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William Shakespeare The Shakespearean Experience. biography. Born in 1564 Died: April 23, 1616 His career was during the times in which Elizabeth I and James I were in throne. (ruled 1558-1625)
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biography • Born in 1564 • Died: April 23, 1616 • His career was during the times in which Elizabeth I and James I were in throne. (ruled 1558-1625) • He began his career as an actor, writer, and part owner of the play company, Lord Chamberlain’s Men. • Wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets • His plays were performed in The Globe Theatre
The Three Main Categories • His plays consisted of: • Tragedies • Comedies • Histories • Examples: • Tragedies: Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet • Comedies: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Winter’s Tale • Histories: King John, Richard II, and Henry V
Macbeth • Example of a Tragedy • Written in 1606 during James I ruling • Shortest and bloodiest of all his plays. • Shakespeare paid homage to the King’s Scottish lineage with Macbeth
Elements of a Tragedy • Element # Juan: The Tragic Hero • There is usually only 1 tragic hero, except in love tragedies. • Only great men are Tragic Heroes • Qualities: • exceptional beings. • destructive • do not have to be “good”, but they usually are. • live for what seems to be a type of the mystery of the whole world. • Example of Tragic Heroes are: Hamlet and Macbeth
Element Numero Two: The Tragic Flaw • An obsessive flaw that leads to the downfall of the tragic hero/heroine. • Examples: • Ambition • Greed • Hunger for power • Manipulative • Hypocrisy
Element # 3: The Tragic Story • The tragic story leads up to, and includes, the unusual and exceptionally disastrous death of the hero. • Shakespeare’s tragic heroes are responsible and the center of their disasters and falls.
Element # 4: The Abnormal, The Supernatural, Fate/Fortune/Chance • Shakespeare occasionally presents abnormal conditions of the mind: insanity, hallucinations, etc. • The supernatural: ghosts and witches.
Element # 5: Tragic Conflicts • The action of the tragic hero is most often motivated by external and internal conflicts that keeps being added on to. (Snowball effect) • External Conflict • There are usually 2 people or 2 groups involved in conflict. • One is always the tragic hero. • Internal Conflict • Shakespeare’s tragic hero is at some point torn by inward struggle. • The conception of outer and inner struggle includes the action of “spiritual forces”.
Element # 6: The Tragic Pattern • The main character is presented to us as someone of power: a king, a prince, a general. • Then the obsessive flaw of the characteris presented within the first two acts. • Urgencies and conflicts begin to arise. • Misreading and rationalizations occur. • Murder, exile, alienation of enemies and allies are brought on by new conflicts. • Gradual isolation of the Tragic Hero.
Element # 7: Tragic Structure in the Plays A tragedy represents a conflict which ends in disaster, which can be divided into 7 parts. • Exposition: The general atmosphere, time, place, main characters, and opening conditions of the play. • Initiating Incident: The event or action that starts the conflict and action of the play. • Rising Actions: This is a series of actions involving the hero usually covering more than one act. • Climax: distinct change occurs within the character • Falling Actions: The conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist becomes the essence of the play. • Moment of Final Suspense: It is the moment when things begin to look as if they will go the way of the protagonist again. • Catastrophe: This is the complete downfall of the protagonist, either through death or some other devastating circumstance.