1590 to 1600 is the early period of Shakespeare's creation, also known as the historical drama and comedy period. During this period, Shakespeare's humanistic thought and artistic style gradually formed. At that time, Britain was in the heyday of Queen Elizabeth's rule, with stable and unified kingship and prosperous economy. Shakespeare is full of confidence in realizing humanistic ideals in the real society, and his works are full of optimism and clarity. During this period, he wrote nine historical plays, including Richard III (1592), Henry IV (parts I and II) (1597- 1598) and Henry V (10). The basic theme of the script is to support the central kingship, condemn the feudal tyrant and praise the enlightened monarch. For example, "Henry IV" shows the picture of the turbulent domestic situation. The nobles United against the king, but the rebellion was finally quelled; The prince lived a dissolute life earlier, but later he made a mistake and made great contributions to quelling civil strife. In the play, historical facts and artistic fiction are highly unified. Falstaff is one of the most vivid characters. He is selfish, lazy and timid, but he is alert, intelligent and optimistic, which makes people laugh.
The comedies created in this period include poetic A Midsummer Night's Dream (1596), The Merchant of Venice (1597), The Merry Wives of Windsor (1598), and Much ado about nothing (/) The basic themes of these plays are love, marriage and friendship, which are full of lyrical colors and show Shakespeare's ideal of humanistic life. At the same time, he also wrote three tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet (1595). Although the work has a sad side, the basic spirit is the same as comedy. Shakespeare also wrote the long poems Venus and adonis (1592- 1593), The Shame of Lucretius (1593- 1594) and 154 sonnets.
/kloc-At the beginning of the 7th century, the regime of Queen Elizabeth and James I changed, the social contradictions in Britain intensified, and social evils became increasingly exposed. During this period, Shakespeare's thought and art became mature, and the humanistic ideal collided fiercely with social reality. He felt that his ideal was difficult to realize, and his creation turned from praising humanistic ideals in the early days to exposing and criticizing social darkness. The second period of Shakespeare's creation (1601-1607) is also called the tragic period. He has written Hamlet (160 1), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606), Macbeth (1606) and Ty of Athens. In Othello, Desdemona, who was born in a noble family, married Othello the Moor privately despite the opposition of her father and society, showing the theme of opposing racial prejudice. The reason for their tragedy is not only Othello's jealousy, but also the powerful evil forces represented by Iago. Othello's sobriety before his death contains the victory of human reason. King Lear shows a broken society. King Lear paid the price of his life because of his stubbornness, and also brought great disaster to the country and people. The protagonist has changed from a feudal monarch with absolute authority to a homeless old man with nothing, and the fate and character of the characters have undergone tremendous changes, which is the most distinctive in Shakespeare's works. In Macbeth, a hero became a personal careerist and tyrant because of his inner ambition and external instigation. Its tragic significance lies in that personal ambition and egoism can destroy a person who is not evil. Generally speaking, these tragedies profoundly exposed the decay of feudal nobles, appalling egoism, the evil of money relations and the suffering of working people; Stylistically, it reduces the atmosphere of romance and joy, increases the mood of melancholy and indignation, and makes the image fuller and the language more proficient.
After 1608, Shakespeare entered the last period of his creation. At this time, Shakespeare saw that the ideal of humanism could not be realized in the real society, so he turned from writing tragedies to writing legendary dramas, from exposing and criticizing the darkness of the real society to writing dream worlds. Therefore, this period is also called Shakespeare's legendary drama period. During this period, his works often solved the contradiction between ideal and reality through myth and fantasy and supernatural power; The works are permeated with the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. There is no joy in the early stage and no gloom in the middle stage. But full of beautiful life fantasies and rich romantic feelings. The Tempest (16 1 1) best represents the style of this period and is called "a will written in poetry". In addition, he also wrote three legendary dramas, such as cymbeline and The Story of Winter, and the historical drama Henry VIII.
