Most biographies written about William Shakespeare attempt to explain his life chronologically from birth to death. These accounts aim to describe his life through discussing his works and accomplishments. The problem with this pattern is that there are only so many ways humans can rewrite the same facts about the same person. Contrary to most papers about Shakespeare, the essay titled “What Was He Really Like?”, written by Stanley Wells, focuses internally on who Shakespeare was as an ordinary person. Instead of discussing when Shakespeare got married or explaining his life in relation to his works, Wells delves into the personality of the famous playwright. Stanley Wells encourages the reader of “What Was He Really Like?” to look at …show more content…
He explains that Shakespeare was not immune to the normality’s of human life; he urinated, laughed, went to school, ate, drank, worried, and experienced these life events just like the rest of us. Wells makes a point to remind the reader that it is important to realize that we have these basic characteristics in common with the famous playwright. After coming to this realization, one can then dive into the task of discovering what made Shakespeare unique. Wells states that “The mind and imagination of this ordinary man produced some of the most extraordinary works of art ever created, works which have caused him to be admired and revered as one of the greatest geniuses who have ever lived”(111). Although William Shakespeare was the author of great works of art, he was an ordinary man. The way in which Stanley Wells sets up the essay makes it easy and enjoyable for the reader to follow and understand. Instead of listing out dates and over used facts about William Shakespeare, Wells explores the many different and intricate aspects of figuring out who Shakespeare really was as a person, not just a playwright. While explaining these aspects, Wells makes sure to keep the focus of the essay on Shakespeare by discussing how some of his plays are an example of how personality was important to him. Wells presents that “His plays are full of speeches in which one character assesses the personal characteristics of another.
Shakespeare's works express the complete range of human experience. His characters were human beings who commanded the sympathy of audiences when many other playwrights' characters were flat or archetypes. Shakespeare's characters were complex and human in nature. By making the protagonist's character development central to the plot, Shakespeare changed what could be accomplished with drama. The character personality of Katherine has been recreated and celebrated for centuries afterwards, as has Hamlet. The characterization and development of such characters are central ideas in the writing style of Shakespeare.
The large body of work attributed to William Shakespeare shows education, experience, creativity, and wisdom far beyond what many people are willing to accept came from a single author. Due to the scarcity of facts surrounding Shakespeare’s life, speculation arouse about whether or not he actually wrote his works became more common. In the mid-1800s ideas about other authors were brought forward. However, these theories have little sustenance, and it is likely that the entire body of work attributed to Shakespeare in fact belonged to Shakespeare himself.
William Shakespeare is known to be the “greatest English-speaking writer in history” and an England’s national poet, actor, and an extremely successful playwright. During Shakespeare’s acting career in London, he started writing all about “European geography, culture, and diverse personalities (History.com).” Willm Shakspere or William Shakspeare, as written by him, then went on to write plays. His first three plays were all created around or a little before 1592 and captured the core studied categories; tragedy (Titus Andronicus), comedy (The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors and The Taming of the Shrew), and history (Henry VI trilogy and Richard III). He wrote plays and sonnets for many theater companies, was one of the main playwrights for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, which was renamed the King’s Men when James I was in charge, and formed the Globe theater in 1599 with other partners. Shakespeare’s unique language, themes, verses, format, characters, and plots makes his writing universal to every culture and time period. Shakespeare is still taught in school nowadays due to its’ educational and transitional purposes. Shakespeare continues to influence modern-day life and I believe will for a long time to come.
William Shakespeare is the world’s pre-eminent dramatist whose plays range from tragedies to tragic comedies, etc. His general style of writing is often comparable to several of his contemporaries, like Romeo and Juliet is based on Arthur Brooke’s narrative poem, “The tragical history of Romeo and Juliet”. But Shakespeare’s works express a different range of human experience where his characters command the sympathy of audiences and also are complex as well as human in nature. Shakespeare makes the protagonist’s character development central to the plot.
Shakespeare is above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of nature; the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and life. His tragedy seems to be skill, his comedy to be instinct.
Many Elizabethan bedsides were haunted from “the terrors of the night”. Back then their ghosts were nothing like the pasty blobs we call ghosts now. Theirs were quite gruesome. Ghostly visitations were claimed to have been very unpleasant. Not only this, but they claimed it cast them into a state of spiritual confusion.
