What was the primary motivating force behind Shakespeare's astonishing career: art or commerce? The argument for art says that if he were writing for money, he would have written potboilers and so forth. The argument for commerce says that if he were writing for literary posterity, he might as well have stuck to poetry. My guess is that both were involved. Necessary, in fact. Shakespeare's company (the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and later the King's Men) did not travel much and so there was really only the London audience for which to play. Thus it was in Shakespeare's best interest to write plays that would be exciting and suspenseful, while at the same time containing as much substance as possible, the better to attract the same playgoers more than once. Anyone who has seen one of the plays in performance knows the feeling that arises when a line or speech is illuminated by the performance in a unique manner. It makes you want to relive the moment. During those days, I'm quite sure that many did. The philosophical/poetic content, therefore, may have been inspired by the desire and need for audiences.