Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616) - Coggle Diagram
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
STUDYING SHAKESPEARE
his plays are the greatest literary
texts of all times
they express the knowledge
of the human behaviour
they transmit universal values
he is the most quoted and
translated author
FOR THE STUDENTS
they have a wider view of the world
they know the most important historical events
they can comprehend the characters, the plot
they have a greater understanding of human nature
THE LIFE
he was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, on 23rd April 1564
he attended the local grammar school (from 7 to 13)
1610= he retired from the theatre
he married Anne Hathaway
1592= he was an actor and a playwright and he went to London
he was supported by the Earl of Southampton
.
he became a shareholder
(the lord chamberlain's men)
he was the main playwright and they built the Globe
Theatre
1613= the Globe theatre
burnt down. he lost a lot of money and he helped rebuild the theatre
1616= he died at the age of 52. he was buried in Stratford,
in the Holy Trinity Church
THE SONNET
1609= he published 154 sonnets in decasyllabes
1609= he published the "Quatro". the texts were not chronological and they had no title
STRUCTURE: three quatrains and a final couplet
TURNING POINT: at the 9th line or at the beginning of the couplet
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARGUMENT: he follows the ‘two-poem’ structure of the Petrarchan form
THEMES:the poems devoted to a woman are negative, reversal of the traditional themes and universal themes such as time, death, love,
beauty and art
THE TWO-POEM: the sonnet is split in two groups: the "octave" and the "sestet"(14 lines). rhymes schemes:CDECDE or CDCCDC.
ADDRESSEE: fair youth=from I to XVIII
the time is the antagonist , a rival poet=from XIX to CXXVI dark lady=CXXVII to the end
STYLE: vivid descriptive language. no classical references. dramatic quality through the abrupt beginning. use of questions or the pronouns ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ (conversational style)
THE DRAMATIST
it's difficult to date them
EVIDENCE: external= quote a particular play
internal=quote an identifiable event
stylic=considers the changes in the author’s style
THE COMEDIES
they include: disguise, frustrated love, mistaken identity, marital and romantic misunderstanding
they end in multiple marriages
they trace the passage of young people
out of their parents’ control and into marriage
THE TRAGEDIES
IN GREEK AND LATIN CLASSICAL TRAGEDIES
the protagonist acts against the destiny. the action is limited to one place and day. the turning point is where the hero's goals seem within reach
IN SHAKESPEARE
balance between fate and human choices( based on the faults of the character). he freely breaks the rule of place and time unities. the hero is responsible of his own fall, even if his plan was noble
THE HISTORY PLAYS
they're based on serious records
they give a portrait of the nation as a whole
they were part of a process by which people came to see themselves as belonging to england
Shakespeare's history plays are divided into two ‘tetralogies’ (a group of four plays)
THE LANGUAGE
BLANK VERSE (IAMBIC PENTAMETER)=unrhymed lines with an arrangement of unstressed and stressed
syllables
PROSE= used by aristocratic characters in serious or dramatic scenes
VERSE= used by lower-class characters in comic scenes and informal conversations
IMAGERY= clusters of repeated images build up a sense of the themes of the play, imagery from nature and from the elizabethan daily life
metaphors, similes and personification
ANTITHESIS=contrast of direct opposites
HYPERBOLE= extravagant and obvious exaggeration
the audience knows something that a character on stage does not
VERBAL IRONY= saying one thing but meaning another DRAMATIC IRONY=one line or scene contrasts sharply with another (it's structural)
YOU= implies closeness or
contempt. friendship between peers. superiority over someone (social inferior). address someone of
higher social rank. can be aggressive or insulting.
THEE= formal and distant. suggests respect for a
superior. courtesy to a peer (social equal)
