Shakespeare

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He married Annie Hathaway and had three children with her. In 1584 he left Stratford and went to London: at first he was an actor in one of the acting companies, but then he discovered that he was a good playwriter. In 1593 the london theaters were closed because of the plauge, and Shakespeare needed the support of a patron, who was the Earl of Southampton. When the teathers reopened, Shakespeare became the main playwright of the lord chamberlands. He died in 1616, and was buried in the local church. SHAKESPEARE SONNETS Shakespeare's sonnets were published in 1609, but they were probably written in 1590's. (Probably because they circulated among his private friends and were sent to the Earl of Southampton). His works were published in a collection, divided into 154 sonnets in decasyllabic. Shakespeare, broke with the Petrarchian tradition, did not use the Petrarchan form, but the typical English sonnet style. The sonnets can be divided into two sections: the first section is dedicated to a 'fair youth'. The second section is addressed to a 'dark lady', physically unattractive, whom the poet is irresistibly attracted to. About the themes, in Shakespeare sonnets there is also a reveal of the traditional love poems. Shakespeare's sonnets are characterized by a rich, vivid, descriptive lenguage; the absence of classical references give the impression that Shakespeare's speech is immediate. "SHALL I COMPARE THEE" This sonnet is dedicated to the "fair youth", and develops the theme of awarness of the transience of beauty. 1° QUARTAIN Shakespeare compares his patron to a summer's day, but summer doesn't last long, and has a short date. 2° QUARTAIN Shakespeare describes the sun, which sometimes shines too hot and often gets dimmed. But, since summer doesn't last long, autumn fades all the buty of nature. 3° QUARTAIN Shakespeare that his patron's buty will never fades away like the summer, and even if he's dead, death will not brag about having him, because he will remain in those verses. COUPLET As long as people will be alive, so this sonnet and the figure of his patron will. "LIKE AS THE WAVES" In this sonnet Shakespeare communicates the destructive power of time. 1° QUATRAIN he compares the movements of the waves, which hit the shore, to the passage of time. We can't stop the sea as we can't stop time, and it produces effects 2° QUATRAIN He compares our lives to the movements of the Sun, the "eye of heaven". When it arises we arise, and that's Nativity, when It shines high in the sky, we shine, and that's Maturity. But when it eclipses, we die, and that means the destruction of both of them. Time destroys everything 3 QUATRAIN Time destroys the flower of youth, and our beauty. Nothing can resist to its power, it's like a scythe which cuts everything. 4° COUPLETS But, even if time doesn't let nobody alive, he hopes his work will remain forever. It's true that we die, but words stay forever. "MY MISTRESS' EYES" This sonnet belongs to the sequence known as the "dark lady", he describes his lover in a strange way. 1° QUATRAIN Her eyes aren't as beautiful as the sun, her lips aren't the same red of the corals. Her breast isn't soft and as white as the snow, while her hairs look like black wires 2 QUATRAIN Her cheeks aren't red, as the roses, and in her breath there isn't the delight which other perfumes have. 3 QUATRAIN He knows that music has a better sound then her voice and that she isn't very elegant when she walks. 4° COUPLETS But, in spite of everything, he loves her just the way she is, he wouldn't change a single thing. His love is true and pure. Hamlet First act. Hamlet's father, the king of Denmark, has only been dead for two months, but her mother, married her brother-in-law, Claudius, who has now become king. A ghost, similar to the king of Denmark, has appeared to the sentries of Elsinore castle, armed for a possible attack by Fortinbras, the prince of Norway. Hamlet and his friend arrange a night meeting to see the ghost. He tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius, who poured poison into his ear while he slept in his orchard. He asks Hamlet to avenge him, but to leave his mother's punishment to heaven. Second act. Hamlet pretends to be mad so that he can carry out his plans more easily. Polonius, the king's counsellor, thinks that Hamlet's madness is caused by his love for his daughter Ophelia. Hamlet arranges for a troupe of actors, to stage The Assassination of Gonzago, a play whose story is similar to that revealed by the ghost. Third act. The play is presented: King Claudius gets up and rushes off. Hamlet goes to her mother's bedroom and, during an argument with her, kills Polonius, who hides behind a curtain to listen to their conversation. The king decides to send Hamlet to England to get rid of him. Fourth act. Hamlet is sent to England to be killed. Ofelia goes mad and drowns. His brother Laertes wants to take revenge for the murder of his father and the king, after receiving the news that Hamlet has escaped, plots his death in a duel with Laertes. Fifth act. The duel follows. To make sure that Hamlet dies, the king prepares a poisoned drink and also puts poison on the tip of Laertes' sword. Hamlet refuses to drink the wine, which then his mother drinks. Laertes wounds Hamlet with the poisoned tip of his sword, then the swords are exchanged and Hamlet wounds Laertes. The queen dies, Laertes falls and denounces the king, who is stabbed by Hamlet. Both the king and Laertes die. Hamlet asks Horace to tell the story of him, recommending that Fortinbras be elected king of Denmark. Then he dies too. Fortinbras enters and takes possession of the kingdom after bestowing military honors on Hamlet. The story of Hamlet is set in the late Middle Ages in and around the royal castle in Elsinore, in Denmark. Hamlet is the most talkative of all Shakespeare's characters. Hamlet's language is its ambiguity. Everything he says is conveyed through metaphor, simile and wordplay. His words have a hidden meaning. The shock Hamlet receives on the death of his father and re-marriage of his mother is the cause of his melancholy. The world changes its colour and life its meaning. Hamlet could be read simply as a revenge tragedy. Shakespeare develops a series of themes that are central to humanity, for example: love relationships, madness, youth and age, action and inaction. Hamlet is a play of life and death, with the relation between "appearance and reality".