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 The love comedies

 They are huge frescoes of struggle of power,
 The characters are more complex and they
love and property with a historical aren’t stereotyped. The love conventions are
background. The history plays don’t represent exploited with the exploring of the psychology
the story of a character, but the story of a of love, including the disappointments. For
nation. For example, Richard III, Henry V… 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.
 Use of verse and prose
The audience knows
something that a character
on stage does not
VERBAL DRAMATIC
VERSE PROSE
IRONY IRONY

• 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