[Question_Assumptions]

Shakespeare has some wonderful plots! That's why they keep getting copied for modern movies and plays (e.g., West Side Story, Forbidden Planet, Ran, etc.). The specific situations may not matter but the characters, and how they respond to their situations, can still speak to a modern audience. The plots aren't the point? Ha!

[discostu]

Of course if you do some not so easy digging into that era you'll find Shakespeare did a lot of ripping off too. A lot of his stuff comes from Greek tragedy, most of the rest comes from Italian contemporaries who didn't have the renown he did.

Good plots though always translate regardless of genre.