Shakespeare, William
Material from Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
This is the stable version, released on November 23, 2016.
The state is unpatrolled
Go to: navigation, Search
William Shakespeare
The only known reliable image of Shakespeare is an engraving from the posthumous "First Folio" (1623) by Martin Drushout Date of birth: April 1564[1]
Place of birth: Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England
Date of death: April 23 (May 3) 1616 (1616-05-03)
Place of death: Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England
Citizenship (citizenship): Kingdom of England
Occupation: playwright, poet, actor
Genre: Elizabethan drama
Language of works: English
Signature:
Works in Wikitek Files on Wikimedia Commons
The query "Shakespeare" is redirected here; see also other values.
William Shakespeare[2];
April 26, 1564 (epiphany)[ ⇨ ], Stratford upon Avon, England April 23(May 3) 1616} [⇨], ibid.)
was an English poet and playwright, often considered the greatest English language writer and one of the best playwrights in the world[3].
He is often called the national poet of England[4].
The extant works, including some written jointly with other authors, consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 4 poems and 3 epitaphs.
Shakespeare's plays have been translated into all major languages and are staged more often than the works of other playwrights[5].
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford upon Avon.
At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: a daughter, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.
Shakespeare's career began between 1585 and 1592, when he moved to London.
Soon he became a successful actor, playwright, and also co owner of a theater company called "Servants of the Lord Chamberlain", later known as"Servants of the King".
Around 1613, at the age of 48, he returned to Stratford, where he died three years later.
There is little historical evidence about Shakespeare's life, and theories about his life are created on the basis of official documents and testimonies of contemporaries, so questions about his appearance and religious views are still being discussed in the scientific community, and there is also a point of view that the works attributed to him were created by someone else[6][7]; it is popular in culture, although it is rejected by the overwhelming majority of Shakespeare scholars.
Most of Shakespeare's works were written between 1589 and 1613. [8]
His early plays are mainly related to comedies and chronicles, in which Shakespeare greatly excelled.
Then came the period of tragedies in his work, including the works "Hamlet", "King Lear", "Othello" and "Macbeth", which are considered among the best in the English language.
At the end of his career, Shakespeare wrote several tragicomedies, and also collaborated with other writers.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published during his lifetime.
In 1623, two of Shakespeare's friends, John Heming and Henry Condell, published the First Folio, a collection of all but two of Shakespeare's plays currently included in the canon.
Later, several more plays (or fragments of them) were attributed to Shakespeare by various researchers with varying degrees of evidence.
Even during his lifetime, Shakespeare received commendable reviews about his works, but he really became popular only in the XIX century.
In particular, representatives of Romanticism and Victorians worshipped Shakespeare so much that Bernard Shaw called it "bardolatry", which means "bardolatry"in English.
Shakespeare's works remain popular today, they are constantly being studied and reinterpreted in accordance with political and cultural conditions.
Content
1 Biography 1.1 Early years 1.2 London and theatrical career 1.3 Recent years and death
2 Creativity 2.1 The question of periodization 2.2 Drama 2.2.1 Lifetime productions 2.2.2 First publications
2.3 Poems 2.4 Sonnets
3 Style 4 Reputation and Criticism 5 Influence 6 Doubts about Shakespeare's Personality 6.1 "Shakespeare's Question" 6.2 Religion 6.3 Sexual Orientation 6.4 Appearance
7 List of compositions 7.1 Classification of plays 7.2 Compositions
8 See also 9 Notes 10 Bibliography 11 References
Biography
Main article: Biography of William Shakespeare
Coat of arms with the motto of the Shakespeare family Non Sanz Droict fr.
"Not without a right"
Early years
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon (Warwickshire) in 1564, baptized on April 26, the exact date of birth is unknown.
Legend relates his birth to April 23[9]: this date coincides with the precisely known day of his death.
In addition, on April 23, the day of St. George, the patron saint of England, is celebrated, and tradition could specially coincide with the birth of the greatest national poet on this day.
From English, the surname "Shakespeare" is translated as "stunning with a spear".
His father, John Shakespeare (1530-1601), was a wealthy craftsman (glover), often elected to various significant public positions.
In 1565, John Shakespeare was an alderman, and in 1568 — the bailiff (head of the city council).
He did not attend church services, for which he paid large monetary fines (it is possible that he was a secret Catholic)[10].
Shakespeare's mother, nee Mary Arden (1537-1608), belonged to one of the oldest Saxon families[11].
In total, the couple had 8 children, William was born the third.
It is believed that Shakespeare studied at the Stratford "grammar school", where he was supposed to get a good knowledge of Latin: the Stratford teacher of Latin and literature wrote poems in Latin.
Some scholars claim that Shakespeare attended the school of King Edward VI (English)Russian.
in Stratford upon Avon, where he studied the works of poets such as Ovid and Plautus[12], but the school journals have not been preserved[13], and now nothing can be said for sure.
In 1582, at the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a local landowner, who was 8 years older than him.
At the time of the marriage, Ann was pregnant.
