Most biographies written about William Shakespeare attempt to explain his life chronologically from birth to death. These accounts aim to describe his life through discussing his works and accomplishments. The problem with this pattern is that there are only so many ways humans can rewrite the same facts about the same person. Contrary to most papers about Shakespeare, the essay titled “What Was He Really Like?”, written by Stanley Wells, focuses internally on who Shakespeare was as an ordinary person. Instead of discussing when Shakespeare got married or explaining his life in relation to his works, Wells delves into the personality of the famous playwright. Stanley Wells encourages the reader of “What Was He Really Like?” to look at William Shakespeare in a new light.
Stanley Wells’ main objective in writing “What Was He Really Like?” was to examine Shakespeare internally. Instead of aimlessly trying to find unlikely links between Shakespeare’s life and his plays, Wells is curious about his personality. Although Wells does point out that the externals of Shakespeare’s life are important, he believes that exploring Shakespeare’s personality can help readers to better understand the playwright’s work. According to the essay, discovering what Shakespeare was really like is no easy task. Wells explains that “We have no letters, no diaries, scarcely any recorded conversations, only two literary dedications, few personal comments from his contemporaries, just a handful of anecdotes from the decades following his death” (110). Because so little is known about Shakespeare himself, the idea that he is a literary genius that is above all humanity has long endured. Wells goes on to point out that although he is the author of extraordinary...
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...om an old friend. The structure of “What Was He Really Like?” is important in that it makes Stanley Wells’ points easier to convey to the audience.
In the essay titled “What Was He Really Like?”, Stanley Wells produces a new, fresh way of exploring William Shakespeare. Wells is more concerned with discovering the playwright’s personality than focusing on his external life. Wells helps us to realize that William Shakespeare lived and died as a normal human. The arrangement of Wells’ essay goes along perfectly with the tone and message he succeeded in getting across to the audience. “What Was He Really Like?” by Stanley Wells convinces the reader that William Shakespeare was an ordinary man with an extraordinary mind.
Works Cited
Wells, Stanley. "'What Was He Really Like?'." Critical Survey 21.3 (2009): 107-111. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 2 Feb. 2014.
Few writers have managed to enter the world-wide public consciousness as well as Shakespeare; everyone knows his name and can terribly misquote his plays. Yet, for all his popularity, many of his critics have called him unlearned, saying his plays are entertaining but shallow. These same critics often point at the many inconsistencies of his writing, claiming that Shakespeare was not trying to convey anything but witticisms and beautiful sounds. Of course, even his harshest detractors acknowledge his plays and sonnets have influenced the world's literature on a scale that is intimidating; every writer of his era stood in his shadow, and modern literature stands on his shoulders. Shakespeare was a product of his time as much as any man must be, and his writing is rife with the ideals of Neoplatonism, which was only just surfacing in the European realm of thought as Shakespeare began writing. Platonism and its effect on Shakespeare, and in turn his effect on modern literature, has had lasting repercussions.
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton Company, 1997.
Never to go unnoticed, the name William Shakespeare describes an experienced actor, an exceptional playwright, and a notable philosopher. As one of the most influential men of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, Shakespeare impacted many artists with his riveting masterpieces. Shakespeare captured the attention of the people through his exquisite work in blank verse, and he inspired them with universal truths of the human condition. His sonnet sequence, consisting of 154 poems, is arguably the finest collection of love poems in the English language. Shakespeare continuously impressed his audience with his explorations of life’s complexities. Such an intricate man; however, he never wrote about himself. He would not discuss his composition methods and only through careful analysis could one understand the underlying truths to his work. Shakespeare was often known to use plots from other sources and enrich them to masterpieces with his genuine knowledge of literature. Although he completed many poems in his lifetime, each one of them was rich in quality and very complex in structure. The play, Macbeth, reveals the uniform structure of a typical Elizabethan tragedy with five acts that carefully reflect the pyramid organization of an exposition, a rising action, a climax, a falling action, and a denouement.
Clark, W.G. and Aldis Wright, eds. Introduction. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. New York: Nelson Doubleday, Inc., n. d.
