1. Shakespeare the Writer

2. Shakespeare Wrote 37 plays about 154 sonnets
a few long poems for which he earned his initial fame

3. Stage Celebrity
Actor for Lord Chamberlain’s Men and later The King’s Men.
Also, he was the principal playwright for them.
1599—He co-owned The Globe Theater where his plays were performed

4. Shakespeare wrote:
Comedies
Histories
Tragedies

5. Comedies 4 categories: early, middle, romances, and tragic comedies
All the comedies are driven by love
Each deals differently with problems of illusion, mistaken identity, rivalries for love, and the war between the sexes.
In the comedies, love conquers all.

6. Comedies Taming of the Shrew Much Ado about Nothing
Midsummer Night’s Dream
Merchant of Venice
Twelfth Night
The Tempest

7. Histories The background came from the chronicles of British history
Central theme: politics and the struggle for power
Common Traits:
Kings are unhappy or tragic
Kings are faced with treachery
Rivalries exist between families
Characters are motivated by ambition and arrogant pride
Because the histories dealt realistically with events from the past, these plays were a novelty (new) in Shakespeare’s time
Shakespeare himself is often credited with inventing this type of literature.

8. Histories King John Richard II Richard III Henry IV Parts One and Two
Henry V
Henry VI
Henry VIII

9. Tragedies
Four of Shakespeare’s tragedies are considered his greatest achievements:
Hamlet
Othello
Macbeth
King Lear

10. Tragedies Focus on a powerful central character with a tragic flaw
Each finds his humanity and accepts his destiny

11. Segments of this presentation are from
The End
Segments of this presentation are from
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