In 1583, the couple had a daughter, Susan (baptized on May 23), in 1585 — twins: a son, Hamnet, who died at the age of 11 in August 1596, and a daughter, Judith (baptized on February 2).
About further (within seven years) there are only assumptions about the events of Shakespeare's life.
The first mention of a London theatrical career dates back to 1592, and the period between 1585 and 1592 is called by researchers the "lost years" of Shakespeare[14].
Attempts by biographers to learn about Shakespeare's actions during this period led to the appearance of many apocryphal stories.
Nicholas Rowe, the first biographer of Shakespeare, believed that he left Stratford to avoid prosecution for poaching on the estate of the local squire Thomas Lucy.
It is also assumed that Shakespeare took revenge on Lucy by writing several obscene ballads to him[15].
According to another version of the XVIII century, Shakespeare began his theatrical career looking after the horses of London theatrical patrons[16].
John Aubrey wrote that Shakespeare was a school teacher[17].
Some scientists of the XX century believed that Shakespeare was the teacher of Alexander Nogton from Lancashire, since this Catholic landowner had a certain "William Shakeshaft" [18].
There is little basis for this theory, except for rumors that spread after Shakespeare's death, and, besides, "Shakeshaft" is a fairly common surname in Lancashire[19].
The recreated Globe Theater, where Shakespeare's troupe worked
London and theater career
It is not known exactly when Shakespeare began writing theatrical works, and also moved to London, but the first extant sources that speak about this date back to 1592.
This year in the diary of entrepreneur Philip Henslow (English)Russian.
the historical chronicle of Shakespeare "Henry VI", which was held in the Rose Theater owned by Henslow, is mentioned[20].
In the same year, a pamphlet by the playwright and novelist Robert Green was posthumously published, where the latter angrily attacked Shakespeare, without naming his last name, but ironically playing it — "the shaker of the scene" (shake scene), paraphrasing a line from the third part of "Henry VI" " Oh, the heart of a tiger in this woman's skin!" like "the heart of a tiger in the skin of a performer"[11].
Scholars disagree about the exact meaning of these words[21], but it is generally believed that Green accused Shakespeare of trying to match highly educated writers ("university minds"), such as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nash and Green himself[22].
Biographers believe that Shakespeare's career could have begun at any time, starting from the mid 1580s[23].
Since 1594, Shakespeare's plays have been staged only by the company of the Lord Chamberlain's Servants.
This troupe also included Shakespeare, who at the end of the same year 1594 became its co owner.
The troupe soon became one of the leading theater groups in London[24].
After the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the troupe received a royal patent from the new ruler, James I, and became known as"Servants of the King" [25].
In 1599, a partnership of members of the group built a new theater on the south bank of the Thames, called the Globe.
In 1608, they also purchased the closed Blackfriars Theater.
Reports on Shakespeare's purchases of real estate and his investments show that the troupe made him a rich man.
In 1597, he bought the second largest house in Stratford New Place (English)Russian..
Some of Shakespeare's plays were published In quarto in 1594.
In 1598, his name began to appear on the title pages of publications[26][27][28].
But even after Shakespeare became famous as a playwright, he continued to play in theaters.
In the 1616 edition of Ben Jonson's works, Shakespeare's name is included in the list of actors who performed the plays "Everyone Has Their Own Quirks" (1598) and "The Fall of Sejanus" (1603)[29].
However, his name was absent from the lists of actors in Johnson's play "Volpone" in 1605, which is perceived by some scholars as a sign of the end of Shakespeare's London career[30].
Nevertheless, in the First Folio of 1623, Shakespeare is called "the main actor in all these plays", and some of them were first staged after Volpone, although it is not known for sure what roles Shakespeare played in them[31].
In 1610, John Davis wrote that "good Will" played "royal" roles[32].
In 1709, in his work, Rowe recorded the opinion already formed by that time that Shakespeare played the shadow of Hamlet's father[33].
Later it was also claimed that he played the roles of Adam in "As you Like It" and the Choir in "Henry V" [34], although scientists doubt the reliability of this information[35].
During the period of his acting and dramatic activity, Shakespeare lived in London, but he also spent some of his time in Stratford.
In 1596, a year after the purchase of New Place, he lived in the parish of St. Helena in Bishopgate, on the north side of the Thames[36].
After the construction of the Globe Theater in 1599, Shakespeare moved to the other side of the river — to Southwark[37], where the theater was located.
In 1604, he moved across the river again, this time to the area north of St. Paul's Cathedral, where there were a large number of good houses.
He rented rooms from a French Huguenot named Christopher Mountjoy, a manufacturer of women's wigs and hats[38][39].
Last years and death
There is a traditional opinion that a few years before his death, Shakespeare moved to Stratford.
The first biographer of Shakespeare to convey this opinion was Rowe[40].
One of the reasons for this may be that the London public theaters repeatedly stopped their work due to outbreaks of the plague[41], and the actors did not have enough work.
Complete retirement was rare in those days [42], and Shakespeare continued to visit London[40].
In 1612, Shakespeare acted as a witness in the case of Bellot v. Mountjoy, the trial of the wedding dowry of Mountjoy's daughter Mary [43][44].
