William Shakespeare's Universal Appeal
"Shakespeare's plays have universal appeal"
Shakespeare's plays deal with aspects of the human condition this is
what makes his plays have Universal appeal. The human condition
contains issues and emotions that appear in everyday life, for example
love and power are both elements of the human condition. As
Shakespeare's plays deal with this they not only have a timeless
quality, as emotions do not change over centuries even though other
issues might, but also appeal to everybody. Romeo and Juliet deals
with many aspects of the human condition, including deceit, fate,
conflict and most importantly, it's universal appeal; love. Love is
the condition that most people have felt themselves and so helps them
empathise with the characters. There are all kinds of love, including
love between friends; love between family and the love two unrelated
people can feel for each other. Due to this nearly everybody in the
world has experienced love in some shape or form and this means they
can understand what the characters are going through. Even if people
don't enjoy watching plays with a theme of love, there are many other
issues in Romeo and Juliet that appeal to different people, such as
the violence between the two families.
In Elizabethan times, although plays were performed in taverns and in
the open, theatre was a new idea, Shakespeare and other playwrights in
fact opened the first theatre. This could be why Shakespeare is
sometimes called "the father of English theatre" Due to this, theatre
was seen as the "in thing" to do, and was very popular. Theatre was
also an entertainment for every class...
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... through the issues it deals with and it's timelessness.
Although other playwrights also deal with topical issues and aspects
of the human condition, Shakespeare seems to be attractive to all; as
his plays let everything come through strongly but also allow the
audience to interpret in their own way. For example, the fate against
freewill theme in Romeo and Juliet. Although he hints that everything
was meant to be, when watching it, you could believe that everything
was their own choice. For example, Juliet chose to marry Romeo, Romeo
chose to take revenge upon Paris and both chose to kill themselves.
These would provide a perfectly good argument that everything was down
to freewill. I believe that giving the audience room to interpret
things their own way is the most important factor of Shakespeare's
Universal Appeal.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a Renaissance poet and playwright who wrote and published the original versions of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, and often called England’s national poet. Several of his works became extremely well known, thoroughly studied, and enjoyed all over the world. One of Shakespeare’s most prominent plays is titled The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In this tragedy, the concept that is discussed and portrayed through the characters is love, as they are recognized as being “in love”. The general umbrella of love encompasses various kinds of love such as romantic love, the love of a parent for a child, love of one’s country, and several others. What is common to all love is this: Your own well-being is tied up with that of someone (or something) you love… When love is not present, changes in other people’s well being do not, in general, change your own… Being ‘in love’ infatuation is an intense state that displays similar features: … and finding everyone charming and nice, and thinking they all must sense one’s happiness. At first glance it seems as though Shakespeare advocates the hasty, hormone-driven passion portrayed by the protagonists, Romeo and Juliet; however, when viewed from a more modern, North-American perspective, it seems as though Shakespeare was not in fact endorsing it, but mocking the public’s superficial perception of love. Shakespeare’s criticism of the teens’ young and hasty love is portrayed in various instances of the play, including Romeo’s shallow, flip-flop love for Rosaline then Juliet, and his fights with Juliet’s family. Also, the conseque...
...“personality.” This play was one of the greatest historic plays of all times. Everyone wanted to come see this play because of how realistic it was. They loved how Shakespeare included a real life aspect of the play. Another positive was how educational it was. Audiences loved when plays had a point other than entertainment. A lot of things influenced the play from Queen Elizabeth and how she impacted theater with her wise ways, to basic social class and how mostly anyone could attend. Everyone enjoyed the atmosphere of the Globe. They liked how “natural” it felt. They loved how they could enjoy a play in the direct sun and warmth. This made audiences feel at home when they watched plays inside the globe. Specifically Henry V because of how realistic this play was. That is why the Elizabethan Era and Henry V were one of the greatest theatrical events of all time.
Shakespeare plays have fascinated audiences with their ability to seemingly portray the depth of the meanings and descriptions of each scene. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was for many years the world’s best love story and influenced readers and writers from around the world. Understanding the contrasting natures is one of the most important themes in this play and underpins the plot. Love and hate, life and death, lastly, missions and reality will only increase every reader’s sense of curiosity.
Shakespeare is a name recognized by all to be that of one of the greatest playwrights of all time. His play Romeo and Juliet is one of his most frequently performed and most popular plays. Its story is very well known today despite the fact it was written over 400 years ago. The tragic romance has been adapted and reproduced many times for stage, opera, musical and film. Two very successful film adaptations of the play are Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet (1968) and Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996). Though the two films are quite different in the way they have been adapted, they both apply the unique qualities that the original play has that make people want to see it. These qualities stem from Shakespeare’s brilliance as a writer and his ability to incorporate so many strong emotions in the one text.
Wherever we go today, we just can't seem to get away from him. He is in movies, in the theater, even on TV. Whether modernized or back in Elizabethan times, his influence is everywhere in the things we use for our entertainment. We think we know who he really was and what his life was all about. He almost seems immortal in our eyes. Who was William Shakespeare? Who was this man we still have placed on a pedestal almost four thousand years after he lived? Was he really the man that Hollywood glamorized? Shakespeare's life, work and controversies come together to form our beliefs of who this great writer really is.
Through this, he satisfies the qualities of melodrama. Romeo and Juliet wrings a good cry out of audience members probably every time it is performed. That is because it is easy to identify with the "star-crossed lovers" and the fact they are kept from what they want most. Empathy plays a major role, as much as any of the characters. It almost makes the audience part of the play. The spectator is part of the action in essence, rooting for the good guys, for "us," and not "them," the bad guys.