After reading “Why Read Shakespeare” the author Michael Mack stated that the main and most important reason why we should read Shakespeare is because the characters you find in Shakespeare are often related to the personality types of people you will meet in life from time to time. Like the ambitious, the curious, the selfish, the courageous, the clueless, and even the prideful. Mack also mentioned that reading about life’s characters can also help you better understand yourself. But for now we will be focusing on figuring out the actors of life’s stage, by comparing the universal traits to the characters we see in stories and texts like Macbeth, “Macbeth Murder mystery”, and “5 P.M, Tuesday, August 23, 2005.”
Greenhill, Wendy, and Wignall, Paul. Shakespeare: A Life. Chicago IL: Reed Educational & Professional Publishing, 2000. Print.
In his recent book, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human (1998), Harold Bloom argues that Shakespeare’s characters provide the full measure of his continuing legacy. Shakespeare, Bloom maintains, created self-conscious characters who breathe life. Shakespeare’s characters are so alive, possess such "interiority," that they catch themselves looking at themselves. This quality is the essence of becoming human—to know we know, to be aware we are aware, to sense our own presence on the stage of life.
By using just the right combination of words, or by coming up with just the right image, Shakespeare wrote many passages and entire plays that were so powerful, moving, tragic, comedic, and romantic that many are still being memorized and performed today, almost four centuries later. But the greatness of Shakespeare’s ability lies not so much in the basic themes of his works but in the creativity he used to write these stories of love, power, greed, discrimination, hatred, and tragedy.
Through comedy and tragedy Shakespeare reveals the vast expanses and profound depths of the character of life. For him they are not separate worlds of drama and romance, but poles of a continuum. The distinction between tragedy and comedy is called in question when we turn to Shakespeare. Though the characters differ in stature and power, and the events vary in weight and significance, the movements of life in all Shakespeare's plays are governed by the same universal principles which move events in our own lives. Through myriad images Shakespeare portrays not only the character of man and society but the character of life itself.
Although William Shakespeare is considered to be one of the most revered and well-renowned authors of all time, controversy surrounds the belief that he actually produced his own literary works. Some rumors even go so far as to question the reality of such a one, William Shakespeare, brought on by paralleling the quality of his pieces with his personal background and education. With such farfetched allegations, it persuaded others to peek into the person we all are taught to learn as “Shakespeare”, but who is actually the person behind these genius works of literary promise and enlightenment? To some, Shakespeare is as much accredited to his works as frequently as you see his name placed. To others, Shakespeare is a complex enigma into which we the people are supposed to unravel; the true author behind a falsely-given pseudonym. The debate pertaining to the true authorship of William Shakespeare’s works are still questioned in today’s society.
Wadsworth, Frank W. "Shakespeare, William." World Book Online American Edition. Online Edition. Online. Netzero. 26 Mar 2002.
Shakespeare’s original audiences appreciated his work on all of its different levels, something that is almost impossible today for all but the most dedicated Shakespearean scholars. However, there is something that resonates equally with today’s audiences as with the audiences of Elizabethan times, and that is the effortlessly accurate portrayal of humanity that Shakespeare achieves through some of the most beautifully crafted literature in the history of the English language.
Shakespeare has created stories that are so powerful, emotional, comedic, tragic and romantic that they are still continuously remembered and studied in the modern era. Though the essence of his talents does not lie in the simple themes behind his plays, but more so in
Throughout the United States and the entire world people are aware of Shakespeare; however, many people wonder why society wants their citizens to continue to read William Shakespeare’s plays and poems. Shakespeare continues to influence today’s environment and brings people together by speaking of a common author that most people know. All across the world, students must read at least one of Shakespeare’s works; which often develop those children who read his works into better writers. During the Elizabethan Era, William Shakespeare experienced an uneventful childhood and had a basic education; however, his life still seems to be shrouded with mystery and raises the argument that he was not only the most successful, but also the most mysterious playwright, actor, and poet from that time period.
In his time, Shakespeare was the most popular playwright of London. As time passed, his smartness covers all others of his age; Jonson, Marlowe, Kyd, Greene, Dekker, Heywood—none had the craft or the kindness of character. He was the master of poetry writing and he did it well. He created the most vivid characters of the Elizabethan stage. His usage of language, both high and low, shows a remarkable fun and insight. His themes fit all generation even to this day.