The Real Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

(1564-1616)

Life

The beginnings ◊ Little is known about the events of William Shakespeare's life. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, probably on April 23rd. His father, a glover by trade, was a prominent local figure who held important positions in the government of the town. His mother came from a prosperous local family.

William Shakespeare probably attended Stratford grammar school, but he did not go on to study at university. When he was eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, who was eight year senior, and six months later his first child Susanna was born, followed three years later by twins Hamnet and Judith.

It is commonly believed that Shakespeare left Stratford to avoid being arrested for poaching.

Career ◊ He went to London where he did a series of jobs, including holding theatre-goers' horses outside playhouses. He eventually became an actor, and by 1592 he was sufficiently well-known as a dramatist to be the subject of an attack by the playwright Robert Greene (1558 1592). Greene wrote a pamphlet in which he complained that uneducated dramatists were becoming more popular than university men like himself. In it he called Shakespeare 'an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers’.

Success and prosperity ◊ In 1595 Shakespeare joined an important company of actors called The Lord Chamberlain's Men (later changed to The King's Men) and performed at court. His success as a dramatist grew. He mixed in high social circles and the Earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated his sonnets, became his patron and friend. His improved financial standing allowed him to invest in the building of the Globe Theatre and in 1597 he bought New Place, the finest house in Stratford.

Retirement and death ◊ He retired to his hometown in 1611, where he died on April 23rd 1616.

TASK

Answer these questions.

a. When and where was Shakespeare born?

b. Who did he marry and at what age?

c. Why did Robert Greene call him 'an upstart crow'?

d. What was The Lord Chamberlain's Men?

e. What was The Globe⁷

f. How did he spend the last years of his life?

Works

His sources ◊ Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays in a period of about twenty years, from 1591 to 1611. He used many source for his plays including the classical Greek and Latin writings of Plutarch and Plautus, the Italian works of Matteo Bandello, Giraldo Cinzio and Ser Giovanni Fiorentino, and the English historian Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577), a source of material for many Elizabethan playwrights. Shakespeare did not publish his plays. Some of his works were put together from notes taken in the theatres or reconstructed from memory by actors. They are referred to as Bad Quartos. Quartos are large-sized books made of sheets of folded paper. They are called 'Bad' because they are full of gaps and mistakes.

In 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death, two former actors and friends of Shakespeare's, Heminge and Condell, decided to publish the first collection of his plays. The so called First Folio included thirty-five plays that were divided into 'Comedies, Histories and Tragedies'.

Four Periods ◊ The plays were not dated. However, approximate dates have subsequently been given to them based on:

· references to contemporary events in the play;

· a references to the works of other writers which are dated;

· style, plot, characterisation and metre used in the play.

Shakespeare's plays are usually divided into four periods:

First Period ◊ The first period covers the years from 1590 to 1595 and was a period of learning and experimentation. In these years Shakespeare wrote very different types of plays:

· chronicle plays dealing with the history of England, such as Henry VI and Richard III;

· comedies which include A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew;

· the tragedies Titus Andronicus and Romeo and Juliet.

Second Period ◊ During the second period, from 1596 to the turn of the century, Shakespeare focused on chronicle plays and comedies and it is generally agreed that it was during these years that he wrote his best comedies, including The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It and Twelfth Night, which base their comedy on a wide range of themes such as the pain and pleasure of love, mistaken identity and the degrading of materialistic and humourless people.

Third Period ◊ During the third period, from 1600 to 1608, Shakespeare wrote his great tragedies. These plays have given world theatre unforgettable characters such as Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth. The comedies that were written in this period no longer have the bright, optimistic appeal of earlier works. The darker elements that are found in works such as Measure for Measure seem to suggest that Shakespeare was experiencing difficulties in his personal life which made his outlook rather pessimistic.

Fourth Period ◊ A return to a happier state of mind is reflected in the plays of the final period from 1609 to 1612. The Tempest, for example, is set in the ideal world of an enchanted island where an atmosphere of magic, music, romance and harmony prevails. Shakespeare is widely regarded as one of the greatest dramatists in world literature. The universal appeal of his work is based on its timeless themes, unforgettable characters and powerful language. His ability to engage the audience's attention has remained unsurpassed to the present day.

A scene from Prospero's Books, o Peter Creenaway film (1991) based on The Tempest by William Shakespeare.

TASK

Take notes under the following headings and prepare a short talk on Shakespeare's plays.

Sources:...................................................................................................................

Bad quartos:.............................................................................................................

First folio:................................................................................................................

Main characteristics and major plays of:

- First period:..........................................................................................................

- Second period:.......................................................................................................

- Third period:.........................................................................................................

- Fourth period:.......................................................................................................

Shakespeare's reputation is based on:.....................................................................

Shakespeare’s Theatrical Genius

Plays for audiences ◊ The relationship between audiences and performers was very intimate in Elizabethan theatres. Spectators sat on the stage or stood close to the performer and openly expressed their opinions about what was taking place on stage. Shakespeare had an unparalleled ability to entertain all sections of his audiences; the more intellectual elements enjoyed the poetic language and subtle characterisation of his work while the less educated spectators delighted in the compelling storylines, gory battlescenes and humorous intrigues.

