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Shakespeare summary
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Shakespeare(Stratford upon Avon, 1564)
Did he exist? Yes, we know he existed but we don't know if he was actually a playwright ->
theories:
- he was a genius
- many people wrote the plays - different people for each play (explains discrepancies)
- the plays were written by aristocrats - it was not appropriated for them, so they
published their plays under Shakespeare’s name
- Marlow, who was a spy undercover in France, sent his work to a friend
(Shakespeare)
These doubts come from the absence of his manuscripts - we only have a part of his will
1616 -> Shakespeare's death
1623 -> plays were published [the infolio (full) version was issue]
When were the plays written? we don’t know the proper order - we have 3 methods (not
precise -> suppositions) of dating:
- internal: in the play we find references of an event of the time
- external: official references of the time of the play
- stylistic: based on the written style (used)
Different kinds of works:
- TRAGEDIES: one of the characters breaks a social/moral/family rule/link due to
an excess of passion - characters become outcasts -> typical tragedy hero
- COMEDIES: simple compared to the tragedies, normal characters
- HISTORY PLAYS: celebration of the Tudors (except Julius Caesar)
- MASQUES: fantastic stories populated by masked characters.
ONLY MEN were actors
TRAGEDY
two branches of drama ->
- medieval - religious (mainly) -> gives a moral message, real
characters
- classical drama - faith + ideal platonic characters
his tragedy is a mix of the two:
- characters are taken from the classical- human, real, stereotypes l
- men: focus, with ideals, problems, conflicts (love + social role => caused by passion)
and passions
- moral message: temperance, do not exaggerate
, PLAYS
1. evolving scenes: gradual clarification of things, frequent contrast between scenes,
intimacy of the characters, intimate reflection -> it’s up to the audience to
understand the meaning
2. structure: disregards (=doesn’t care about) the Aristotelian unities of time, place and
action; flexible, 5 acts (no scene changes - no divisions. People knew the act was
over when there were no more people on the scene); soliloquies (the actor is alone
on the stage), asides (the actor is speaking to the public), monologues (there are
other on the stage but the speaker isn’t speaking to them), introductory passages
spoken in a prologue/chorus, funeral orations, deathbed speeches
3. stage directions: directions given to the actors (not to say but to be done) - (now)
written on the play (actions are very important, differently from classical and
medieval drama). The playhouse is the place where were presented the plays
(Jacobitan theatre: not only men anymore, also women)
4. characters: they belong to all social classes - hierarchy => wide range of
characters; there is often a leading figure from aristocracy (can be the protagonist or
not); there are links, roules (very important) between the characters: family, loyalty,
social -> breaking them leads to tragedies, creating them leads to comedies; there
are symmetrical correspondences.
5. style: changes according to the play or the social status of the characters; different
levels of speech and action. ENTERTAINMENT + EDUCATION
6. imagery: use a lot of symbols/figures of speech; characteristic image motifs,
variety in the verse structure
- [we don't have evidence of the use of music, dance and songs]
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Jiuliet has the typical characteristics of a tragedy:
- excess of passion (the exceeding passion destroys all the other ones)
- the tragic theme caused by the breakup of the social rules => society = family
- theme of the OUTCAST (the tragic hero is alone against society and the world) >
Romeo and Juliet go against the society breaking their family links and becoming
outcast
- power of love: that is strongest than any other link
- passion and violence: the passion leads to violence (romeo kills juliet’s cousin)
LOCATION : Italy (during 16th century italian government is very fragmented =>
the social context is important), Verona 1576 → the land of passion and divided by
conflicts between families.
THEME: faith = even in the text there are references to the adverse fate that awaits
Romeo and Juliet (be born with an angry star).
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