WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

«THE WORLD AS A STAGE»

NICOLA GALLUCCI
BIOGRAPHY

1. He was born on 23rd April 1564 in Stranford-upon-Avon.

2. In his youth he attended Stratfonrd’s grammar school from 7 to 13, where
he learnt rhetoric, Latin and Greek.
3. When he was 18, he married Anne Hathway and they had 3 children.
4. At this time, he decided to go to London to work in the theatre.
5. By 1592, he was already active in London as a playwright. He became
quickly a famous poet for his mythological works: “Venus and Adonis” and
“The Rape of Lucrece”.
6. During the same period, he began to write many sonnets. His poems, with
sonnets, shows his knowledge of classical themes.
BIOGRAPHY
HIS SUCCESS AND DEATH

 He became from an actor to a playwright and then the first memeber, and
shareholder, in the Lord Chamberlain’s men, one of the most famous theatrical
companies of London (under the domain of John I, they took the name of
«King’s men»).
 He was considered the most famous and talented playwright of his century. He
excelled in all the dramatic genres: comedies, tragedies and historical plays.
 He became a partner of the management of the new “the Globe”. The Globe
was used in summer, in winter they acted in the indoor Blackfriars Theatre.
 With the great profits earned by his plays, in 1610 Shakespeare bought several
properties in Stranford, where he retired.
 He died in 1616
THE GLOBE
The Globe was built in 1599 using timber from
an old theatre, “The Theatre”. It was a 20-
sides polygon, with galleries and three levels.
The roof was thatched due to it being
cheaper than a tiled roof. The Globe had the
same structure of all the theatres in London:
he was “round” and had three stages (upper,
inner and outer). Upper was for the musicians
or elevated sees (the balcony). Outer was for
main sees and inner was for smaller sees.
When the inner was closed, it was used as a
dressing room. It had the arena, where the
“groundlings” sat down for 1 penny. Then
there were the galleries for 2 pennies and
many aristocrats sat on the stage for 12
pennies. All the theatre had a flown flag
whenever there was a performance. The
globe was funded by Lord Chamberlain’s
men and Shakespeare, who was a co-owner.
In 1613, The Globe burned down but it was
rebuilt one year later. In 1644, all theatres
were closed by Puritans.
SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS

 Shakespeare wrote in all 154 sonnets between 1593 and 1598, published in
1609. All the sonnets have no title.
 Shakespearian sonnets haven’t the same structure of the Petrarchian sonnets:
they have 3 quatrains and a final couplet with a rhyming scheme
abab,cdcd,efef,gg.
 The collection have two main recipients: the “dark lady” (a flesh-and-blood
woman), the fair youth (at the beginning he’s a model of physical and moral
perfection, in the end he’s too unfaithful). He’s probably Earl of Southampton,
his best friend and patron. And opposite to Shakespeare there’s the rival poet,
a disturbing factor in Shakespeare’s affection for the fair youth.
SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS

 The two main themes of the collection are the love and the time.
 The love, for Shakespeare, has two aspects: spiritual and physical aspect.
He describes his “dark lady” with two methods: the blazon (a list of virtues)
and the anti-blazon (a list of reality feature of the woman more negative).
The dark lady is probably Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, who is like an
angel-woman that is the link with God. In the “marriage sonnets” they urge
a handsome man to marry and beget an heir, because procreation will
ensure that the physical feature of the man won’t be lost.
 The time is the arch-enemy of the poet because it destroys everything also
the beauty of the fair youth. There are two ways of opposing time:
procreation is the only defender against the death and the poetry which
can immortalize the perfection of the fair youth.
Shall I Compare
Thee to a
Summer’s Day?
This sonnet is addressed to Earl
of Surrey. The first two
quatrains describe the
beauty, the strength and the
love- linked to the fair youth-
which are subject of the
time’s violence. The turning
point is in the third quatrain
with “But”: the perfection of
the fair youth will be eternal
with the poetry. The poetry
can immortalize in some
words the singularity of his
perfection. The final couplet is
the synthesis of the poem: the
poem, if it is read, will renew
the young man’s life.
My Mistress’ Eyes
Are Nothing Like
the Sun
The sonnet is addressed to the
dark lady, but with a negative
aspect. It’s divided in two
parts: the three quatrains
contain an anti-blazon, the
description on the real
negative feature of the lady.
In the final couplet,
Shakespeare praises her rarity
and singularity. So, this is
sonnet is the opposite of
Petrarchian sonnet where the
woman was praised for her
spiritual and physical beauty
and perfection.
SHAKESPEARE’S THEMES
THE MAIN FEMALE ROLE
 In Shakespeare’s plays, the role of female
characters is fundamental. Shakespeare’s
heroines have an active role.
 His heroines aren’t stereotyped female
character. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth
isn’t a complement of her husband, but
she’s the driving force of the play. Lady
Macbeth, furthermore, shows her
immense desire for power.
 The conflict between father and
daughter was a favourite one for
Shakespeare. Daughters aren’t weak and
submissive, despite the social conditions
which obliged them to belong to their
husbands.
SHAKESPEARE’S THEMES
 In the search of power and love, heroes
and heroines make use of rhetoric. All the
plays contain a long rhetorical speech
(soliloques or monologues) and they are
never merely decorative, but are central
to the meaning of the play.
 The rhetoric explores the make-up, the
weak points and obsessions of a
character. Shakespeare uses rhetorical
devices such as repletion,
understatement and metaphor.
 The main theme of the plays is the
metaphor: “the world is a stage and all
the people are actors”. This metaphor
was common in the Renaissance, but for
Shakespeare it becomes fundamental.
FIRST FOLIO
The collected edition of his plays
was published in 1623 and it’s
called “The first folio”. It was
published by Heminges and
Condell, two actors from the “the
King’s men”. The first folio
contains 36 plays and it’s divided
into 3 parts: tragedies, comedies
and historical plays.
The main phases of his carreer
are:
• Years of apprenticeship
• History plays and love
comedies
• Great tragedies and dark
comedies
• romances
THE YEARS OF APPRENTICESHIP
History/chronicle
play
They have as subject events of
English history. The first attempts
were the second and the third
part of Henry VI.
Tragedy of horror
The plays are filled with murders
and physical violence (hands
truncated, tongues bitten off…).
An example is Titus Andronicus.
Refined love
comedy
They are characterized by a
brilliant use of the love
conventions of the day. For
example The two gentlemen of
Verona o Love’s Labour’s Lost
 THE SECOND PHASE
The history plays
 They are huge frescoes of struggle of
power, love and property with a
historical background. The history
plays don’t represent the story of a
character, but the story of a nation.
For example, Richard III, Henry V…
The love comedies
 The characters are more complex and
they aren’t stereotyped. The love
conventions are exploited with the
exploring of the psychology of love,
including the disappointments. For
example: As you like it, the Merchant
of Venice…
THE THIRD PHASE
The great tragedies
 These tragedies are the collection of
the study of characters more complex
which have to face with difficult
choices (love and affection or pride
and reasons). For example, Othello,
Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Antony and
Cleopatra.
The dark comedies
 Love passes from the sweet emotion
to the disillusioned and disappointed
felling. These plays are a mix between
comedies and tragedies. The only
comedy feature is the happy endings.
 For example, Troilus and Cressida.
THE ROMANCES

 They’re characterized by a return of the romantic drama, so the romantic

romances are the reconcile of Shakespeare with the nature. The love and
understanding of the younger generations are responsible of this change.
For example, Pericles, the tempest…
 SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE

 He uses the iambic pentameter (unrhymed lines with an alternation of stressed and
unstressed syllables
 Many rhetorical figure: imagery (from nature, from Elizabethan lifestyle, use of
metaphor, similes and personification), antithesis, hyperbole and irony.
The audience knows
 Use of verse and prose
something that a character
on stage does not

• by aristocratic • by lower-class Saying one one line or scene

characters thing but contrasts sharply with
characters meaning another
• in serious or • in comic scenes another
dramatic scenes • in informal
conversations
GRAZIE PER L’ATTENZIONE
GALLUCCI NICOLA