In March 1613, he bought a house in the former parish of Blackfriar [45]; in November 1614, he spent several weeks with his m son in law, John Hall[46].
A bust of Shakespeare in the Church of St. Trinity in Stratford
After 1606-1607, Shakespeare wrote only a few plays, and after 1613 he stopped creating them altogether[47].
He wrote his last three plays together with another playwright, possibly with John Fletcher[48], who replaced Shakespeare as the chief playwright of the company "Servants of the King" [49].
Shakespeare's autograph on his will
All the surviving signatures of Shakespeare on documents (1612-1613) differ in very poor handwriting, on the basis of which some researchers believe that he was seriously ill at that time[50].
On April 23 (May 3), 1616, Shakespeare died[51].
Traditionally, it is considered that he died on his birthday, but there is no certainty that Shakespeare was born on April 23.
Shakespeare was survived by his widow, Anne (d. 1623), and two daughters.
Susan Shakespeare was married to John Hall from 1607[52], and Judith Shakespeare married two months after Shakespeare's death to the winemaker Thomas Queenie[53].
In his will, Shakespeare left most of his real estate to his eldest daughter, Susan [54].
After her, it was to be inherited by her direct descendants[55].
Judith had three children, and all of them died without marrying [56].
Susan had one daughter, Elizabeth, who married twice, but died childless in 1670.
She was the last direct descendant of Shakespeare [57].
In Shakespeare's will, his wife is mentioned only briefly, but she was already supposed to receive a third of her husband's entire estate[58].
However, it indicated that he was leaving her "my second best bed", and this fact led to many different assumptions[59][60][61].
Some scientists consider this an insult to Ann, while others argue that the second — best bed is the marital bed, and therefore there is nothing offensive about it[62].
Three days later, Shakespeare's body was buried in the Stratford Church of St. Trinity [63].
An epitaph is written on his tombstone[64]:
Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare,
To digg the dvst encloased heare.
Bleste be ye man yt spares thes stones,
And cvrst be he yt moves my bones.
Friend, for God's sake, donot swarm
Remains taken from this land;
The untouched one is blessed in the ages,
And cursed is he who touched my ashes.
(Translated by A. Velichansky)[11]
Shortly before 1623, a painted bust of Shakespeare was erected in the church, showing him in the process of writing.
Epitaphs in English and Latin compare Shakespeare with the wise king of Pylos, Nestor, Socrates and Virgil[65].
There are many statues of Shakespeare all over the world, including funerary monuments in Southwark Cathedral and the Poets ' Corner of Westminster Abbey.
To commemorate the four hundredth anniversary of the playwright's death, the Royal Mint issued three two pound coins (dated 2016), symbolizing three groups of his works: comedies, chronicles and tragedies.
Creation
Main article: List of works by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's literary heritage is divided into two unequal parts: poetic (poems and sonnets) and dramatic.
V. G. Belinsky wrote that "it would be too bold and strange to give Shakespeare a decisive advantage over all the poets of mankind, as a poet himself, but as a playwright he still remains without a rival whose name could be put next to his name"[66].
Researchers of Shakespeare's work (Danish literary critic G. Brandes, publisher of the Russian complete works of Shakespeare S. A. Vengerov) in the late XIX — early XX centuries, based on the chronology of works, presented his spiritual evolution from "cheerful mood", faith in the triumph of justice, humanistic ideals at the beginning of the path to disappointment and the destruction of all illusions at the end.
However, in recent years, there has been an opinion that the conclusion about the identity of the author according to his works is an error[67].
In 1930, Shakespeare scholar E. K. Chambers (English)Russian.
he proposed a chronology of Shakespeare's work according to genre characteristics, later it was corrected by J. By Mcmanway.
Four periods were distinguished: the first (1590-1594) — early: chronicles, Renaissance comedies, "tragedy of horror" ("Titus Andronicus"), two poems; the second (1594-1600) — Renaissance comedies, the first mature tragedy ("Romeo and Juliet"), chronicles with elements of tragedy, ancient tragedy ("Julius Caesar"), sonnets; the third (1601-1608) — great tragedies, ancient tragedies, "gloomy comedies"; the fourth (1609-1613) — fairy tale dramas with a tragic beginning and a happy ending.
Some of the Shakespearean scholars, including A. A. Smirnov, combined the first and second periods into one early one[68].
Drama
Main article: The Plays of William Shakespeare
Most playwrights of that period created their works together with other authors, and critics believe that Shakespeare also wrote some of his plays together with other authors; this mainly applies to early and late works [69].
For some works, such as "Titus Andronicus" and early historical plays, it is not established that they were exactly co written, whereas for "Two Noble Relatives" and the lost play "Cardenio" this is documented.
The data obtained from the texts also suggest that some works were reworked by other writers relative to the original text.
One of the earliest works of Shakespeare is "Richard III" and three parts of "Henry VI", written in the early 1590s, a period when historical drama was in vogue.