Few writers have managed to enter the world-wide public consciousness as well as Shakespeare; everyone knows his name and can terribly misquote his plays. Yet, for all his popularity, many of his critics have called him unlearned, saying his plays are entertaining but shallow. These same critics often point at the many inconsistencies of his writing, claiming that Shakespeare was not trying to convey anything but witticisms and beautiful sounds. Of course, even his harshest detractors acknowledge his plays and sonnets have influenced the world's literature on a scale that is intimidating; every writer of his era stood in his shadow, and modern literature stands on his
Much of the text is dated or archaic and is initially unknown to the typical student. Yet upon thorough study, the student will gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare's words and the English language.Despite the difficulty that dated text presents, the passions and emotions described by Shakespeare touch the hearts of his readers and audience, students included. Vivid imagery and poetic descriptions are presented effectively and have a great impact on the audience. Readers are provided with the opportunity to step into the lives of his characters; to feel their emotions and understand their motivations, a rewarding experience for the student.Although Shakespeare's wrote his plays more than 350 years ago, the relevance of their themes and subjects still exists.
William Shakespeare is one of the most recognized playwrights in the history of man. People have analyzed every sentence of his works and have taken note of the various styles used in his writing. Ironically enough, little is known about Shakespeare's personal life. It is assumed, however, that like other literary writers, Shakespeare relates occurrences in his life into his writing. The average person experiences varied and numerous events that affect them personally, and shape them into who they are. Whether one expresses loyalty or betrayal to another can impact one's life greatly and can cause numerous outcomes in a person's life. In
I was in the best of settings when I realized that Shakespeare was indeed great. My freshman year in high school, I had English class with an esteemed teacher, Mr. Broza—hailed as the Paul D. Schreiber High School Shakespeare aficionado, founder of Schreiber’s Annual Shakespeare Day, and, perhaps most heart-warming of all, a self-proclaimed Shakespeare lover whose posters of The Bard could be found as wallpaper in his small office. How lucky I thought I was. Indeed, if I wanted to appreciate Hamlet, I was in the right hands.
Shakespeare, a humanist and a man of crucial perspective, concentrates on moral, political, and philosophical questions of universal significance; he strives to change the world. Shakespeare brought new-fangled realism in drama and took it to great height with profundity. His dramas have the rich diversity of humanity with the help of hundreds living, believable characters showing multiplicity in individuality. Even after centuries, the characters can be identified with their aspirations, their strengths and their failings, and sympathise with their moral dilemmas. He was a true human with true human experiences bringing humanist approach. Janet Suzman: “Shakespeare was a humanist in everything he wrote.*1 Shakespeare’s plays and poetry reveal
William Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright of all time. His gift for developing characters is one major aspect that accounts for this lofty acknowledgement. Shakespeare created various characters from drunks and fools to kings and generals. The characters are so human and so real that the audience can see aspects of their own personalities represented on stage for better or worse. Inadvertently, Shakespeare's ability to characterize any type of person demonstrates his holistic education and knowledge of everything from military strategy and open sea sailing to music and religion. As a result of Shakespeare's true-to-life
Shakespeare’s sonnets are considered to be some of the greatest and most eloquent poems in all of English literature. So by analyzing his genius in poetry and style, scholars and ordinary readers alike, try to understand the genius in the poet. There is very little known of Shakespeare’s personal life or feelings he had about himself. This being so a lot of scholars focus on his style and way of saying things to try and get a better understanding of Shakespeare the person. Many scholars have tried to get an insight into shakespeare by analyzing how and what he wrote. Many poets use poetry as a way to express their feelings and emotions, so readers of Shakespeare should be able to start to grasp a picture of who he was by reading his poetry and paying attention to the similarities and unique differences of his work to the norm of the day.
Prior to Shakespeare’s ascendancy on the English stage, Bloom argues, there was no concept of the individual self, just types. These types persist in Shakespeare’s plays as residual stock characters displaying
When the decision had to been made with the requirement of it had to be a British Topic? What had come to mind was of the many classic works of English literature that has stand the test of time and are critically acclaimed classics works. These English works that have stand the test of time are such as: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The writer I come to choose was William Shakespeare. Where William Shakespeare was my choice because he wrote many famous plays like Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. It has been almost 400 years since he died, but many people still celebrate his work all around the world. William Shakespeare sonnets 30, 15, and 116 are a must read if you want to read on love. The three sonnets, first sonnet celebrated love through the description of how the thought of a beloved friend can cheer him up even in times of sadness (Sonnet 30); second sonnet has his poetic work in honor of a beloved to the comparison of other physical monuments (Sonnet 55); and the third sonnet extoled the value of power, and endurance of true love (Sonnet 116).