INTRODUCTION : SHAKESPEARE
In the 16th century, it could be seen that the writers were concerned about the second class status that was given to English. They had made their move by starting to develop the language and working on to make the language stronger and could serve as a cultural force. The last quarter of the 16th century witnessed an outburst of literary creativity by Edmund Spenser, Phineas Fletcher, Sir Philip Sidney and many other names. Among those famous names in the world of literature during the Elizabethan Age, William Shakespeare is still regarded as one of the greatest English poet ever alive up till this day.
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. According to Schoenbaum (1987), William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer. He was married to Anne Hathaway. The union was blessed with a daughter named Susanna and a pair of twins named Judith and Hamnet. After the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. Schoenbaum (1987) recalled the event whereby scholars refer to the years between 1585 and 1592 as Shakespeare's "lost years".
The start of Shakespeare’s literary career was when English had only beginning to replace Latin as the primary medium for poetry. The early Modern English which was descended from the Middle English was relatively not developed as a literary instrument, with not much rules and regulations in the use of it compared to the ancient language. Shakespeare had taken the task to develop English by shaping the grammar, vocabularies and the features of styl...
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...-crossed lovers’. It carries the meaning of unlucky couple or lovers and unfavoured by the stars. This phrase was mentioned in Act I.
“A paire of starre-crost louers, take their life”
The term ‘Vanish into thin air’ is still being used in modern literary world and daily conversations. The term could be traced in two of Shakespeare’s famous plays, which are Othello, 1604 and The Tempest, 1610. The meaning of it is disappear without traces. Shakespeare came close to this phrase in Othello, 1604 in Act III, Scene 1 and similarly close like the one in The Tempest, 1610 in Act IV, Scene 1.
Clown: Then put up your pipes in your bag, for I'll away. Go; vanish into air; away!
(Taken from Othello, 1604 in Act III, Scene 1)
Prospero: These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.
(Taken from The Tempest, 1610 in Act IV, Scene 1)
William Shakespeare, an English actor and play write, was born in Stratford upon Avon on April 23, 1564. When he was 18 he married Anne Hathaway, a Stratford woman, who was 26 years old. Shakespeare and Hathaway had three children. The first was Susanna and the twins were Hamnet and Judith. Another of Shakespeare's great works of art, Hamnet, was named after Hamnet. Juliet, in Shakespeare's famous play Romeo and Juliet, was named after Judith. Shakespeare died on April 23, 1601. There are many events that contributed to Romeo and Juliet's deaths. These events are either fate or coincidence.
Throughout history, there have been few writers whose works have influenced society more than those of the English playwright William Shakespeare. His use of language in all of his plays, especially Romeo and Juliet, is one that impacts its audience both emotionally and intellectually. For anyone wishing to pursue a career specifically in the Language Arts, the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare should be continued to be studied and analyzed for its unique and clever uses of English dialect.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford on Avon, England, in April of 1564 to Mary and John Shakespeare. He was the third child and the eldest son. His father was a tanner, glove-maker, and trader in wool and other precious commodities. William attended the Stratford Grammar school where he studied and received substantial training in Latin. He was married on November 27, 1582, to a woman named Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older than he was. In May of 1583, the couple's first daughter, Susanna was born. The couple had twins in February of 1585, Hamnet and Judith. Throughout his life, Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays, and several poems and sonnets. He was also an actor for a short while. Several of Shakespears plays were performed at the famous Globe Theater in England. On April 23, 1616 Shakespeare died, he was buried at the church of Stratford on April 25, 1616.
Prospero’s words could be viewed simply as a confirmation of Miranda’s lack of knowledge, an expression of concern in regards to the noblemen or a hopeful wish for his daughter’s future. No matter the interpretation, it is proven to be more complex than just a sharp remark.
William Shakespeare has become landmark in English literature. One must be familiar with the early days of English literature in order to comprehend the foundation of much of more modern literature’s basis. Shakespeare’s modern influence is still seen clearly in many ways. The success of Shakespeare’s works helped to set the example for the development of modern dramas and plays. He is also acknowledged for being one of the first writers to use any modern prose in his writings.
Ludowyk, E. F. C. Understanding Shakespeare. London, N.W.: The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1962. Print.
