William Shakespeare
26 april 1564 – 23 april 1616
William was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest
writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called
England’s national poet. His works consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long
narrative poems and a few other verses. His plays have been translated into every major
living language and are performed more often than those of any other
playwright.Between 1585-1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor,
writer and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later
known as the King’s Men. Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589
– 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories and these work remain
regarded as some the best work produced in these genres even today. He then wrote
mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth
considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase he wrote
tragicomedies, also known as romances.
Major themes
Betrayal (trădare) - He wrote about betrayal in Hamlet, when Claudius kills his own
brother (Hamlet’s father) to become king of Denmark. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth host
Duncan, the king of Scotland, only to murder him while he sleeps. King Lear has one
daughter who takes care of him in old age and sickness although he had previously split
his fortune equally between his other two daughters based on their flattery of him. The
most famous Shakesperian example of betrayal is Julius Caesar, when Caesar is lead to
believe that he is going to be king and is then (literally) stabbed in the back by those
whom he assumes to be his best friends. Many of today’s movies and books use betrayal
as a motivator. Some examples are Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, the story of Mark
Zuckerberg’s rise to fame in The Social Network, and even Disney’s The Lion King,
which is inspired from Hamlet.
Lust (pofta) - is and has always been an interesting theme. Shakespeare used it
frequently in plays like Antony and Cleopatrain which a lover would do anything for a
chance to be with his or her beloved, even in the afterlife. The movie Cruel Intentions
was inspired by this theme.
Conflict - Here lies the essence of all drama and in Shakespeare’s drama, conflict can
take many forms. It may be rivals in love and war, quarrels within families or quarrels
between families, historical and political quarrels.
Appearance and reality - Shakespeare is a master of making people and things
appear what they are not. Women pretend to be men, others pretend to be friends whilst
planning treachery, characters pretend to be mad; identities are mistaken. In some
plays, the idea of appearance and reality lies at the very heart of what the play is about.
‘Measure for Measure’ is depends on the notion of ‘appearance’ whilst in ‘Macbeth’ and
‘Hamlet’ there is also deceit and treachery.Shakespeare loved the idea of disguise and
used it often. One of his favourite variants on this idea was to have girls disguise
themselves as boys. (as men only played women in Shakespeare’s time, this added even
more complexity to the issue). Here are some of the most notetable of his usage of
disguise:
- King Henry pretends to be a soldier as he visits his troops
- the Duke of Kent pretends to be a servant in ‘King Lear’
A VIEW OF SHAKESPEARE’S WORKS
Shakespeare came to London as much to be a poet as to become an actor and
playwright. He was a poet seeking a patron. His early poems Venus and Adonis (1593)
and The Rape of Lucrece (1594) werededicated to the Earl of Southampton. Venus and
Adonis begins with a Latin phrase appealing for patronage where Shakespeare asserts
that he would pursue “pure poetry” as against the common literatureof the times. Both
these poems were written during the years of the plague when the theatres were shut
bygovernment order. When he couldn’t stage plays, Shakespeare turned to poetry and
spent his time writingand editing his poems. This may be the reason why his plays are
poetic in nature. Venus and Adonis is anOvidian erotic poem that ran into nine editions
during the poet’s lifetime. It became Shakespeare’ssignature work. The poem relates the
tale of an innocent boy who is seduced by an older woman/goddess. The work became a
favorite among the young readers of Elizabethan England.
Before these poems, Shakespeare had written plays such as Henry VI trilogy as also
Titus Andronicus, and The Comedy of Errors. The plays Henry VI Part 1, Part 2 and Part
3 were written between 1589 and91. The Comedy of Errors, Richard III and Two
Gentlemen of Verona were written during the next twoyears 1592-93. Titus Andronicus
and The Taming of the Shrew came out in the following year 1593-94. Once Shakespeare
acquired a share in The Lord Chamberlain’s Men and later The Globe, he
devotedhimself more or less entirely to writing plays. Nonetheless, he kept writing
sonnets during the 1590s andkept the poet in him alive. It is believed that he continued
to write sonnets till 1609.
In his early years in London, Shakespeare was deeply impressed by Christopher
Marlowe who was hissenior. Marlowe was responsible for bringing on public stage the
use of unrhymed iambic pentameter which Shakespeare would also make use of.