Shakespeare's works, starting from the truth of life, profoundly reflect the characteristics of the times and social essence. In his view, drama "seems to give nature a mirror: show its face to virtue, show its posture to absurdity, and show its image and imprint to the times and society". Marx and Engels praised Shakespeare as a classic writer of realism, and proposed that drama creation should be more "Shakespearean". This is a creative principle put forward in view of the disadvantages of "turning the individual into a simple mouthpiece of the spirit of the times" in drama creation. The so-called "Shakespearization" means that the writer, like Shakespeare, is good at starting from the truth of life, showing a broad social background and providing a typical environment with the characteristics of the times for the characters and events in his works; The plot of the work should be vivid and rich, and the characters should have distinctive personality and typical significance; The realistic depiction and romantic atmosphere in the works should be skillfully combined; Language should be rich and expressive; The writer's tendency should be hidden and naturally revealed in the plot and character description.
all one's life
Most historians believe that the actor and playwright Shakespeare seen in Historical Records are the same person. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon in April 1564. His father's name is Jone Shakespeare, and he is a glove merchant. According to records, Shakespeare was baptized on April 26th of that year, and it is generally believed that his birthday is April 23rd (he died on the same day 52 years later). Shakespeare's father was very rich when he was born, but later he was accused of participating in the black market wool trade, and his family came down and lost his position as a city councilman. There is evidence that Shakespeare's parents tend to sympathize with Catholics.
1582165438+1On October 28th, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, probably because Hathaway was pregnant with Shakespeare's child. Since then, we have no idea about Shakespeare's whereabouts, except that he appeared in the London Troupe in the 1590 s.
1583 On May 26th, Shakespeare's first daughter Susanna was baptized in her hometown of Trafford. His next son and daughter were also baptized on1February 2, 585.
1596, Hamlet, Shakespeare's only son, died and was buried on 1596+0 in August. Many people think that Shakespeare's famous play Hamlet is to commemorate his son, because the writing of Hamlet is similar to Hamlet.
1597, Shakespeare sold his "one house, two barns, two gardens, two orchards and everything else" in Trafford for 60 pounds and went to London to become a famous actor and writer. He eventually became a partner in a drama company, that is, Lord Chamberlain's man. Like all the troupes at that time, the troupe was named after the nobles who funded it. The troupe was so popular that after the death of Elizabeth I, James I sponsored it and renamed it the King's Troupe.
Now people know from all kinds of legal documents and commercial contracts at that time that Shakespeare's years in London gradually became rich, which made him buy a house in the rich area of London and own the largest house in his hometown of Trafford.
Shakespeare published his sonnets in 1609, many of which were addressed to a mysterious woman ("the dark lady") and a man ("the fair Lord"). He retired in about 16 1 1 year, and never published any other works until he died in16/year. Coincidentally, he died on the same day as Cervantes, another great Spanish writer of his time.
identity
Most scholars agree that the writer Shakespeare is indeed the Shakespeare who was born in Trafford and used to be an actor, but this has been a controversial issue for many years. Some people think that people like Francis Bacon and edward de vere are the real authors of some or all of Shakespeare's works, or at least participated in the creation together.
Some people doubt whether Shakespeare really created all his works, and the question of who is the real author of Shakespeare's works has become a serious academic research topic.
works
Shakespeare's works include:
tragedy
Romeo and Juliet (Romeo and Juliet)
Macbeth (Macbeth)
King Lear
Hamlet (Hamlet)
Othello (Othello)
Titus Andlau Knicks.
Julius Caesar
Anthony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus (Coriolanus)
Tuileus and Cressida (Troilus and Cressida)
Timon in Athens.
comedy
the comedy of errors
Everything is fine if it ends well.
As you wish
A Midsummer Night's Dream
make trouble out of nothing
Answer blows with blows.
rainstorm
The Taming of the Shrew
Twelfth Night or whatever.
Merchant of Venice.
The merry wives of Windsor.
The effort of love was in vain.
Two gentlemen in verona.
Prince Tyre of Perikles
Cymbeline (cymbeline)
The story of winter
Historical works
Henry IV, Volume I (Henry IV, Part 1)
Henry IV, Volume II (Henry IV, Part II)
Henry V (Henry V)
Henry VI, vol. I (Henry VI, part 1)
Henry VI, Volume II (Henry VI, Part II)
Henry VI, Volume III (Henry VI, Part III)
Henry VIII (Henry VIII)
King John (King John)
Richard II
Richard III (Richard III)
poetic sentiment
Sonnet (sonnet)
A lover's complaint
Lucretius lost her virginity (Lucretius' rape)
Venus and adonis.
Enthusiastic pilgrims.
Phoenix and tortoise