Shakespeare's plays are difficult to date[70] [71], but text researchers suggest that "Titus Andronicus", "The Comedy of Errors", "The Taming of the Shrew" and "The Two Veronese" also refer to the beginning of Shakespeare's creative path[72][70].
His first chronicles, most likely based on the 1587 edition of The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland by Raphael Holinshed[73], represented the destructive results of the rule of weak and corrupt rulers and to some extent served as a justification for the emergence of the Tudor dynasty[74].
Shakespeare's early plays were influenced by the works of other Elizabethan playwrights, especially Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe, the traditions of medieval drama and the plays of Seneca[75][76][77].
The Comedy of Errors is also based on the classical model, no sources have been found for The Taming of the Shrew, although it is related to another play with a similar name that was played in London theaters in the 1590s[78] and may have folklore roots[79][80].
Oberon, Titania and Puck dance with the fairies.
William Blake, 1786.
Tate Britain.
In the mid 1590s, Shakespeare made a transition from mocking and farcical comedies in his style to romantic works[81].
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a witty mixture of romance, fairy tale magic and the life of lower society [82].
The next, also romantic, Shakespeare's comedy" The Merchant of Venice " contains a portrait of the vengeful Jewish moneylender Shylock, which reflected the racial prejudices of the English of the Elizabethan era[83][84].
The witty play "Much ado about Nothing"[85], perfectly depicting life in the province "As you like it" and lively with fun "Twelfth Night" complement a number of Shakespeare's comedies[86].
After the lyrical "Richard II", almost entirely written in verse, Shakespeare introduced prose comedy in his chronicles "Henry IV, parts 1" and 2, and "Henry V".
His characters become more complex and tender, he very deftly switches between comic and serious scenes, prose and poetry, so that his mature works achieve a narrative variety[87][88][89].
This period was started and ended by tragedies: "Romeo and Juliet", the famous story of love and death of a girl and a boy[90][91], and" Julius Caesar", based on the" Comparative Biographies " of Plutarch[92][93].
Hamlet, Horatio, Marcellus and the ghost of Hamlet's father.
Henry Fuseli, 1780-85.
Kunsthaus (Zurich)
At the beginning of the XVII century, Shakespeare wrote several so called "problem plays": "Measure for Measure", "Troilus and Cressida" and "All is Well that Ends Well", as well as a number of the most famous tragedies[94][95].
Many critics believe that the tragedies of this period represent the peak of Shakespeare's work.
Hamlet, the title character of one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies, is perhaps the most researched character of this playwright; this is especially true of the famous soliloquy, which begins "To be or not to be, that's the question"[96].
Unlike the introverted Hamlet, the hesitant hero, the heroes of the subsequent tragedies, King Lear and Othello, suffer from too hasty decisions [97].
Shakespeare's tragedy is often based on the shortcomings or fatal actions of the heroes who destroy him and his loved ones[98].
In Othello, the villain Iago brings the jealousy of the title character to a point, and he kills his innocent wife[99][100].
In King Lear, the old king makes the fatal mistake of renouncing his rights to power, which leads to horrific events, such as the murder of Lear's youngest daughter Cordelia.
In Macbeth, Shakespeare's shortest and most concise tragedy [101], uncontrolled ambitions drive Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, to kill the rightful king and usurp the throne, and ultimately they are destroyed by the realization of their guilt[102].
In this play, Shakespeare adds an element of the supernatural to the tragic structure.
His last major tragedies, "Antony and Cleopatra" and "Coriolanus", according to some critics, contain some of his most beautiful poems[103][104].
In the final period of his work, Shakespeare turned to the genre of romance or tragicomedy and completed three major plays: "Cymbeline", "The Winter's Tale" and "The Tempest", as well as, together with another playwright, the play "Pericles".
The works of this period are less gloomy than the tragedies that preceded them, but more serious than the comedies of the 1590s, but they end with reconciliation and deliverance from troubles [105].
Some researchers believe that these changes occurred from a change in views on Shakespeare's life, which became more calm, but perhaps the plays simply reflected the theatrical fashion of that time[106][107][108].
Two other surviving plays of Shakespeare were written by him in collaboration, possibly with John Fletcher: "Henry VIII" and "Two noble Relatives".
Lifetime productions
Main article: Productions of plays by William Shakespeare
It is not yet known exactly for which theater companies Shakespeare wrote his early plays.
Thus, on the title page of the 1594 edition of Titus Andronicus, it is indicated that the play was staged by three different groups[109].
After the plague of 1592-1593, Shakespeare's plays were already staged by his own company at the "Theater (English)Russian" and "Curtin (English) Russian" in Shoreditch, north of the Thames[110].
The first part of "Henry IV" was staged there.
After a quarrel with its owner, the company left the "Theater" and built the Globe Theater on the south side of the Thames, in Southwark, the first theater built by actors for actors[111][112].
The Globe opened in the autumn of 1599, and one of the first plays staged there was "Julius Caesar".
Most of Shakespeare's most famous plays written after 1599 were created for the Globe, including Hamlet, Othello and King Lear"[111][113][114].
Reconstruction of the Globe Theater, London.
