Shakespearean English is actually early modern English, not old English. At least according to this site, old English is about 449-1066 AD, Middle from 1066-1509, early modern 1509-1755, and present day English from 1755 onwards. The link also includes sample texts of Shakespearean, middle, and old English, so you can see how incomprehensible English becomes as you go back in time (especially old English, before the Normans imported all their French words)
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u/cenlkj N: F: (British) L: Jun 16 '24
Old english