William Shakespeare(1564-1616)

Outline of the lecture1. William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

1)Life Story2)Literary periods3)Major works

2. Close readings: sonnet 18 and Hamlet (soliloquy, excerpt) 1)sonnet 18 2)Soliloquy3.

Summary of selected readings and the expression of Humanistic ideas

4. Question discussion: why English Renaissance was much later than the Italian Renaissance?

5. Assignment for next lecture

Born in Stratford The 3rd of 8 kids Married at age 18(his wife was 26) Worked as an actor at first. wrote 37 plays about 154 sonnets

Facts about Shakespeare?

Life Story of William Shakespeare

7, excellent localgrammar school

Father: a merchant Mother: a daughter of a well-to-do farmer

for 6 years, Latin and a little Greek

14, into debt, left, work

18, married Anne Hathaway, 8 years senior, 3 children

Life Story of W. Shakespeare

22(about 1586),for London;

odd jobs in a theater;actor,

write for the stage;revised old plays, so gained a practical knowledge of the technique of dramatic art;

the closing years of 16th century, popularity of a successful writer;

retired in 1611, died in 1616.

The Plays

Comedy Tragedy Historical

Major comedies

The Taming of the Shrew Much Ado About Nothing As You Like I Twelfth Night Midsummer Night’s Dream Merchant of Venice

Major tragedies

Hamlet Romeo and Juliet Othello King Lear Macbeth

Shakespeare’s Literary Career

1. The first period of early apprenticeship:

Love’s Labor’s Lost

《爱的徒劳》

Shakespeare’s Literary Career

2. the second period of rapid growth and maturity:

(1)  A Midsummer Night’s Dream

《仲夏夜之梦》(2)  The Merchant of Venice

《威尼斯商人》

Shakespeare’s Literary Career (3)  As You Like It《皆大欢喜》 (4)  Henry IV《亨利四世》 (5)  Julius Caesar《凯撒大帝》

Shakespeare’s Literary Career (6)  Richard II《里查德二世》 (7)  Romeo and Juliet《罗密欧与朱丽叶》

Shakespeare’s Literary Career 3. the third period of Gloom and Sadness: (1)  King Lear《李尔王》 (2)  Macbeth《麦克白》《麦克佩斯》(3)  Othello《奥塞罗》(4)  Hamlet《哈姆雷特》

Shakespeare’s Literary Career4. the fourth period of calm after storm:(1)  The Winter’s Tales《冬天的故事》(2)  The Tempest《暴风雨》

Posters for some Shakespeare’s plays

ShylockShylock

BassanioBassanio

PoPorrtiatia

AntonioAntonio

Hamlet

Sonnet 18 Why does the persona “I” compare his

lover to a summer’s day?

Mild, gentle and lovely as a lovely summer’s day in England

Why is the lover more lovely and more temperate than a summer’s day?

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

What is the persona’s opinion of beauty, immortal or temporary? How can youth and beauty ever last?

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or natures’ changing course untrimmed:

But “When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st”.

What’s the theme of the sonnet? Power of art, power of man Beauty and youth can be everlasting with the

help of literature, which is eventually created by human being.

The sonnet begins with a comparison between the lover and summer day to celebrate lover’s beauty, which will unavoidably decline some day. But in the last couplet, the poet glorifies the power of artistic creation---literature to give life to man and finally, essentially a glorification of the power of man.

Why the poem is called sonnet in terms of poetic form?

The sonnet, an exact form of poetry in 14 lines of iambic pentameter intricately rhymed

origin: Italy in the 14th century; aim: for love lyric; Italian sonnet: two parts 1) first eight lines (octove) ---to raise a question, develop

a narrative, or delineate an idea; 2) the second six lines (sestet)---to answer the question,

comment on the story rhyme scheme: abba abba cde cde. Italian sonnet was first introduced to England by English

Thomas Wyatt.

What is Shakespearian sonnet? Four-part sonnet: beginning; development; transition; con

clusion (couplet) Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef dd, in according with the

four divided part in structure

Shakespearian sonnet consists of 14 iambic pentameter lines, divided into 3 quatrains followed by a couplet. The rhyme is abab cdcd efef gg. In a Shakespearian sonnet, each quatrain deals with a different aspect of the subject and the couplet either summarizes the theme or makes a final, sometimes contradictory comment.

How many sonnets did Shakespeare write in his lifetime?

