Looking Deeper Into an Icon

I am sure many essayists and historians must have asked themselves this question when looking into the life and works of one of the most celebrated playrights who ever lived. Now we, IB I students, have to ask ourselves the very same question.IS SHAKESPEARE OVERRATED?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We certainly have to address one specific aspect of the issue: what does it take to create such immortal characters? How can a character be thought over, worked over, and finally finished so that he or she (and there are plenty of them)will remain as powerful and as resonant in 500 years time? And, last but definitely not least, what sort of mind does it take to be able to write like that, with such enduring effects?
We have to take all these factors into consideration before we make a final judgement. Some people argue that there was no Shakespeare, or that he was just a charlatan who got others to write the famous works for him. But, as a response to those people, we know very little about Shakespeare's life. So how can we judge? All we know is that we study Shakespeare at school and find ourselves having to analyze the deeper meanings and themes of his work, be it plays or sonnets.
Some of us may idolize or detest Shakespeare for whatever reason, but most people agree that he is an extremely powerful writer. For fans and critics alike to agree on that, it does mean that Shakespeare's work has outstanding literary merit. So no, I don't think Shakespeare is overrated.