Synopsis of Shakespeare’s Comedies and Tragedies

1. Synopsis of Shakespeare’s Comedies and Tragedies Lynn Moon Block A

2. Tragedies • Antony and Cleopatra • Coriolanus • Hamlet • Julius Caesar • King Lear • Macbeth • Othello • Romeo and Juliet • Timon of Athens • Titus Andronicus

3. Comedies • All’s Well That Ends Well • As You Like It • The Comedy of Errors • Cymbeline • Love’s Labours Lost • Measure for Measure • The Merry Wives of Windsor • The Merchant of Venice • A Midsummer Night’s Dream • Much Ado About Nothing • Pericles, Prince of Tyre • The Taming of the Shrew • The Tempest • Troilus and Cressida • Twelfth Night • Two Gentlemen of Verona • The Winter’s Tale

4. Twelfth Night • A Comedy • Theme: the questions of why and how and whom people love and how they respond to love • This play is mainly about the “pleasurable mistakes into which love can lead a person.” • Setting: the city of Illyria • She’s the Man is based on this story.

5. Main Characters of Twelfth Night • Viola- the heroine of this play. Pretends to be Cesario so she can work. Sebastian’s twin sister. Falls in love with Orsino. “Purest” love. • Orsino- Viola/Cesario’s master. Is in love with Olivia and pines for her. Is unsuccessfully rejected by her. Falls in love with Viola at the end. • Olivia- Spurns Orsino’s advances. Mourns for her dead brother. Falls in love with “Cesario.” marries Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother.

6. The Plot Viola and Sebastian are twins who have been separated during a shipwreck. A sea captain finds Viola, who has survived the wreck, and helps her become a page to Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. Viola calls herself Cesario and dresses as a boy. She falls in love with her master, but also has to woo Olivia, a Countess of Illyria, for Orsino. Olivia, who had been mourning for her dead brother, falls in love with Cesario. Later on, Sebastian also arrives in Illyria, and there is a great deal of confusion. However, all ends well as Olivia can marry Sebastian, not Viola, and Orsino marries Viola.

7. Othello • A tragedy • Themes: love, hatred, jealousy, and revenge • Settings: Venice, the Island of Cyprus • “A study in the psychology of deception and jealousy”

8. Main Characters of Othello • Othello- a Moorish general and the husband of Desdemona. Becomes full of jealousy because of Iago’s scheme and kills Desdemona. When he learns the truth, he kills himself. • Iago- Othello’s ensign. Was very angered when Othello passed the job of lieutenant to Cassio. A wicked villain that will take revenge on anyone. In the end, he is to be executed. • Desdemona- at times, submissive, but is also independent and witty. In the end, she even forgives Othello for killing her.

9. The Plot • Othello and Desdemona marry and attempt to live together despite their many differences. Their marriage is sabotaged, however, by Rodergio and the envious Iago. Iago gradually insinuates to Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful with Cassio, Othello’s friend and lieutenant. Soon, Othello is full of jealousy and vows not to change course until he has achieved bloody revenge. Iago plants a certain handkerchief in Cassio’sroom to make it look as if Cassio and Desdemona are lovers and later arranges a conversation with Cassio, which Othello watches and sees as “proof” that Cassio and Desdemona have slept together. Iago unsuccessfully attempts to kill Cassio, and Othello smothers Desdemona with a pillow. Emilia, Iago’s wife, later exposes Iago’s deceptions, Othello kills himself, and Iago is taken away to be executed.