A Midsummer Night's Dream has inspired paintings, music, ballets, operas and films. This also happened at the level of character. In the 17th century, Henry IV was often called Falstaff.
As Gary Taylor notes: "In this cultural environment Shakespeare's artistic supremacy had ceased to be debated; it was simply assumed." It has also inspired significant research into the 16th-century staging of Shakespearean plays. 115