“William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was and English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s preeminent dramatist” (vodppl.upm.edu 2). He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK, he also passed away in his hometown. “When Shakespeare died in 1616 the event was barely noticed” (Epstein 7). “Shakespeare’s family was initially prosperous but began having financial difficulties in the 1570’s” (Allen 325). “Shakespeare gained his education by attending the local grammar school, King’s New School, where the curriculum stressed a classic education of Greek mythology and roman comedy”(shakespeareinamericancomunites.org 1). He never carried his educational career to a higher level as in a university. “William Shakespeare was not recognized as an actor, poet, and playwright until 1592” (Allen 346).
In Shakespeare's time, the daily phrases and words such as ‘thee and thy’ are so disparate and archaic from the English language today. Since Shakespeare's time and the modern time today barely speak alike, is it even worth it to learn about his writing style? Shockingly, high school students should be required to study the
The impeccable style and craft of Shakespeare’s writing has always been looked upon with great respect, and it continues to serve as an inspiration to writers and thinkers today even as it did when it was being first performed in London. Shakespeare’s modern audience, however, is far less diverse than the one for which he originally wrote. Due to the antiquity of his language, Shakespeare’s modern readership consists mostly of students and intellectuals, whereas in Shakespeare’s own time, his plays were performed in playhouses packed with everyone from royalty to peasants. Because of this, Shakespeare was forced to write on many different levels, the most sophisticated of which appealed to his more elite audience members, while the more straightforward and often more crude of which appealed to his less educated viewers, and the most universal of which still appeals to us.
Shakespeare has perhaps contributed the most to the English language of any writer known to man – literally. Over 1000 words and phrases that he coined as part of his plays and prose are now in common use across the globe. He changed nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, added on previously unheard-of prefixes and suffixes and in some cases made words out of nothing. Even culturally sensitive words such as ‘ode’ (The ANZACS) and scientific jargon (‘epileptic’) are in fact products of Shakespeare. Bernard Levin probably summed this up best when he wrote: “If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle… had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, … - why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare;…” (Bernard Levin. From The Story of English. Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeil. Viking: 1986).
Solomon, Andrew. “A Reading of the Tempest.” In Shakespeare’s Late Plays. Ed. Richard C. Tobias and Paul G. Zolbrod. Athens: Ohio UP, 1974. 232.
Prospero is really the key character about which the nature of illusion and reality centers. He is the one who appears to have been stripped of all his power, and yet he is truly the most powerful; he lives in a world where he can conjure up an illusion of a storm; he lives between a course of regular human action and magic; and he is perceptive about philosophies on the topic of illusion and reality.
The Renaissance has been a diverse period and had people who held dear to the art and literature, which have developed over the period. Starting with literature, was well known and popular in forms of plays, which have been presented out to people in that era and even today. One of the writers that have been noticed and presented in different styles in our time is William Shakespeare. William was known for writing most of the popular plays in the 1600’s and for interpreting language which was known for being ‘Shakespearean Language’. These languages in his plays are used from the renaissance era and are more likely seen with in the other writer’s stories as well. Though William was not the only one, there are others before him that has studied
Soaked in the supernatural, Shakespeare’s The Tempest possesses an impenetrable veil of eeriness. It opens with the tempestuous roaring of thunder and lightning, setting the stage for panic and confusion amongst the mariners. The mariners scatter and hide, while Ferdinand’s hair stands on end. This wild and surreal atmosphere prepares the characters and the audience for future encounters with supernatural beings. When the spirit Ariel wakes Gonzalo and the others, Gonzalo says, “’Tis best we stand upon our guard, or that we quit this place. Let’s draw our weapons” (II.i.317-318). The mortals are on guard against the supernatural, and this suspenseful atmosphere often returns when Ariel and the other spirits approach these unknowing men. When Prospero remembers ...
Shakespeare got much recognition in his own time, but in the 17th century, poets and authors began to consider him as the supreme dramatist and poet of all times of the English language. In fact, even today, no one can match his works or perform as well as he did. No other plays have been performed as many times as Shakespeare’s. Several critics of theatre try to focus on the language of Shakespeare and to take out excerpts from the literary text and make it their own resulting in various persons, poets, authors, psychoanalysts, psychologists and philosophers.