The William Shakespeare’s humanism and an English national character Contents Introduction Chapter I william shakespeare

Actuality of the course work. The William Shakespeare’s humanism and an English national character
Aim of the work: William Shakespeare scarcely needs an introduction. Born in 1564, he was an English playwright, poet, actor, favorite dramatist of queens and kings, inventor of words, master of drama, and arguably the most famous writer of all time. In his 36 plays and 154 sonnets, he left behind the evidence of a brilliant mind, a wicked sense of humor, a deep sensitivity to human emotions, and a rich classical education. We know all about his work. But what do we know about the man
Task of the work: Shakespeare changed the English language, inventing dozens of new words we still use today. His plays have been translated into more than 80 other tongues and performed in dozens of countries, where diverse audiences all still recognize the timeless elements of the human experience as depicted by a young Englishman 400 years ago. And if you are somehow one of the last two people in the literate world who know Shakespeare but still fail to see the Bard's relevance? Well, then, a pox on both your houses.
Theorotical and methological basic of the work Shakespeare has been translated into at least 80 languages, including Chinese, Bengali, Tagalog, and Uzbek.
When the First Folio was published in 1623, you could buy a copy for £1, worth as much at the time as several hundred dollars today. In 2006, a surviving original copy of the First Folio (one of only about 230 in the world) sold for nearly $5 million.
Chapter I WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
1.1 Life and work of William Shakespeare
The great playwright of Renaissance England, a national poet who gained worldwide recognition, William Shakespeare was born in the town of Stratford, which is located north of London. History has preserved only information about his baptism on April 26, 1564.
The boy's parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. They were among the wealthy citizens of the city. The boy's father, in addition to farming, was engaged in the manufacture of gloves, as well as small usury. He was elected several times to the city council, he was a constable and even a mayor. William's mother was a native Saxon, she belonged to an ancient respected family name. Mary gave birth to 8 children, the third of whom was William.
In Stratford, little William Shakespeare received a good education at that time. As a child, he entered grammar school, where he studied Latin and ancient Greek. For a deeper and more complete mastery of the ancient languages, the participation of students in school performances of plays in Latin was supposed.¹
At 18, young William began an affair with his neighbor's 26-year-old daughter, Anne Hathaway, with whom they soon married. The reason for the hasty marriage was the girl's pregnancy. In those days, premarital relations in England were considered the norm, marriage often took place after the conception of the first child. The only condition for such ties was the obligatory wedding before the birth of the child. When the young couple had a daughter, Susan, in 1583, William was happy. All his life he was especially attached to her, even after the birth two years later of the twins of the son of Hemnet and the second daughter of Judith. There were no more children in the poet's family, most likely due to the second difficult birth of his wife Ann. In 1596, the Shakespeare couple will experience a personal tragedy: during an epidemic of dysentery, their only heir will die. After William moved to London, his family remained in their hometown. Infrequently, but regularly, William visited his family.
In 1592, a statement by the English poet Robert Green about the work of young William appeared in the press. This is the first mention of Shakespeare as an author. The aristocrat in his pamphlet tried to ridicule the young playwright, as he saw in him a strong competitor, but who did not differ in noble birth and good education. At the same time, mention is made of the first performances of Shakespeare's Henry VI at the Rose Theater in London. This work was written in the spirit of the popular English chronicle genre. This type of representation was common during the Renaissance in England, it was epic in nature, the scenes and paintings were often unrelated.²
The chronicles were intended to glorify the statehood of England as opposed to feudal fragmentation and internecine wars.
The great playwright has created an immortal treasury that feeds world culture for more than five centuries in a row. The plots of his plays have become an inspiration not only for artists of drama theaters, but also for many composers, as well as for filmmakers. Throughout his creative life, Shakespeare has repeatedly changed the nature of his writing.
His first plays in their structure often copied genres and plots popular at that time, such as chronicles, Renaissance comedies «The Taming of the Shrew», «tragedies of horror» «Titus Andronicus». These were cumbersome works with a large number of heroes and an unnatural syllable for perception. The young Shakespeare learned the basics of drama writing on the classical forms of that time.
The second half of the 90s of the 16th century was marked by the appearance of dramatically refined in form and content of works for the theater. The poet is looking for a new form, without departing from the given framework of the Renaissance comedy and tragedy. He fills the old obsolete forms with new content. This is how the brilliant tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Merchant of Venice are born. The freshness of verse in Shakespeare's new works is combined with an unusual and memorable plot, which makes these plays popular with the public of all segments of the population.
At the same time, Shakespeare created a cycle of sonnets, the then famous genre of love poetic lyrics. For almost two centuries, these poetic masterpieces of the master were forgotten, but with the emergence of romanticism, they regained fame. In the 19th century, there was a fashion for quoting immortal lines written at the end of the Renaissance by an English genius. Thematically, the poems are love letters to an unknown young man, and only the last 26 sonnets out of 154 are an appeal to a black-haired lady. Many researchers see autobiographical features in this cycle, suggesting the playwright's unconventional orientation. But some historians are inclined to think that these sonnets use William Shakespeare's appeal to his patron and friend, the Earl of Southampton, in the form then accepted by secular society.
At the turn of the century, works that made his name immortal in the history of world literature and theater appear in the work of William Shakespeare. A practically accomplished, creatively and financially successful playwright creates a number of tragedies that brought him fame not only in England. These are the plays «Hamlet», «Macbeth», «King of Lear», «Othello». These works have raised the popularity of the Globe Theater to the heights of one of the most visited entertainment venues in London. At the same time, the fortune of its owners, including Shakespeare, has increased several times over a short period.
