Hello everyone! Welcome, or welcome back to my blog. Now, I know that this post comes under the book reviews category, but this isn’t a review at all. It is just a piece of information on one of the world’s most famous and revered playwright, William Shakespeare, and the culture and style of writings of his times. There are many misconceptions about the his work, and the form of writing of that era. I hope to remove those misconceptions, and give you a little more insight that will allow you to understand William Shakespeare and his fellow-writers, better.
William Shakespeare:
William Shakespeare is undoubtedly one of the masters of world literature. He was born in 1564. Most of his work was written during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, also known as the Elizabethan Age. Some of his last works, however, were written during the reign of King James I, also known as the Jacobean Age, Jacob being the Latin name for James. Writers, artists, and scientists in those days, simply regarded themselves as craftsmen, and strove to excel in their particular field, without any expectation for fame or fortune.
One of the main misconceptions about William Shakespeare is that his works are difficult to read, as they are written in old English, something which cannot be more untrue. Old English is the common name for the Anglo-Saxon form of English, whose use began somewhere around 1000 AD. The use of this language ceased to exist about two-hundred years before Shakespeare was even born. In fact, the language used by Shakespeare is actually the modern form of English, a slightly modified version of which is used today.
If you want to know the true difference between modern and old English, you can actually compare one of Shakespeare’s works, and an original version of Beowulf, one of the most popular stories written in old English. Actually, you wouldn’t even need to read the two of them. Unless you have specially learnt the language, you wouldn’t be able to read even one word of old English. Its that different.
Shakespeare’s language is simple, his vocabulary is not very big, and his grammar is easy. Then why do we find it hard to read his works? The actual answer is that his work is written in verse, not in prose. When written in prose form, one sentence may have one, or at most, two meanings. Whereas in verse form, as in poems, even one phrase may have many layers of hidden meanings. And it is this task of finding out the correct meaning is what makes his works difficult for most of us to read.
Approximate Chronology of his works:
| Period | Comedies | Historical | Tragedies | Poems |
| Comedy of Errors | Henry VI, Part 1 | Titus Adronicus | ||
| Taming of the Shrew | Henry VI, Part 2 | |||
| Before 1594 | Two Gentlemen of Verona | Henry VI, Part 3 | ||
| Love’s Labour’s Lost | Richard III | Venus and Adonis | ||
| Rape of Lucrece | ||||
| Midsummer Night’s Dream | Richard II | Romeo and Juliet | ||
| Merchant of Venice | King John | |||
| 1594-1599 | Merry Wives of Windsor | Henry IV, Part 1 | ||
| Much Ado About Nothing | Henry IV, Part 2 | |||
| As You Like It | Henry V | Sonnets | ||
| Twelfth Night | ||||
| Troilus and Cressida | Julius Caesar | |||
| Measure for Measure | Hamlet | |||
| 1599-1608 | All’s Well That Ends Well | Othello | ||
| Pericles | Timon of Athens | |||
| King Lear | ||||
| Macbeth | ||||
| Antony and Cleopatra | ||||
| Coriolanus | ||||
| Cymbeline | ||||
| 1608-1613 | The Winter’s Tale | |||
| The Tempest | Henry VIII |
Elizabethan Era:
The Elizabethan age is said to have begun with the start of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, which was when plays and theatre were popularized. Before this time, women were not allowed to watch the theatre, and these places were usually spot for drunkards and anti-social elements to hang out. Needless to say, they were not very popular and watching plays was not considered a very respectable pastime. All of this changed when Queen Elizabeth came into power. Queen Elizabeth I was a great patron of the arts, and encouraged playwrights, artists and other creators. She was very fond of theatre and during her rule, women were legally allowed to go and watch. She herself went to see many plays.
This gave rise to some of the world’s best-known writers, William Shakespeare being the foremost among them. The comedies during this era satirized the pomp and gallantry of society. The tragedies dealt with heroic themes, usually centering on a great personality who is destroyed by his own passion and ambition. Revenge themes, ghastly melodramatic themes, inner conflicts, hero-villain protagonists, etc. are prevalent here.
Jacobean Era:
Jacobean Age is said to have started during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I’s successor, King James I. Some of William Shakespeare’s last plays were written during his reign. Jacobean drama used floury language, larger-than-life settings, and were mostly tragedies. The main feature of these was power struggle, lust for power, revenge, betrayals, and fights. For example, these elements are clearly visible in what is said to be Shakespeare’s last play, The Tempest.
Comedies:
There is a misconception amongst many, that a comedy play has a lot of funny scenes and dialogues that make you laugh. Actually, it is not. Plays in those days were basically divided in two categories: the ones with very serious stories with heartache and sad endings were labelled as tragedies, and the others were comedies. A comedy of that era contains satire, drama, plot-twists, revenge, etc. along with a happy ending. Here, you will also find bits of comic relief that are not ROFL, but provide a good break from the regular pattern of the story.
Tragedies:
Tragedies are usually stories that are centered around very serious topics, and which usually end with a sad-ending. Here, there are power struggles between characters, fights within the families, betrayals, and a lot of heartache. But if scene is continued throughout the long play, it will be very difficult for people to concentrate. Therefore surprisingly, even in tragedies, there are often bits of comic relief that help to release the tension a little bit, and helps you get along.
Outro:
So, that’s it for now. I hope this helped you and that it encourages you to take start reading one of his plays. If you are a beginner, a book with a paraphrase would be ideal for you. And don’t worry, now that I have given you so much information on William Shakespeare, a review of one his his plays will surely follow. So watch out for it. Until then, Ciao!