William Shakespeare - Essay Example

Topic:  William Shakespeare Part I Shakespeare is an English who lived in England during 16th century He has been acknowledged to be the greatest writer and dramatist history has ever seen. The birthday of Shakespeare is unknown to the world; still the records date it to be April 23 rd of 1564.As a part of his education, he joined the local school of grammar to enhance his English language skills and fluency. The parents of William were John and Mary, in whom father belonged to a merchant class, and mother land gentry. During his teenage years, William’s dad faced with much financial difficulties and it continued till the success and fame of his son. It is not very easy to track the exact details of the life of William Shakespeare, the greatest, writer, poet and art lover of England. Surprisingly, William married women 8 yrs senior to him and became a proud father of three children not very late. The life of William Shakespeare could be categorized in to three phases : the first 20 years in which he completed his schooling and got married and attained father hood, the next 25 years where he explored and practices his writing and poetry skills, and last 5 years when he retired to Stratford to live a satisfying and successful old age. The distinction of Shakespeare was that, he was immensely talented play writer and wrote his works mostly foreseeing the actors in mind. According to (Mcevoy,19)“ William Shakespeare just like all other play writers of his time working in London playhouse, did not write with readers in mind. He instead wrote lines to speak for actors to speak which has to be understood as soon as they were heards by the audience”. Part II -The Masterpiece of Shakespeare -Romeo and Juliet i)Plot of the story Romeo and Juliet is a famous play written by Shakespeare in his early literary career, and this work went on to become one of his greatest literary works. This play is all about a young couple, Romeo and Juliet, who passionately fall in love each other, and longs for union in a background of hatred and violence. The families of both the lovers are enemies to each other and strongly oppose the romance shared by the young hearts. Romeo being the Son of Lord Montague meets the charming and beautiful Juliet in an uninvited ball and instantly falls in love with her. Interestingly, on the same night Romeo proceeds to the balcony of Juliet to exchange love vows and further decides to get married to his lady of love. ii)Form of the story This play is classic one written by William Shakespeare and unlike his other prologues it starts with a sonnet. As per (Elizabeth) “Three main sonnet forms have been in use since the Renaissance: the Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, the English or Shakespearean sonnet, and the Spenserian sonnet. Each is named for a poet who made the form famous.”This story initiates with a prologue and explains the outline of the story and is followed by 5 acts which is the rest part of the story .This play is different from most of other plays of Shakespeare as it had no dream scenes or flashbacks. The main centre of attraction of the story is the male character Romeo, and he carries the story till the climax. Structure of the story a)Exposition : The exposition of the story initiates with a prologue and the scene of fighting servants depicts the rivalry of the two families where Romeo and Juliet belong. This prologue defines the enemity that had been long practiced by the two families and indicate that the two lovers in such a case can never have a romantic union. This fight shows the intensity of revenge and hatred boiling in the hearts of the two families. b)First Incident: The initial incident that occurs in the story is the act by Romeo at the ball party, where he arrives uninvited. He here meets Juliet for the first time and innocently falls in love with her at the first sight. c)Rising Action - The action starts to progress greatly at the scene of balcony where each confess their love for each other. They instantly plan to get married and are talked out well in advance. The action continues and the marriage occurs and also they separate. Climax: The climax depicts the plan of the father .Here the Juliet falsely acts to be dead and Romeo take if for real and takes his life. “Romeo and Juliet’s love is a pure, true love. They love each other emotionally, spiritually and sexually. They are committed to each other in marriage, and are willing to die rather than be unfaithful to one another” (Linnea,29) Falling Act: The action starts to take a setback when the female character of the play Juliet suicide as she find her lover Romeo dead. It even continues when two of the families of Romeo and Juliet find their young children dead. End Message: Here Escules proclaims that the death of young lovers is caused by the feud between the two families and all of them feel guilty. The Effect of Play on the Area of Study The main theme of “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare is love and tragedy and this explores the two main elements of human life namely; human weakness and sufferings. This element more or less covers the whole field of action of the play and also takes the audience to a world of eternal romance. The ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is one of the tragic stories written by Shakespeare, apart from ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Hamlet’. “Thanks to William Shakespeare, the name “Romeo and Juliet” are practical synonyms for the passionate, mutual love”. (Shakespeare,15). Here the families of both the lovers portray the evilness present in human nature. They are feuds and that led to the tragic end of passionate and innocent young lovers. According to Shakespeare, the human soul which is predominantly pure has the traces of evilness in it. We always need to fight against the vices and establish the virtue and goodness of heart and soul. He also shows here that power can destroy human innate nature and bring about treachery and evilness in humans. The play “Romeo and Juliet” is a domestic form of tragedy, in which only the young passionate lover are fatally affected. In this play the writer has been consistently mentioning about the fate and how this was going to end the life of the lovers. Shakespeare initiated the play by mentioning a prologue “A pair of star crossed lovers takes their life” and by this he means that the young lovers were destined to die. He assures the death was their destiny, as it has been reflecting in the stars too. This play reassures the fate and destiny is inevitable truth of human life and is from divine “In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare explores the theme of fate by allowing the audience to be party to his characters’ destiny. In the opening lines of the play the audience is told what is going to happen to the lovers: “a pair of star-crossd lovers take their life”(Lee,15). In the story Romeo realized gradually that his actions were not in his control and that the destiny will lead his life. Unfortunately, if the men of 21st century are presented with an idea of destiny and fate, they would not be able to comprehend or assess it, as their life is very modern and fast. In current world, people blame other person for whatever bad happening to them. Whereas in olden times people were more religious and believed ardently in divine and spiritual ideas and concepts. The story of two lovers here try to make understand people that nothing can come in between true love and passion .Love is the strongest and purest component of human nature and this is what Shakespeare wants to let the audience know. As per (Kennard) “Shakespeares see the themes of love mainly through Romeo and Juliet, and we see the theme of conflict mainly through the two families (the Montagues and Capulet). Many different themes come together including violence and conflict between the two families, death and sacrifice for love.” Here, human beings have to understand that violence and hatred are evil natures of human beings. Only pure heartedness, love and faith can conquer the heart of people forever and achieving this should be the aim of every human being. With Romeo and Juliet the writer has attempted to show us how pure love and faithfulness can be immortal and eternal. Shakespeare was an artist who loved god and nature and all his works showed in depth emotional feeling of human beings. In this famous play the writer has attempted ardently to show the goodness and evilness of humanity in an artistic and natural way. References Elizabeth, Mary. "What is a Sonnet?." www.wisegeek.com. Conjecture Corporation, 01 April 2011. Web. 8 Apr 2011. . Kennard, Paul. "Romeo and Juliet Essay." www.ezinearticles.com. Ezine Articles, 18 July 2006. Web. 8 Apr 2011. . Lee,Jamieson,. "http://shakespeare.about.com/od/ro meoandjuliet/a/romeo _fate.htm ." www.shakespeare.about.com. The New York Times Company, 2011. Web. 8 Apr 2011. . McEvoy, Sean. Shakespeare: the basics. 2nd., Oxon: Routledge, 2006. 19. Print. Sharon Linnea. Romeo and Juliet .1st ed.,. New York: Baron Educational Inc., 1984. 29. Print. Shakespeare,William. Romeo and Juliet .1st ed.,. NewYork: Baron Educational Inc., 2002. 15. Print Read More