Shakespeare's company, The Servants of the Lord Chamberlain, had a special relationship with King James I, especially after its renaming in 1603 as the Servants of the King.
Although the records of the productions are scattered, we can talk about 7 productions of Shakespeare's plays at the court between November 1, 1604 and October 31, 1605, including two productions of The Merchant of Venice[115].
After 1608, they began performing in the winter at the Blackfriars Indoor Theater, and working at the Globe in the summer[116].
A good room, combined with royal patronage, allowed Shakespeare to introduce more complex devices into the props of his plays.
For example, in" Cymbeline " Jupiter descends "with thunder and lightning, sitting on an eagle: He throws lightning.
Ghosts fall to their knees"[117].
The Shakespeare company consisted of such famous actors as Richard Burbage, William Kemp, Neri Condell and John Heminges.
Burbage was the first performer of the main roles of many Shakespeare's plays, including "Richard III", "Hamlet", "Othello" and "King Lear" [118].
Popular comic actor William Kemp, among other characters, played Pietro in "Romeo and Juliet" and Dogwood in "Much Ado about Nothing"[119].
At the turn of the XVI and XVII centuries, he was replaced by Robert Armin, who performed such roles as the Touchstone from "As You Like It" and the Jester from "King Lear"[120].
In 1613, Henry Wotton reported on the production of the play "Henry VIII" [121].
On June 29, during the production of this performance, a cannon misfired and set fire to the thatched roof of the building, so that the entire theater burned down.
This fact allows us to determine with good accuracy the time of writing the play[121].
First publications
It is believed that half (18) of Shakespeare's plays were published in one way or another during the playwright's lifetime.
The most important publication of Shakespeare's legacy is considered to be the folio of 1623 (the so called "First Folio"), published by Edward Blount and William Jaggard as part of the so called "Chester Collection"; printers Worral and Col.
This edition includes 36 plays by Shakespeare all except "Pericles" and "Two noble Relatives".
It is this publication that underlies all research in the field of Shakespeare studies.
This project was made possible thanks to the efforts of John Heminge and Henry Condell, friends and colleagues of Shakespeare.
The book is preceded by a message to readers on behalf of Heminge and Condell, as well as a poetic dedication to Shakespeare by the playwright Ben Johnson, who also contributed to the publication of the First Folio.
Poems
In 1593 and 1594, when the theaters were closed due to the plague, Shakespeare created two erotic poems, "Venus and Adonis" and "The Dishonored Lucretia".
These poems were dedicated to Henry Risley, Earl of Southampton.
In Venus and Adonis, the innocent Adonis rejects the sexual advances of Venus; whereas in The Dishonored Lucretia, the virtuous wife of Lucretius is raped by Tarquinius [122].
Under the influence of Ovid's Metamorphoses [123], the poems show a sense of guilt and the terrible consequences of uncontrolled love[124].
Both poems were popular and were reprinted several times during Shakespeare's lifetime.
The third poem, "The Complaint of a Lover", in which a girl complains about a seductive deceiver, was printed in the first edition of the Sonnets in 1609.
Currently, most scientists recognize that Shakespeare wrote the" Complaint of a Lover".
The poem "The Phoenix and the Dove", published in 1601 in Robert Chester's collection "Love's Martyr", tells about the sad death of the mythological phoenix and his beloved, faithful dove.
In 1599, two sonnets by Shakespeare in the name of Shakespeare, but without his consent in the "Passionate Pilgrim"[125][126][127].
Sonnets
Main article: Sonnets by William Shakespeare
The title page of the 1609 edition of Shakespeare's sonnets.
A sonnet is a poem of 14 lines.
In Shakespeare's sonnets, the following rhyme is adopted: abab cdcd efef gg, that is, three quatrains for cross rhymes, and one couplet (the type introduced by the poet the Earl of Surrey, who was executed under Henry VIII).
In total, Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, and most of them were created in 1592-1599.
They were first printed without the author's knowledge in 1609.
Two of them were printed back in 1599 in the collection "The Passionate Pilgrim".
These are sonnets 138 and 144.
The entire cycle of sonnets is divided into separate thematic groups[128]:
Sonnets dedicated to a friend: 1-126 Praising a friend: 1-26 Trials of friendship: 27-99 Bitterness of separation: 27-32 The first disappointment in a friend: 33-42 Longing and fears: 43-55 Growing alienation and melancholy: 56-75 Rivalry and jealousy of other poets: 76-96 "Winter" of separation: 97-99 The triumph of renewed friendship: 100-126 Sonnets dedicated to a dark skinned lover: 127-152 Conclusion the joy and beauty of love: 153-154
Sonnet 126 violates the canon — it has only 12 lines and a different rhyme pattern.
Sometimes it is considered a section between two conventional parts of the cycle sonnets dedicated to friendship (1-126) and addressed to the "dark lady" (127-154)[129].
Sonnet 145 is written in iambic tetrameter instead of pentameter and differs in style from the rest; sometimes it is attributed to the early period and its heroine is identified with Shakespeare's wife Anna Hathaway (whose last name, perhaps in the form of a pun "hate away" is presented in the sonnet).