Marlow gave substance to English tragedy and is rightlyconsidered its creator. He had as
model the plays of Seneca (Roman dramatist of the ancient period). Marlowe’s diction
and style were refined, too. He was a scholar from Cambridge and rose to famequicker
than Shakespeare. The evidence of Marlowe’s influence on Shakespeare can be found
most distinctly in the latter’s play Titus Andronicus, the earliest tragedy he wrote. The
play has many horrorfilled details, and projects savage deeds where the father Titus kills
one of his sons abruptly. There isblood and gore as well as many slaughter scenes in the
play that have been borrowed from Marlowe’sTamburlaine. They also carry shades of
Ovid and Seneca. Shakespeare was well read in the classics as hewas indeed in the
literature of his age. Marlowe’s writing style was highly rhetorical and so
wasShakespeare’s in his early plays.
The years 1595-96 saw the production of Shakespeare’s history plays such as King John
and Richard II on the one hand, and romances such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream
and Love’s Labour’s Lost on theother. Following this, in 1597 Shakespeare staged The
Merchant of Venice; Henry IV Part I; andMerryWives of Windsor. The variety and the
range of his subjects bring to us the fact that Shakespeare enjoyedversatility as an
important trait. He could easily juggle between writing history plays and comedies as
alsoromances. Shakespeare read voraciously. He had extensive knowledge of English
history as also thehistory of the Greeks and the Romans. For his English historical plays,
he used Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577) and for his
plays based on Roman Empire he took help fromPlutarch’s Lives of the Noble Greeks
and Romans written in second century AD. Shakespeare wrote anumber of Romances
and comedies in the closing years of the century. Much Ado About NothingandAsYou
Like It belong to this phase of his writing. Along with these, Shakespeare wrote history
plays HenryIV Part II and Henry V in the same year. Julius Caesar, too, was staged at
the same time. In it, Shakespeare revived interest in the classics. In 1601, Shakespeare
wrote Hamlet, arguably his most complex work. This was accompanied by The Phoenix
and the Turtle.
With Twelfth Night produced in 1601-2, the period of Shakespeare’s comedy would
come to a close. Hewrote many dark plays thereafter, such as Othello (1604) and
Macbeth (1605). The plays Troilus andCressida; All’s Well that Ends Well; and Measure
for Measure were written between 1601 and 1604. Shakespeare’s King Lear was staged
somewhere around 1605-06. During this period, he wrote a play onthe unstable Roman
Empire projected in Antony and Cleopatra. His interest in the subject continued inthe
following year with the publication of Coriolanus; Timon of Athens; and Pericles in
1607-08. In 1609Shakespeare more or less completed writing sonnets and produced
Cymbeline. In 1610 he wrote some of his last plays - The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest
before finally returning to his hometown Stratford. In1612-13, Shakespeare wrote Henry
VIII and The Noble Kinsmen (co-written with his friend John Fletcher)but he had more
or less retired from active work by this time.
Contribution:-
William Shakespeare is one of the best writers in the world. People love to read his books
because of his expertise. In history, William Shakespeare is the most quoted by other
writers. His characterization, plotting, and language are fascinating. Most upcoming
writers refer to his work for perfection. Additionally, changes brought by Shakespeare
to English revolutionized the writing industry, with writers having books to refer to for
ideas and style. Along with these, Shakespeare has made various contributions in English
literature. Are you a student and you want to know them? Check the following:
1) Enriched The Vocabulary
William Shakespeare came up with new English words that are in use hitherto.
Researchers have proved that out of 17,677 words used by Shakespeare, 1,700 were new
words. He borrowed these words from foreign languages and classical literature.
Additionally, Shakespeare’s influence aided in improving the structure and styling of
grammar, which streamlined and eliminated the vagueness in grammar. Writers have
used these words and followed these grammatical rules to prove their expertise.
2) Improved Essay Writing
William Shakespeare streamlined grammar and helped in setting up rules that govern it.
Therefore, it became easier for essay writers to edit their essays. Students must be aware
of these rules, and you must have used them in your daily writings.
Some students, however, assume the importance of these rules. They submit essays with
grammatical mistakes and lower their grades. If you do not know how to follow these
rules, find essay about hamlet by Shakespeare. Read it carefully and borrow the
styles and plotting in the play.
3) Facilitated Essay Writing Services
Shakespeare created a new set of English vocabulary. These words may be unknown to
most students. If you are a student and your assignments require you to adopt
Shakespeare’s words your essays, you can access them by contacting professional writers.
They have read every bit of Shakespeare’s work, and they are ready to help you whenever
you are in need. Apart from this, they can help you craft essay on any field of study. In
case you experience any difficulty, reach out for them, and you will love it.