Variety of themes ◊ The variety of timeless themes in Shakespeare's works is unsurpassed:

· the appeal of an unsophisticated life in harmony with nature (As You Like It);

· ambition and jealousy, deception and crime (Macbeth, Othello);

· greed, corruption and ingratitude (King Lear);

· love and politics (Antony and Cleopatra);

· crime, guilt and punishment (Macbeth, Richard III);

· the all-conquering power of love (Much Ado About Nothing);

· the impatience of youth (Romeo and Juliet);

· the pains and pleasures of love (The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It).

Unforgettable characters ◊ Shakespeare portrayed an unforgettable gallery of characters:

· Hamlet, a complex and sensitive idealist who is paralysed by indecision;

· King Lear, a proud misguided father who loses his mind when he understands his daughters' true nature;

· Othello, a naive victim of his enemy's envy and treachery;

· Macbeth, a soldier who is transformed into murderer by ambition;

· Lady Macbeth, a scheming, ambitious wife who realises, too late, the horror of what she has done;

· Richard III, a liar, manipulator and murderer.

Mastery of language ◊ The highly poetic quality of the language is a feature of all Shakespeare's plays. In Elizabethan theatres scenery and props almost non-existent so Shakespeare had to conjure up settings, moods, and atmospheres with his words. His richly dense language, with its striking imagery and musicality, is perhaps greatest legacy. Many of the lines from his plays are so memorable that they have become everyday sayings in the English language, for All's Well That Ends Well (title of a play), ‘Neither a borrower nor a lender be' (Hamlet).

TASK

Prepare a brief talk in which you outline the reasons for Shakespeare's greatness.

The Sonnets

Shakespeare's sonnets - 154 in all - were first published in 1609 without the knowledge or consent of their author. Though there is very little direct evidence which might point to a specific date of composition, on stylistic grounds it is believed that they were written at an earlier date.

The sonnets have been conventionally divided into two groupings:

Sonnets 1-126 are addressed to or concern an unnamed 'fair youth', probably Shakespeare's friend and patron the Earl of Southampton.

Sonnets 127-154 are about a woman who is conventionally referred to as the 'dark lady', presumably Shakespeare's mistress. The poet speaks about his troubled love for the woman (who is married) and describes a painful relationship in which they are both unfaithful to each other.

Themes ◊ The range of emotions explored in the sonnets is extraordinary: confident declarations of unselfish love, sad parting words, expressions of joy at reunion or bitter disappointment at mutual infidelity.

Styles ◊ The range of styles is greatly varied. In many sonnets the style is complex and rich while in others the vocabulary, syntax and form are disarmingly simple. The best of the sonnets are widely considered to be the finest love poems in English literature.

TASK

Answer these questions.

a. How many sonnets did Shakespeare write?

b. Who are sonnets 1-126 addressed to?

c. Who is the 'dark lady'?

d. Are all the sonnets written in the same style?

The Real Shakespeare

The few existing documents about Shakespeare only certify that he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, got married at eighteen, had three children, left Stratford and went to London, became an actor and owned a share of the Globe Theatre. Evidence also exists that he returned to Stratford in his forties, bought a big house, looked after his properties and died in 1616. In his will there is no mention of returns from plays or poems. Only six examples of his handwriting exist: six signatures, all with a different spelling of his name. His death went totally unnoticed. Scholars have wondered how someone with Shakespeare's social and educational background could know so much about history, Italy, Latin, Greek and all the other subjects that filled his plays. For over a century now many have voiced their doubts about the real identity of the author of 'Shakespeare's plays'.

The works of Shakespeare: TIMELINE
Period	Date	Plays
Period I Plays of Experimentation	1590-1591   1592-1593     1593-1594   1594-1595     1593-1595	Henry VI (parts I, II, III) (History plays) Titus Andronicus (Tragedy) Richard III (History play)   The Comedy of Errors (Comedy) The Taming of the Shrew (Comedy)   The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Comedy) Love's Labour's Lost (Comedy) Romeo and Juliet (Tragedy) Richard II (History play) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Comedy) King John (History play)   Sonnets
Period II Artistic maturity: Lyrical masterpieces and Chronicle Plays	1596-1597     1598-1599	The Merchant of Venice (Comedy) The Merry Wives of Windsor (Comedy) Henry IV (I, II) (History plays) Much Ado About Nothing (Comedy) Henry V (History play)   As You Like It (Comedy) Twelfth Night (Comedy) Julius Caesar (History play)
Period III The Great Tragedies	1600-1601     1602-1603     1604-1605 1606-1607	Hamlet (Tragedy) Troilus and Cressida (Tragedy)   All's Well That Ends Well (Comedy/Romance) Measure for Measure (Comedy/Romance) Othello (Tragedy)   King Lear (Tragedy) Macbeth (Tragedy) Antony and Cleopatra (Tragedy) Coholanus (Tragedy)   Timon of Athens (Tragedy)
Period IV Last Plays	1609-1610	Pericles (Tragedy)   Cymbeline (Romance) The Winter's Tale (Romance)   The Tempest (Romance) Henry VIII (probably incomplete. History play)

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