Style
Main article: The Style of William Shakespeare
The language of Shakespeare's first plays is the language common for plays of this period.
This stylized language does not always allow the playwright to reveal his characters[130].
Poetry is often overloaded with complex metaphors and sentences, and language is more conducive to the recitation of the text than to a live game.
For example, the solemn speeches of "Titus Andronicus", according to some critics, often slow down the action; the language of the characters of" The Two Veronese " seems unnatural[75][131].
Soon, however, Shakespeare begins to adapt the traditional style for his own purposes.
The initial soliloquy from "Richard III" goes back to the conversations with himself of Vice, a traditional character in a medieval drama.
At the same time, Richard's vivid monologues would later develop into monologues of Shakespeare's later plays[132][133].
All the plays mark the transition from the traditional style to the new one.
Throughout the rest of his career, Shakespeare combines them, and one of the most successful examples of mixing styles is "Romeo and Juliet"[134].
By the mid 1590s, the time of the creation of "Romeo and Juliet", "Richard II" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Shakespeare's style became more natural.
Metaphors and figurative expressions are increasingly consistent with the needs of the drama.
The standard poetic form used by Shakespeare is white verse written in iambic pentameter.
The white verse of the early and late plays differ significantly.
The early one is often beautiful, but, as a rule, either the entire sentence or its semantic part ends at the end of the line, which generates monotony[135].
After Shakespeare mastered the traditional white verse, he began to change it, interrupting the sentence at the end of the line.
The use of this technique gives poetry power and flexibility in such plays as" Julius Caesar "and"Hamlet".
For example, Shakespeare uses it to convey the feelings of a shocked Hamlet[136]:
Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting That would not let me sleep.
Methought I lay Worse than the mutines in the bilboes.
Rashly— And prais’d be rashness for it—let us know Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well…
It was as if there was a struggle going on in my soul That prevented me from sleeping; it was harder for me to lie down than for Kolodnik.
Suddenly, - The praise of surprise: our recklessness Sometimes helps us out where a Deep Plan perishes…
"Hamlet", act 5, scene 2, 4-8.
Translated by T. Shchepkina Kupernik.
In the plays that followed Hamlet, the poetic style continued to vary, especially in the emotional passages of his later tragedies.
Literary critic Bradley (English)Russian.
he described this style as "more concentrated, faster, diverse, with fewer repetitions"[137].
Towards the end of his career, Shakespeare used many methods to achieve similar effects.
He used such methods as anjambeman, unstructured pauses and stops, and various unusual variations in the construction and length of sentences[138].
In many cases, the listener himself must think out the meaning of the sentence[138].
In late romantic plays, long and short sentences are opposed to each other, the subject and object of the action are reversed, the words are omitted, which creates a sense of spontaneity[139].
Shakespeare combined poetic art with an understanding of the practical details of a theatrical production[140].
Like all playwrights of that time, he dramatized stories from such sources kov, like Plutarch and Holinshed[141].
But the original source did not remain unchanged; Shakespeare introduced new and changed old storylines so that the whole versatility of the narrative was revealed to the audience.
With the growth of Shakespeare's skill, his characters began to emerge more clearly and acquire distinctive features of speech.
However, his later plays are more reminiscent of his earlier creations.
In his later romantic works, he deliberately returned to an artificial style in order to emphasize the illusory nature of the theater[142].
Reputation and criticism
Main article: The Reputation of William Shakespeare
"He was not a man of the epoch, but of all times"[143].
- Ben Johnson[144]
Although Shakespeare was not considered a great playwright during his lifetime, he received commendable reviews of his works[145][146].
In 1598, the writer clergyman Francis Meris singled him out from English writers as "the most excellent" in both comedy and tragedy[147][148].
And the authors of the collection of plays "Parnassus" compared Shakespeare with Chaucer, Gower and Spencer[149].
In the First Folio, Ben Jonson called Shakespeare: "The soul of the century, worthy of applause, delight, the miracle of our stage [150]".
Statue of William Shakespeare, Lincoln Park (Chicago), typical of the XIX and early XX centuries.
In the period between the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the end of the XVII century, the ideas of classicism prevailed.
Therefore, the critics of that time mainly ranked Shakespeare lower than John Fletcher and Ben Jonson[151].
Thomas Riemer, for example, condemned Shakespeare for mixing the comic and the tragic.
Nevertheless, the poet and critic John Dryden praised Shakespeare, saying of Johnson: "I admire him, but I love Shakespeare"[152].
Nevertheless, Riemer's views dominated for several decades, but in the XVIII century critics began to admire him and call him a genius.
Such a reputation was only strengthened by a number of published scientific works devoted to the work of Shakespeare, for example, the works of Samuel Johnson in 1765 and Edmond Malone in 1790[153][154].
By 1800, he was firmly established as the national poet of England[153].
In the XVIII and XIX centuries, Shakespeare also received a name outside the British Isles.
He was supported by such writers as Voltaire, Goethe, Stendhal and Victor Hugo[155].
