William Shakespeare (feb 1, 1564 – jan 1, 1616)

Description:

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet, dramatist, and actor. He is considered the greatest English-speaking writer in history and known as England´s national poet. He has had more theatrical works performed than any other playwright. Shakespeare is also astonishingly clever with words and images. There is some dispute about how many plays Shakespeare wrote, however, the general number is 37. He wrote 154 sonnets and the most famous play is called Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy about two young lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays.

Shakespeare's work has made a lasting impression on later theatre and literature. In particular, he expanded the dramatic potential of characterization, plot, language, and genre. In Shakespeare's life, English grammar, spelling, and pronunciation were less standardized than they are now. His use of language helped shape modern English. For example, some of the words that Shakespeare created are assassination, countless, champion and more. His creations contained complex metaphors and he invented complex pick-up lines during this period. Usually, the Early modern English period begins with Shakespeare´s first play. Shakespeare remains vital because he played present people and situations that we recognize today. The fact that his plays are performed and adapted around the world underscores the universal appeal of his storytelling.


Reflection on the play Shakespeare in Love:

The credibility of the story told in Shakespeare in Love is relatively good. The reason why I think that the story does not have good credit is that the story jumps to conclusions very quickly. A lot of coincidences occurred and according to me, this disturbs the connection between history and reality. According to me, the whole story would have been much better if the actors were more realistic. The first reaction I had while watching the play was on the character of William Shakespeare. In the play, Shakespeare was dark-colored and according to history, he was white-colored. In my opinion, this situation ruined the credibility of the story. At the end of the first act and at the beginning of the second act, I started to admire William Shakespeare. In that stage, I realized how skillful William was and I started to admire the work that the actor had put in.

One thing that I learned in class about Shakespeare that was reflected in the play was his homosexuality. According to sources, Shakespeare was gay and in the play, you could see that this was true because he kissed a boy several times. In class, we also learned that he might have been illiterate. However, this is false according to the play because William wrote a lot of sonnets and plays. Another thing that I learned in class was the sonnet 116 called Love´s not Time´s fool. In the play, you could associate a lot of monologues from the sonnet to the actual play that we saw. For instance, William Shakespeare said to Viola that he wants to be the glove that touches her cheek. These examples reflected the English 6 classes and the play.

Added to timeline:

Date:

Images: