WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
SOMA DEBRAY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH NARAJOLE RAJ COLLEGE
C2T WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
British Poetry and Drama:Renaissance to 17th and 18th Centuries William Shakespeare, also known as “Bard of Avon” lived from about 1564, up to 1616 in England. He is regarded as the greatest of all English writers of all times. His extant works consist of 39 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long narrative poems, and a few other shorter verses. However he is celebrated mostly for his dramas that have transcended time in the truest sense. The plays of Shakespeare have been translated into almost all languages of the world, and are the inspirations behind a whole gamut of performing arts.
The most productive period of Shakespeare’s life was from1589 to 1613. His works can be divided into 4 broad phases. He began his writing career with comedies and history plays. The works include plays like The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II and Richard III. This was the period before 1595.
From 1595 to 1601 is considered to be the second period, when the plays were more intense, if less flamboyant. The plays are characterised by their philosophical appeal and is definitely a record of his progress in the dramatic art. Among the plays of this period are The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Henry V, and As You like It.
The third period spanned from about 1601 up to 1608. This was the period when Shakespeare produced the best plays of his lifetime, his most mature and deep works that are still equally universal in their force of truth. His vision of life blossom through the tragedies as the playwright suffered great personal losses during this time. He lost his father. His best
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
SOMA DEBRAY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH NARAJOLE RAJ COLLEGE
C2T WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
British Poetry and Drama:Renaissance to 17th and 18th Centuries friend was imprisoned on charges of treason. Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth,
and King Lear, every single one a timeless borderless production, belong to this period.
Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest are productions of the final and the fourth phase of Shakespeare’s career as a playwright. The plays are characterised by their clam strength combined with a mellow sweetness, a reflection of the temperament of the now ageing dramatist.
However, it has always remained tricky and difficult to arrange the chronology of the Shakespearean plays. The dates of the first production of the plays remain unavailable. When conjecturing the dates of the plays, scholars have taken into account certain parameters: 1) the plays are often replete with allusions to contemporary and historical events; 2) diary entrants of contemporary actors or those associated with stage productions of the times; 3) the publication dates of the sources; and, 4) the dated when the plays were printed, keeping in mind that in Elizabethan times a play was produced immediately after completion of the composition of the play.
Shakespeare began with the historical plays, Richard III and Henry VI in the early1590s. historical plays were in fashion during the time. One must never forget that Shakespeare took to writing plays as his means of livelihood. So, his plays conform to the demands of the times.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
SOMA DEBRAY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH NARAJOLE RAJ COLLEGE
C2T WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
British Poetry and Drama:Renaissance to 17th and 18th Centuries For the plays of this period Shakespeare drew heavily from Holinshed’s Chronicles, dramatizing the destruction caused by weak or corrupt ruling. They have been regarded as the justification of the rise of the Tudors in England. These early plays were also influenced by the works of Kyd and Marlowe, two established contemporary dramatists, by the plays of Seneca and the traditions of medieval drama. The comedies were developed along classical models, however the stories also came from folk lore. The early comedies were characterised by tight double plots and precise comic sequences. By A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the style adapted became a mixture of romance, magic, and comic lowlife scenes. Wit and wordplay begins to gain ground with every passing comedy. His comic sequence completes the round with lively merry-making of Twelfth Night.
The plays after this early period become more complex, with even more realistic characterisation, and the playwright’s deft combination of the comic with the serious. The narrative variety of his mature works, a masterly combination of prosaic strides along with the poetic rythms, set in by the second phase of his writings.
Next in line are his ‘Problem plays’; Measure for Measure being the first in line. This phase gave way to Shakespeare writing all his famous tragedies representing the peak of Shakespeare’s creative graph. The final phase consists of the four tragicomedies that begin on a serious note but end in reconciliation and forgiveness.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
SOMA DEBRAY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH NARAJOLE RAJ COLLEGE
C2T WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
British Poetry and Drama:Renaissance to 17th and 18th Centuries Other than his plays Shakespeare is also remembered for his sonnets. Although no certain date is available as to when the sonnets were composed, they are presumed to have been written all through his active writing career. The 154 sonnets are evidently written for private readership. Two very contrasting series can be identified in these; one series was written for his fair friend, the identity of whom remains enigmatic in spite of scholars trying their best otherwise. The other series speaks of the poet’s uncontrollable desire for his ‘dark lady’. The Sonnets embody profound meditation on the nature of love, marriage, desire, procreation, death and Time.
