Shakespeare's plays were so popular because they contained comedy and drama. The comedies were the things people enjoyed at the time, while the dramas were just dramas. The comedies were like modern movies, while the tragedies were more like dramas. Shakespeare always knew how to blend the serious play with the funny play. Without comedy, drama stays, without comedy-drama also remains. Shakespeare was also prolific in producing many plays and also wrote many famous sonnets.
Shakespeare never wrote for a specific society, as other playwrights did. Compared to other playwrights, Shakespeare had flaws.
The effectiveness as a playwright, as in why his plays were so popular, is because his plays contained a lot of messages in every play. The most famous, of course, was the message of being 'taught one's mind, speech and heart' (Othello Act IV, scene V, lines 57-57). Everybody has learned their lesson of why people are taught the mind, trust, and faith, speech and heart.
Shakespeare did not write for the time he lived in.
