read it that you only find in shakespeare and dickens. i'm sure i'm forgetting. >> one of the thin they have in common, shakespeare and dickens, is brilliance at portraying low life. you think of mcbath and hamlet. he's incredibly good at soldiers getting drunk in pubs and prostitutes and cut-purses, et cetera, et cetera. if you look at