I've been wondering if fame & being famous worked in the same way today. Did historical figures like William Shakespeare, Beethoven, etc become be recognized on the streets? Did they expect fame or understand their historical presence at the time?
And how did people aspire for fame? Or was it merely a luxury of Pharaohs, Kings, and the nobles?
People certainly did. As an example, Herostratus, who burned the Temple of Artemis to the ground, admitted that he did it and further claimed that it was so that history would never forget him.
As a side note - and this is just my opinion - I don't think humans and their nature have really changed much over the course of history. I can't speak to either Shakespeare or Beethoven, but I'm sure that there were lots and lots of people who desired to become famous in whatever cultural milieu they could grasp for that fame. Obviously there was no twitter, but people used whatever they could.