Shakespeare’s most popular play he ever created was easily Romeo and Juliet. None of his other plays were as popular (and Tragic) as “Romeo and Juliet”. “Romeo and Juliet” is a romantic Tragedy set in the city of Verona, Italy. “Romeo and Juliet” is classified as Shakespeare’s greatest Tragedy influenced play he ever wrote. A Shakespearean Tragedy is a type of drama or play written by Shakespeare where the heightened climax always ends with a Catastrophic Ending. All Shakespeare and they always share the same common features. These features include: The fatal Flaw of the main character, usually leading to the ultimate downfall of him or her, and the external pressures that surround him, which include Fate,
He was able to make connections that everyone could understand in one way or another. Shakespeare was a master of storytelling and was created plays that could entertain each person in a different way. Lastly, he was wise beyond his years and wrote about issue and troubles that any person in modern time could have. All in all Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” has stood the test of time for many reasons, but it all comes down to Shakespeare knowing how to write a relatable and timeless
Elizabethan times in the 1600s was a progression for the world of the theater. A period named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, it is from this period that modern day society has its foundation for the entertainment industry. From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for its poetry and romance. During this time period, there were two types of theatrical performances that were available for the people’s viewing, comedies or tragedies. These two genres were never really intertwined until the time of William Shakespeare. His play, Romeo and Juliet, is an example of both a comedy and a tragedy. It starts off as a comedy with Romeo weeping like a baby because of his love Rosaline, who did not love him back and ends as a tragedy when Romeo and Juliet, a pair of star crossed lovers, commit suicide because the lost of each other. It was also during Shakespeare’s time that writer were finally acknowledged by the people. Before this time, writers were not considered upper classman. Another group of people that began to rise into a higher social class were the actors. Actresses were not present back then because women were not allowed on stage. It was considered unladylike to have a female actor. Men played all the parts. Theater owners were dependent on actors to make them a profit. Rehearsals for the plays were fairly short, only lasting for about a week. The performances themselves would only show for three to four days.
the law he brought back for the sake of lust. Angelo is an immoral and
William Shakespeare has provided some of the most brilliant plays to ever be performed on the stage. He is also the author of numerous sonnets and poems, but he is best known for his plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Romeo and Juliet. In this essay I would like to discuss the play and movie, "Romeo and Juliet", and also the movie, Shakespeare in Love.
The name most associated with excellence in theatre is William Shakespeare. His plays, more than any other playwright, resonate through the ages. It may be safe to say that he has influenced more actors, directors, and playwrights than any thespian in the history of the stage. But what were his influences? During the Middle Ages theatre was dominated by morality, miracle, and mystery plays that were often staged by the church as a means to teach the illiterate masses about Christianity. It wasn’t until the early sixteenth century that Greek tragedy experienced a revival, in turn, inspiring a generation of renaissance playwrights.
William Shakespeare's plays come in many forms. There are histories, tragedies, comedies and tragic comedies. Among the most popular are the comedies which are full of laughter, irony, satire and wordplay. Many times the question is asked: what makes a play a comedy instead of a tragedy. Shakespeare's comedies often use puns, metaphors and insults to provoke 'thoughtful laughter'. The action is often strained by artificiality, especially elaborate and contrived endings. Disguises and mistaken identities are often very common. Opposed to that are the tragedies, where the reader would find death, heartbreak, and more serious plots and motives. The plot is very important in Shakespeare's comedies. It is often very convoluted, twisted and confusing, and extremely hard to follow. Other characteristics of Shakespearean comedy are the themes of love and friendship, played within a courtly society. Songs often sung by a jester or a fool, parallel the events of the plot. Minor characters, which add flavor to the plot, are often inserted into the storyline. Love provides the main ingredient. If the lovers are unmarried when the play opens, they either have not met or there is some obstacle to their relationship. Examples of these obstacles are familiar to every reader of Shakespeare: the slanderous tongues which nearly wreck love in "Much Ado About Nothing", the father insistent upon his daughter marrying his choice, as in "A Midsummer Nights Dream", or the confusion of husbands in "The Comedy of Errors".
Shakespeare's tragic play, Othello, is an amalgam of diverse antecedents, including the generic influences of the ancient Greek and Roman tragedies, Italian fiction, as well as Renaissance history such as the progression of Christian humanism. Additionally, although Shakespeare incorporates some elements of the medieval morality play into Othello, the fact that his play is a tragedy shows how he modifies it from the typical ending found in a morality play. Furthermore, not only does Shakespeare include the stereotypical Englishman's view of the black race during the Elizabethan era, he also modifies it to convey the importance of looking beyond the skin color, showing the progression of a racially prejudice society to one in which people are treated judicially based upon their character.
In William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the art of music appears in the opening of the speech as the unhappy and lovesick Orsino tells his musicians, “If music be the food of love, play on” (I.i.1) In the speech that follows, Orsino asks the musicians to give him so much musical love i.e. food that will “surfeit” and cease to yearn for love any longer. Shakespeare uses music in opening line of play and at the end by Feste singing his song. It reveals that Shakespeare has presented on stage a romantic comedy which is not detached from our everyday reality. Thus songs are used by Shakespeare with surfeiting desire not only for the purpose of entertaining the audience but also closely linked to the play’s theme.