154 sonnets varied in theme: love, friendship and ideal.

Hamlet (Excerpt) Term of Soliloquy a dramatic speech uttered by

one character speaking aloud while alone on the stage.

The soliloquist reveals his or her inner thoughts and feelings to the audience.

What is the main plot of Hamlet? What dose Hamlet decide to choose, to live or

not to live?

To live What is Hamlet’s attitude towards death?

To die is to sleep, no more.

more example:

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more, Death, thou shall die.

----from John Donne’s Sonnet 10

How do you evaluate Hamlet’s characterization? neither a weak-minded youth nor a thought-sick

dreamer, a humanist unbounded love for the world; cherishes a profound reverence for man firm belief in man’s power over destiny. “what a piece of work is a man! How noble in

reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how life an angel in apprehension how like a god!”

What is Humanism? How do the sonnet 18 and Hamlet show the author’s humanistic ideas?

Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. Human values are greatly emphasized in this period. Humanism see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfection, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy. Humanists also believe that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this world, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.

Shakespeare showed his great creative abilities in writing this play. Hamlet is made a hero of the Renaissance period and the representative of humanism. Through him Shakespeare expressed his own humanist ideas. This play is usually regarded as the summit of Shakespeare’s art.

It was borrowed from an old Danish legend, a tragedy of blood and thunder, but under Shakespeare’s pen, it assumed new meaning and became permeated with the spirit of Humanism

Summary of the selected readings

Sonnet 18 defies the power of death and glorifies the power of art and power of man.

Hamlet defies the power of death and elevates the glory of action

Question Why English Renaissance was later than It

alian Renaissance?

Italian Renaissance

1) marked a transition from the medieval to the modern world;

2) first sprung in the 14th century;3) means rebirth or revival; a movement stimulated by

a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture, the new discovery in geography and astrology, the religious reformation and the economic expansion.

4) in essence, is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie.

English Renaissance

1) foundation of Tudor Dynasty:

in 1485, the first untied English Empire founded by Henry VII

marked English national consciousness awakened gradually

Tudor KingsHenry VII, founder of Tudor Dynasty

2) the Enclosure Movement

a) seizure of common land and change to private property to enclosed fields owned by individual farmers.

b) used for sheep.

c) began in the 14th century and became widespread in the 15th and 16th centuries. d) caused poverty, homelessness, and rural depopulation; development of English Bourgeois and working class in cities

3) the Religious Reformation: a) Church of England broke away from

authority of Pope and Roman Catholic Church

b) Anglican Church and Protestantism c) brought serious events and results:

decline of feudalism, rise of nationalism, invention of printing press, circulation of Bible texts, transmission of new knowledge and ideas

Religious and political movement

4) Commercial expansion and martial victory:

a) Spanish fleet consisting of 30 ships sent against England in 1588;

b) self-confidence and patriotism strengthen among English

Duke Francis defeated Spanish Armada

Web cites for pictures and additional information on William Shakespeare

http://daphe.palomar.edu/ shakespeare/timeline/genealogy. htm

http://www.shakespeare.com/link. Htm www.stratford.co.uk/birthplace/ www.rdg.ac.uk/globe/Data-Base/Images/New

Globe.htm www.legends.dm.net/shakespeare/macbeth.ht

m/ www.britishliterature.com

Further studies after class Other representatives of English Renaissance in the

16th centuryIn poetry Sir Philip Sidney Edmund Spenser : poet’s poet; masterpiece: Faerie Queene( 仙后 ), written in a spe

cial verse form that consists of eight iambic pentameter lines followed by a ninth line of six iambic feet, with the rhyme scheme ababbcbcc.

The form has since been called the Spenserian stanza.

In drama The highest glory of the English Renaissa

nce was unquestionably its drama. The most famous dramatists in the period are Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and Ben Jonson.

Marlowe’s masterpiece is the Tragical History of Doctor Faustus ( 浮士德博士的悲剧 ).

Questions for next lecture

Appreciate Donne’s two poem: Go and Catch the Falling Star and The Flea

How do you evaluate the image of flea in a poem?

Summarize Donne’s features of his poetry in artistic features and theme

What are the main causes for the formation of Metaphysical poetry?

Read Milton’s Paradise Lost (excerpt) Summarize the characterization of Satan

in Paradise Lost What’s significance of the image of Satan?