Literature and drama
“The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
“The real object of the drama
is the exhibition of the human character.”
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859)
Playwrights create scripts. Like other literary artists, playwrights tell stories through the words and actions of characters.
William shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) was an English poet and playwright, 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 and the “Bard of Avon”. Though William Shakespeare is recognized as one of literature’s greatest influences, very little is actually known about him.
He was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon and left for London where he became a professional actor and dramatist. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company. In 1594 he joined other actors in forming a new theatre company. For twenty years he wrote two plays a year for the theatre. In 1599 the company of actors built a new theatre “The Globe”.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. He wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets and several other poems. His early plays were mainly comedies (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Two Gentlemen of Verona) and histories (Richard III, Henry V, Edward III and others). He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.
Shakespeare’s tragedies are for a single star and show the pathos of individual, but his comedies are for a galaxy of constellations and give us a picture of life.
His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later.
Many of his plays were published in editions during his lifetime. But the First Folio of his dramatic works came out only in 1623, seven years after his death.
For 250 years Stratford-upon-Avon must have been doing very well without its own theatre. Charles Edward Flower decided to break with that situation and to maintain a new tradition. He had dreamt of a theatre in Stratford where the plays by Shakespeare could be staged. It was clear to him that the native town of the greatest poet should have its own theatre and in 1877 on the birthday of Shakespeare, the Shakespeare Memorial was founded. The opening play was “Much Ado About Nothing”.
Shakespeare’s literary work is usually divided into three periods. The first period of his creative work falls between 1590 and 1600. Shakespeare’s comedies belong to the first period of his creative work. They all are written in his playful manner and in the brilliant poetry that conveys the spectator to Italy. Some of the first plays of the first period are: “Richard 3” (1592), “The comedy of errors” (1592), “Romeo and Juliet” (1594), “Julius Caesar” (1599), “As you like it” (1599), 1600 - “Twelfth night”. Shakespeare’s poems are also attributed to the first period, “Venus and Adonis” and “Lucre”, and 154 sonnets. “Venus and Adonis” was the first of Shakespeare’s works that came off the press. The second period of Shakespeare’s creative work was from 1600 to 1608. His famous tragedies appeared at this time. In the plays of this period the dramatist reaches his full maturity. He presents great humans problems. His tragedies and historical plays made Shakespeare the greatest humanist of the English Renaissance. Some plays of the second period: 1601 - “Hamlet”, 1604 - “Othello”. Shakespeare’s plays of the third period are called the “Romantic dramas”. There is no tragic tension in these plays. This period lasted from 1609 till 1612.
Words & Expressions:
a playwright – драматург
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Сон в летнюю ночь
Much Ado About Nothing – Много шума из ничего
Twelfth Night – Двенадцатая ночь
histories – исторические хроники
a romance – рыцарский роман (в стихах)
a galaxy of constellations – плеяда созвездий
to retire – уединяться
to do without – обходиться без
to maintain – учреждать, утверждать
Questions:
Why did Shakespeare leave Stratford for London?
When did Shakespeare produce most of his known works?
What were his early plays?
When was the First Folio of his dramatic works published?
When was the Shakespeare Memorial found in his native town?
What plays of Shakespeare have you seen on the stage?
What character would you like to play?