William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare Widely regarded as the greatest writer in English Literature

Shakespeare: The Bio • Lived 1563-1616 • Lived in Stratford-on-Avon, England • Wrote 37 plays • About 154 sonnets • Started out as an actor

Stage Celebrity • Actor for Lord Chamberlain’s Men (London theater co.) • Also principal playwright for them 1599 • Lord Ch. Co. built Globe Theater where most of Sh. Play’s were perform

The Genres • Comedy (e.g. A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night) • Tragedy (Othello and Hamlet) • History (Richard III) • Romance (The Tempest) • The Problem Play/ Mixed Genre (Measure for Measure)

Comedy • Definition: a drama, novel, film, text that moves toward a happy ending and implies a re-ordering of the world. • Plot structure is that at the beginning the world is “out of order” but through the course of the play the natural/normal order is restored equaling a “happy ending” • Comedies often have humor, but it is not a prerequisite e. g. The Divine Comedy by Dante

Comedy Cont. • Comedies often take us to the brink of tragedy, but it is the lack of death or serious harm that make these plots a comedy. • Comedies focus on a group or a community, and often have general titles because of it. • Comedies usually resolve in the last 5 minutes and often end in marriage. • Types of comedy: farce, satire, slapstick, intrigue comedy, romantic comedy, tragicomedy, religious comedy, black comedy and mannered comedy. • Shakespeare always mixes the types of comedy in his plays never adhering to just one format.

Tragedy • Tragedy is when a text moves from order to disorder • Tragedy usually focuses on one individual not the society as a whole • The end of the play should bring about a catharsis • The hero of a tragedy is usually of an elite class and has a “tragic flaw” that will be exposed and exploited through the play • Tragedy involves choices and there consequences • Often have a fatalistic tone

Romance • "Romance" was not a generic classification in Shakespeare's time. The modern term "romance" refers to a new kind of play, a hybrid of comic and tragic elements • It was developed by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher with their play Plilaster in 1609 • Shakespeare took on this genre at the end of his career with: The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline, and Pericles

Romance Cont. • Sometimes called tragi-comedies because they combine elements of those two genres. • Plots of romances involve a tragic event that leads to reconciliation or restoration and forgiveness • However, the endings are always muted happiness as opposed to the “pure” happiness of a comedy • Plots usually focus on the whole human community and healing rifts. • Finally, the plots of romances always contain supernatural elements • Characters are either larger than life or one-dimensional

History • History plays focus on historical events, but often contain opinionated subtext about the event • Shakespeare wrote about two types of history: Roman and English • For the English Histories, Holinshed's Chronicles (1587), but he also drew on other sources, e.g. the anonymous history play The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth (1598) • The main source for the Roman plays was Plutarch (which Shakespeare would have studied in grammar school)

The Problem Plays • These plays focus on a problem in society, but they have no true solution or ending; instead, their endings are awkward. • In these plays, the situation faced by the protagonist is put forward by the author as a representative instance of a contemporary social problem • Shakespeare's "problem plays" set out to explore specific moral dilemmas and social problems through their central characters. • The problem plays are characterized by their complex and ambiguous tone, which shifts violently between dark, psychological drama and more straightforward comic material

Theater in the Ren. • Theater was NOT a high class affair. • It was a red light district activity, which meant that it was competing with Bear baiting, sex shows, sword fights, punch and judy shows, etc. for an audience • Pick pockets were a major concern at theater • All the actors were men • The classes were separated in the theater seating.

William Shakespeare