In the era of Romanticism, Shakespeare was highly appreciated by the poet and literary philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge; the critic August Wilhelm Schlegel translated his plays into German in the spirit of German Romanticism[156].
In the nineteenth century, admiration for Shakespeare often bordered on worship and flattery[157].
"This King Shakespeare," wrote the essayist Thomas Carlyle in 1840 — " is above us all, the noblest, the tenderest, but strong; indestructible [158]"[159].
Bernard Shaw, however, criticized the romantic cult of Shakespeare, using the word "bardolatry".
He argued that Ibsen's naturalistic drama makes Shakespeare obsolete [160].
The Russian writer Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy in his critical essay "On Shakespeare and the Drama"[161] based on a detailed analysis of some of the most popular works of Shakespeare, in particular: "King Lear", "Othello", "Falstaff", "Hamlet", etc. — he sharply criticized Shakespeare's abilities as a playwright.
After the modernist art revolution of the early XX century, Shakespeare was enrolled in the ranks of the avant gardists.
German Expressionists and Moscow Futurists staged his plays.
The Marxist playwright and director Bertolt Brecht developed the epic theater under the influence of Shakespeare.
The poet and critic T. S. Eliot opposed Shaw, saying that Shakespeare's" primitivism " makes his works modern[162].
Eliot led the movement of researchers to examine Shakespeare's images in more detail.
In the 1950s, a wave of new campaigns replaced modernism and marked the beginning of" postmodern " studies of Shakespeare[163].
In the 1980s, Shakespeare's work began to be studied by representatives of such trends as structuralism, feminism, new historicism, the study of African Americans and queer studies[164][165].
Influence
Main article: The Influence of William Shakespeare
"Macbeth", by Henry Fuseli (1793-1794), Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington
Shakespeare's works seriously influenced the theater and literature of the following years.
In particular, he expanded the scope of the playwright's work with characterization of characters, plot, language and genre[166].
For example, before "Romeo and Juliet", romance was never considered as a worthy topic for a tragedy[167].
Soliloquies were mainly used to inform the audience about the events that had occurred; Shakespeare began to use them to reveal the character's character and his thoughts[168].
His works greatly influenced subsequent poets.
Poets of the Romantic era tried to revive Shakespeare's poetic drama, but did not have much success.
The critic George Steiner called the entire English drama from Coleridge to Tennyson "weak variations on Shakespearean themes"[169].
Shakespeare influenced such writers as Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner and Charles Dickens.
His influence also extended to Herman Melville; his captain Ahab from the novel "Moby Dick" is a classic tragic hero inspired by King Lear[170].
Scientists have estimated that 20,000 pieces of music are associated with the works of Shakespeare.
Among them are 2 operas by Giuseppe Verdi, "Othello" and "Falstaff", which are based on the plays of the same name[171].
Shakespeare also inspired many artists, including Romantics and Pre Raphaelites.
The Swiss artist Henry Fuseli, a friend of William Blake, even translated the play "Macbeth"into German[172].
The developer of the theory of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, relied on Shakespearean psychology, in particular on the image of Hamlet, in his theories about human nature[173].
In Shakespeare's time, English grammar, spelling and pronunciation were less standardized than they are today[174], and his language contributed to the formation of modern English[175].
He is the most quoted author by Samuel Johnson in "A Dictionary of the English Language", the first essay of its kind[176].
Expressions such as "with bated breath" (lit. with bated breath = with a sinking heart) ("The merchant of Venice") and "a foregone conclusion"(lit. the predetermined outcome) ("Othello") have entered the modern everyday English speech[177][178].
Doubts about Shakespeare's personality
"The Shakespearean question"
Main article: The Shakespearean Question
Recently discovered in the family collection is a portrait of an Elizabethan (1610).
Some art historians claim that this is the only lifetime portrait of William Shakespeare[179][180].
About 230 years after Shakespeare's death, doubts began to be expressed about the authorship of the works attributed to him[181].
Alternative candidates were proposed, mostly well born and well educated, such as Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland, Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe and Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford[182].
Theories have also been proposed according to which a group of writers was hiding behind the pseudonym "Shakespeare" [183].
However, the traditional theory is generally accepted in the academic community[184], interest in the non Strafordianist trend, especially in the Oxfordianist theory, persists in the XXI century[185][186][187].
One of the proofs of their theory, the non Fordians consider that there is no evidence of Shakespeare's education, while the vocabulary of his works, according to various estimates, ranges from 17,500 to 29,000 words[188], and they also show a deep knowledge of history and literature.
Since not a single manuscript written by Shakespeare's hand has been preserved, the opponents of the traditional version conclude that his literary career was falsified.
Religion
Main article: The Religion of William Shakespeare
Some scholars believe that Shakespeare's family members were Catholics, although at that time the Catholic religion was banned[189].
Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, came from a Catholic family.
The main proof of Shakespeare's belonging to a Catholic family is considered to be the will of John Shakespeare, found in 1757 in the attic of his house.
The original document was lost, and scientists disagree on its authenticity[190][191].
