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I think it's the stories much more than the language. A story can be modernised or adapted to cultural values without losing any of what makes it appealing, but in either case the first casualty is going to be the 'beautiful English'.

It reminds me of the TV adaptations of works by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. People would have watched them and yet never even picked up a serious literary work. I'd imagine that most people are going to watch, read or otherwise consume these stories because of the characters far more than anything about the language.

Juliet, for example, could be anyone. Imagine her as the daughter of an influential modern-day political family or an alien girl in a first-contact scenario. She could be divided from Romeo by religious or ideological conflict. The things that make her Juliet could survive any of these transformations and she could be instantly recognisable to anyone with even a casual knowledge of Shakespeare. His particular turn of phrase, though? No sign of it.

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