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Originally Posted by DonQuigleone
Tropes exist because they work. No one complains about the fact Macbeth dies at the end of Macbeth being predictable, it's a tragedy. That's what tragedies are all about.
In fact if you go back all the way to Greek Drama, it did a fair amount of pandering as well. Greek Drama was written quite strictly to formula, and works that deviated too far were considered terrible. Invariably the playwright has to give the audience something they want, or else the audience isn't going to want to see it. Shakespeare, for all his acclaim, always gave the audience what they wanted and never wrote a thing with a particularly original plot.
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I disagree with this. Shakespeare actually broke with many of the established norms for theatrical performances of his time. That likely contributed to his popularity, and the lasting success of his work.
The truly great artists differentiate themselves from what is commonplace (at the time, at least).
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Authors who are too obsessed with originality often end out committing the sin of looking down on their audience.
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Authors who never try to rise above the commonplace often never get noticed at all.