In 1591, the authorities reported that he did not appear in the church[192][193][194].
In 1606, the name of Shakespeare's daughter Susanna was included in the list of those who did not appear at the Easter communion in Stratford[192][193][194].
Scientists have found evidence in Shakespeare's plays for and against his Catholicism, but the truth is not absolutely established [195][196].
Sexual orientation
Despite the fact of Shakespeare's marriage and the presence of children, there are different opinions in the scientific community about his sexual orientation.
Researchers often believe that Shakespeare's sonnets are autobiographical[197], and some draw a conclusion from them about Shakespeare's love for a young man[198].
Others, however, consider these sonnets only an expression of friendship, and not sexual attraction[199][200][201].
26 so called sonnets to the "Dark Lady", addressed to a married woman, are often cited as proof of his heterosexual orientation[202].
Appearance
There are no written descriptions of Shakespeare's appearance made during his lifetime, and there are disputes about his true appearance.
Often the true portrait of Shakespeare is called the Droushout portrait, which Ben Johnson described as well representing Shakespeare's appearance[203], especially since the bust on Shakespeare's grave is quite similar to this portrait.
The painting of the beginning of the XVII century "Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare" contains an image of a man playing chess, similar in appearance to the portraits of the great drama aturga, made shortly after his death (it contains on the back the inscription "Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare by Isaac Oliver, 1603").
The painting is currently attributed to the Dutch artist Karel van Mander.
In the XVIII century, many attempts were made to establish the true appearance of Shakespeare, which led to numerous falsifications and various versions[204].
List of essays
Detailed consideration of the topic: List of works by William Shakespeare and Dating of Shakespeare's plays
Classification of plays
"The Plays of William Shakespeare".
John Gilbert, 1849.
Shakespeare's works include 36 plays published in 1623 in the First Folio, the division of which here into comedies, chronicles and tragedies is given in accordance with this edition[205].
The First folio did not include two plays, Two noble Relatives and Pericles, which are now considered part of the canon, and scholars agree that Shakespeare made a great contribution to their writing[206][207].
Shakespeare's poems were not published in the First Folio.
At the end of the XIX century, Edward Dowden classified 4 of Shakespeare's late plays as romantic, and although most researchers call them tragicomedies, this variant is widely used[208][209].
These plays, as well as the related "Two Noble Relatives", are marked with a sign ( * ).
In 1896, Frederick Boas introduced the term "problem plays", describing Shakespeare's plays that are difficult to classify by genre: "All is Well that Ends Well", "Measure for Measure", "Troilus and Cressida" and "Hamlet"[210].
This term has been discussed a lot and was sometimes used in relation to other plays, it is still used today, although "Hamlet" is often considered simply tragedies[211][212][213].
Problem plays are marked with a sign (‡).
If it is believed that the play was written only partially by Shakespeare, then it is marked with a sign ( + ).
Works sometimes attributed to Shakespeare are classified as apocrypha.
Essays
Comedies
Main article: The Comedies of William Shakespeare
All's well that ends well ‡ How do you like it A comedy of mistakes Fruitless efforts of love Measure for measure ‡ The Merchant of Venice The Windsor Mockers A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado about Nothing Pericles * † The Taming of the Shrew The Storm * Twelfth Night Two Veronese Two Noble Relatives * † Winter's Tale *
Chronicles
Main article: The Chronicles of William Shakespeare
King John Richard II Henry IV, part 1 Henry IV, part 2 Henry V Henry VI, part 1 † Henry VI, part 2 Henry VI, part 3 Richard III Henry VIII †
Tragedies
Main article: The Tragedies of William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet Coriolanus Titus Andronicus † Timon of Athens † Julius Caesar Macbeth † Hamlet Troilus and Cressida ‡ King Lear Othello Antony and Cleopatra Cymbeline *
Poems
William Shakespeare's Sonnets Venus and Adonis The Dishonored Lucretia[en] The Passionate pilgrim [en] The Phoenix and the dove [en] The complaint of a lover
Lost works
Rewarded efforts of love[en] The history of Cardenio †
Apocrypha
Main article: Apocrypha of William Shakespeare
The Court of Paris Arden Feversham [en] George Green Locrin[en] Edward III Musedor [en] Sir John Oldcastle[en] Thomas, Lord Cromwell The Merry Edmontian Devil[en] The Prodigal Son of London[en] The Puritan [en] Yorkshire Tragedy[en] The Beautiful Emma The Birth of Merlin [en] Sir Thomas More [en] The Tragedy of the Second Maid[en] The Passionate Pilgrim[en]
See also
► William Shakespeare
The Shakespeare Question The history of the Shakespeare Question[en] Shakespeare's handwriting [en] Shakespeare's reputation[en] List of Russian language film adaptations of Shakespeare
Notes
↑ http://data.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb119246079
↑ Biography: or, Third division of...
- Google Books ↑ Greenblatt, 2005, p.
11. ↑ Dobson, 1992, pp.
185-186.
↑ Craig, 2003, p.
3. ↑ Shapiro, 2005, p