The great English poet had a phenomenal memory, his knowledge could be compared with encyclopedic ones. In addition to knowing two ancient languages, he also knew the modern dialects of France, Italy and Spain, although he himself never left the borders of the English state. Shakespeare knew both subtle historical issues and the current political environment. His knowledge affected music and painting, he thoroughly studied a whole layer of botany.
At the end of his work, Shakespeare composed a number of immortal works that surprised his contemporaries with their new form. They combine tragedy with comedy, and fairy tales are woven into the canvas describing situations from everyday life. First of all, these are fantasy plays «The Tempest», «The Winter's Tale», as well as dramas on ancient subjects - «Coriolanus», «Antony and Cleopatra». In these works, Shakespeare acted as a great connoisseur of the laws of drama, who easily and gracefully brings together the features of tragedy and fairy tales, a complex high syllable and understandable speech patterns.³
Separately, many of Shakespeare's dramatic works were published during his lifetime. But the complete collected works, which included almost all the canonical plays of the playwright, appeared only in 1623. The collection was published on the initiative of Shakespeare's friends William John Heming and Henry Condel, who worked in the Globe troupe. The book, consisting of 36 plays by an English author, was published under the title «The First Folio».
Since the last years of his life, William Shakespeare suffered from a serious illness, as evidenced by his changed handwriting, some of the last plays he created in collaboration with another playwright of the troupe, whose name was John Fletcher. After 1613, Shakespeare left London for good, but did not give up doing some business. He still manages to participate in the trial of his friend as a witness for the defense, and also acquires another mansion in the former Blackfriar parish. For some time, William Shakespeare lives on the estate of his son-in-law John Hall. Three years before his death, William Shakespeare writes his will, in which he leaves almost all the property to his eldest daughter. The English writer died at the end of April 1616 in his own house. His wife Anne outlived her husband by 7 years. By this time, the granddaughter of the genius Elizabeth had already been born in the family of Susan's eldest daughter, but she died childless. The family of Shakespeare's youngest daughter Judith, who married just two months after her father's death to Thomas Queenie, had three boys, but they all died in their youth. Therefore, Shakespeare had no direct descendants.
Shakespeare's works are full of beautiful metaphors. He wrote about loyalty and betrayal, the fate of those in power and poor people, political intrigues and treachery of loved ones. But the main place in his works is occupied by love in its various manifestations - first love, disinterested parental, passionate and eternal feeling.
The early works of the poet and playwright are comedies and chronicles. You can laugh heartily at Shakespeare's plays «A Midsummer Night's Dream», «Much Ado About Nothing,» «All's Well That Ends Well.»
The comedy «Twelfth Night» is especially interesting. The action takes place in the fictional country of Illyria. Friendly brother and sister - Sebastian and Viola - are shipwrecked here and lost. They are looking for each other and constantly find themselves in funny situations. Viola disguises herself as a man to enter the Duke's palace. The Duke's beloved falls in love with Viola in male form.
In a more mature age, Shakespeare took up tragic subjects. One of the most famous works of William Shakespeare is the tragedy «Romeo and Juliet». This is a story about the love of a girl and a boy from warring Italian families - Montagues and Capulet. For the parents, the feelings of the lovers meant nothing. In their stubborn struggle, they lost their children, but found peace.
The composition usually dates from 1594-1595. The earlier dating of the play arose in connection with the assumption that work on it could have begun as early as 1591, then postponed and finished about two years later. Thus, 1593 turns out to be the earliest of the dates under consideration, and 1596 is the latest, since the next year the text of the play was printed. The credibility of this story has not been established, but the signs of the historical background and life motives present in the Italian basis of the plot give a certain credibility to the story of Veronese lovers.
Two wealthy families lived in the old city of Verona: the Montagues and the Capulet. For many decades they were at enmity with each other, many young men were killed in these violent clashes. The ruler of Verona, Prince Escalus, in order to stop these massacres, issued a decree on the death penalty for anyone who breaks the truce of families. But the skirmishes continued.⁴
Montague's only son Romeo was in love with Rosalind and therefore sought solace in solitude. His friend Mercutio and cousin Benvolio decided to cheer him up and persuaded him to get to the ball that Capulet held every year for his relatives and friends. Since it was a masquerade ball, it was difficult to recognize the faces of the three friends under the masks. At the holiday, Romeo and Juliet met for the first time and learned that they were children of warring families. But mutual feelings could not stop them. Tybalt, Capulet's nephew, recognized Romeo under the guise and decided to deal with him. But his uncle forbade him to spoil the holiday. After the ball, late at night Romeo sneaked into the Capulet's garden and found Juliet's balcony. He managed to see the girl and talk to her. The lovers decided to get married the next day. In the morning Romeo went to Lorenzo, his confessor, and persuaded him to marry them. The priest agreed. He believed that this marriage would put an end to years of hostility.
After the wedding, Juliet returned home, and Romeo went to look for his friends. He found them in the main square of Verona. But there was also Tybalt, who had been looking for a reason for a quarrel with Romeo for a long time. Mercutio rushed to protect his friend, and was killed by an accidental blow from Tybalt. Although he was Juliet's cousin, he could not forgive him for the death of his friend Romeo. For the death of Tybalt, the prince of Verona sentenced Romeo to exile. After a night spent with Juliet, the young man went to the place of exile.
Capulet found a groom for his daughter - Count Paris. To free herself from the upcoming marriage, Juliet turned to Lorenzo for help. The priest prepared herbal infusion for her. This drink will put her into a lethargic sleep that will last two days. Warned by the letter, Romeo had to secretly sneak into the family crypt of the Capulet and take the girl with him.