Famous people shakespeare

§ Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war
How to divide the conquest of thy sight. (sonnet 46,lines 1-2).
Whether eye is meant to be the sun, or a concept of vision greater than the speaker's ocular capability, Shakespeare shows the power of figurative language. While we may not speak in a poetic pentameter in everyday speech, metaphor is predominant in our conversation. We cannot speak long or well without metaphor.
The Simile may be regarded as an expanded Metaphor, or the Metaphor as a condensed Simile [25]. To illustrate this, when Romeo says of Juliet, -
“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night,
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear”;
Here we have two metaphors, and also one simile. Juliet cannot be said literally to teach the torches any thing; but her brightness may be said to make them, or rather the owner of them ashamed of their dimness; or she may be said to be so radiant, that the torches, or the owner of them may learn from her how torches ought to shine. Neither can it be said literally that her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night, for the night has no cheek; but it may be said to bear the same relation to the night as a diamond pendant does to the dark cheek that sets it off. Then the last metaphor is made one of the parts in a simile; what is therein expressed being likened to a rich jewel hanging in an Ethiop's ear.
Disguise is one of Shakespeare's favorite devices, found in many of his works. Through it he alters the identity of an individual, which creates an elevated irony, a developed theme, and an enhanced comic element to the story. In As You Like It, Shakespeare, by having characters in disguise, creates an outlet for new ironies and comic twists throughout the work. The shepherdess who is in love with the “shepherd” Ganymede who is really a girl (Rosalind) is one of the comic twists, as well as Orlando sharing feelings of love to Ganymede who is really Orlando's love Rosalind in disguise. Once again the hidden and mistaken identity constructs this plot and furthers its comedy. The entire purpose of mistaken identity can only be accomplished when a disguise is shown in the way to say and experience things in the one identity that can only be accomplished by the altar identity: this is what composes the comedy within the words. For example, in Measure For Measure, the Duke uses disguise and mistaken identity to reveal the truth about Angelo, while simultaneously providing comic moments when Lucio speaks of the Duke to the Duke unaware of his true identity.
2.3 The development of Shakespeare's style
Shakespeare revolutionized the Elizabethan drama. He was an amazing man with a powerful mind. It seemed that Shakespeare truly understood the meaning of life. He analyzed people and their behavior and applied that to his writing. Not only did his knowledge of the human mind make him great, but also Shakespeare's knowledge of the art of writing. He is often considered one of the most brilliant writers of all time. “It was dramatic poetry that his genius found its goal.” [14] But like any good writer, his style and skills improved over time. When we analyze Shakespeare's work, we can see how this applies to him.
Shakespeare's First Period
William Shakespeare began writing when he was fairly young. Records of his first pieces of work show that he was between the ages of 21-28. In Shakespeare's beginning years, he mainly wrote nondramatic poems. What this means is a poem that is written but not performed. Some of these pieces include Venus and Andonis and The Rape of Lucrece. A short time after these poems, he started writing dramatic “poems” that were eventually performed. Some of these “poems” include The Comedy of Errors and Love's Labor's Lost. When Shakespeare wrote his first works, there was not much depth in the elements such as characters. In The Merchant of Venice, one of his earlier plays, the characters seemed to be one dimensional or cartoonish. For example, the character named Gobbo seemed not to have any emotions. Instead, he would just speak what he had to say, not act it. Also, Shakespeare did not have much depth in plot. Most of his plots were imitative. Shakespeare based most of his plots on stories that were already written; they were not original. Another problem with his plots was that they had the same basic theme: love's wealth, love's truth, love's order. Further in Shakespeare's beginning years, the language he used was all the same. He used all verse and no prose. In the first part of Henry VI, we can see that he had 2379 lines of blank verse and no lines of prose. This is also true for the third part of Henry VI, King John, and Richard the Second [17].
The earlier pieces of Shakespeare's writing are not as well known as his later works. The reason these plays are not well known is because of his lack in developing the plot and characters. Later on in his career, we can see how he improved his style.
Shakespeare's Second Period
William Shakespeare's second period lasted between 1595-1600. During his second period, his work started to improve. It got better in several ways. One way was his development in plot. Shakespeare' plots started to become more original. He also started bringing history into his writing. “Particularity in his histories and comedies of this period, Shakespeare demonstrated his genius for weaving various dramatic actions into a unified plot”. Though he had not quite reached this point in his career yet, he was on his way to do it. After every one of Shakespeare's plays, he kept on improving his style[17].
Shakespeare's Later Period
Shakespeare's later period is considered by many people to be his greatest period. This is when he wrote some of his best known works. Some of these include: Othello, King Lear, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, etc. Perhaps the reason these works are considered some of his best is because of the change in his style. As opposed to Shakespeare's earlier works, the three elements in his plays changed. Some of his characters became better developed. In Julius Caesar, we can see how these characters became more “lifelike”. For example, when we look at Cinna the Poet, we can tell that he has actual emotions and feelings. He tells about his thoughts and dreams, and makes us feel like we are actually listening to him.
Another change in his style is the plot. Shakespeare made the plot more complex. For example, instead of “recycling” plots, he came up with new, original plots. Hamlet has a more original and more complex plot compared to some of his earlier works. Shakespeare's style improved in another way; he developed the language more. When he started writing, he used all verse and no prose. This changed in his later period. In Shakespeare's later period, verse and prose were almost balanced out. In Hamlet, there are 1208 lines of prose and 2490 lines of blank verse in his 3931 line play. When we put these elements together - characters, plot, and language - we can see why his later plays improved.
Shakespeare's Final Period
In Shakespeare's final years, he wrote some pieces that are not well known. Some of these include: Cymbeline, Winter's Tale, The Tempest, etc. During this period, Shakespeare used good plots. “In Cymbeline, Shakespeare weaves together three distinct threads of story, two of which he derives from well known literary repertories.” What this means is that he had a very complex plot that brought the story together. One of the reasons Shakespeare's later works went “down hill” was because of his language. He did not use an equal part of verse and prose. In Cymbeline, he used 2585 lines of blank verse and 638 lines of prose. Also, in Henry VIII, he used 2613 lines of blank verse and 60-70 lines of prose. Most of the famous plays that Shakespeare wrote had an equal part of verse and prose. William Shakespeare dedicated most of his life to creating some of the greatest works ever written. When we look back at his life, we can see all the changes and struggles he went through. “. . . Shakespeare is considered as one element in the great intellectual and spiritual movement of the Elizabethan period.” He can truly be considered one of the greatest writers of all time.