Per+5+Why+Shakespeare?

=​WHY SHAKESPEARE?=

The major themes of Shakespearean Plays like //Romeo and Juliet// by Shakespeare are relevant today. The major themes include love and romance, prejudice, relationships, conflicts in society, inter-family conflict, and youthful disobedience. Shakespeare's themes are not things that fade over time like his way of writing. They apply to everybody, being young or old. People will always have inter-family conflict, and will always believe in love at first sight. Because these themes are universal and unshaken by time, Shakespeare's work will always be read and loved.
 * Why do people still read Shakespeare today?**

William Shakespeare foreshadows and emphasizes tragic love by making allusions to famous lovers, such as Dido, Cleopatra, and Thisbe, all of whom were torn apart by tragedy. Through these allusions, Shakespeare is able to enrich his work for his audience. Examples of allusions include the following:
 * What are some familiar allusions to Shakespeare's language?**

"Dido a dowdy, Cleopatra a gypsy, Helen and Hero hildings and harlots, Thisbe a grey eye or so, but not to the purpose." (Shakespeare)

This quote is from Mercutio, a character from Shakespeare's //Romeo and Juliet// when he mocks the tragic love of famous mythological characters. Shakespeare forshadows and emphasizes tragic love by making allusions to famous lovers, such as Dido, Cleopatra, and Thisbe, all of whom were torn apart by tragedy.

Through the allusion to Dido, Shakespeare is able to emphasize leaving. Dido, Queen of Carthage, fell in love with Aeneas. Aneneas eventually left her because of his destiny to establish a new kingdom in Italy. When Aeneas leaves, Dido kills herself. This allusion emphasizes the tragic love of Romeo and Juliet when Romeo is exiled and leaves Juliet.

Aeneas recounting the [|Trojan War] to Dido, a painting by [|Pierre-Narcisse Guérin]. This scene is taken from Virgil's //Aeneid//, where Dido falls in love with, and is betrayed by, the Trojan hero [|Aeneas].

Cleopatra was Egypt's pharaoh and had fallen in love with Marc Antony of Rome. When Marc Antony left Rome for Cleopatra, the Emperor of Rome, Octavious, began his invasion of Egypt. Marc Antony's fleet eventually fell to Octavious, and Antony fled to Cleopatra, but, believing she was dead, he stabbed himself. On learning that Cleopatra was still alive, he carried himself to her and died in her arms. Then, Cleopatra allowed herself to be bitten by a venomous snake and died. This miscommunication foreshadows that miscommunication in //Romeo and Juliet// when Friar Laurence's letter does not reach Romeo, and Romeo, believing Juliet to be dead, rushes off to kill himself.

Queen Cleopatra of Egypt

The story of Thisbe and Pyramus is very similiar to the one of Juliet and Romeo. Thisbe was the fairest maiden in Babylon, while Pyramus was the fairest man. They loved each other dearly, but their parents opposed their love. They soon ran away, and one day, when Pyramus had left Thisbe alone in the woods, a lion came up and attacked Thisbe. Luckily, Thisbe was able to evade the lion, and ran off, leaving a bloody scarf behind. When Pyramus returned, he grieved for Thisbe, thinking that she had been devoured by the lion, and stabbed himself. When Thisbe returned, she found Pyramus lying there, dead. In her grief, she too stabbed herself. This tragic story links together the fate of Thisbe and Pyramus to the fate of Juliet and Romeo. Juliet had planned to be carried away to Mantua by Romeo, where they would live together happily, but a miscommunication occurred, and Romeo believed Juliet to be dead, killing himself. Juliet then killed herself too.

Pyramus and Thisbe by Gregorio Pagani

To learn more about Shakespeare's use of allusions, visit: []

Famous Shakespeare Quotes:

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose"

"To be, or not to be, that is the question"

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers"

"Out, damn'd spot"

Allusions we use today:

"To be or not to be" We here this quote a lot in our language. This came from Shakespeare's play Hamlet. This example show us that Shakespeare's work definitely stands the test of time.

"Green with envy" Shakespeare uses green to describe jealousy at least three times in his works. In //Othello//, Iago refers to the 'green-eyed monster.' In //Anthony and Cleopatra//, Shakespeare wrote of the 'green sickness,' meaning jealousy. And in //Merchant of Venice//, he used the term 'green-eyed jealousy.' This is definitely a common idiom we use today that is really an allusion to Shakespeare.

Also, many of our sexual jokes could be alluding to Shakespeare because many of his jokes were sexual.

To learn more about famous Shakespeare quotes, visit: []

Shakespeare didn't often write his own stories. He often took from other stories and enhanced them to improve his own story's plot. In the case of //Romeo and Juliet//, he used an English poem, which retold the events of an old Italian tale: Arthur Brooke's //The Tragical// (sometimes spelt differently, such as //Tragicall// and Tragedie) //History of Romeus and Juliet// (1562). It was retold again in the prose //Palace of Pleasure// in 1582 by William Painter. Even though the tale has an Italian setting, its language, attitudes, and customs are those of the English. Shakespheare altered the story in such a way that it would be compelling and shocking to both the audiences then as they are now. Shakespeare used many elements of both but used his own supporting characters (especially Mercutio and Paris) to develop a rich plot. In 1530, Luigi da Porta published Historia Novellamente Ritrovata di due Nobili Amanti, which gave the idea for feuding families. It's believed that the play was written sometime between 1591 and 1595. It was first published in 1597, as a quarto (a book created by nine and a half inch by twelve inch sheets of paper folded multiple times to create eight pages). This was later edited and corrected to be more like Shakespeare's original text. "Shakespeare made significant changes to the story's timeline and structure in order to enhance the dramatic momentum, give the lover's plight a sense of urgency, and add suspense." -Ryan McKittrick, //How Romeus Became Romeo// Later, George Cukor would come out with the film adaptation of //Romeo and Juliet// in 1936, with actors Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer. More than three decades later, in 1968, Franco Zeffirelli came out with his own version, starring Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting. A third movie would come out in 1996 by Baz Luhmanm with Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes. Even an animated film based on the two lovers would appear about two seals who fall in love (//Romeo and Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss//). You can find many other versions in different countries, such as //Chunhyang// in Korean. A very famous musical, the West Side Story (1957) about rival gangs in New York is based on Romeo and Juliet.
 * Where did Shakespeare get the idea for Romeo and Juliet? What books and films have been based on his Romeo and Juliet?**

Works Cited Brian, Paul. "Romeo and Juliet." //Study Guide for Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (1591?)//. 02, Feb 2000. Web. 18 Feb 2010. .

West Side Story (1957) Franco Zeffirelli's version of Romeo and Juliet (1968)
 * UMass Amherst Department of Theater, . "http://www.umass.edu/theater/pdf/studyguiderandj.pdf." //Romeo and Juliet//. UMass Theater matinee, Web. 18 Feb 2010. . ||

Quartos What are the quartos? When Shakespeare's plays were first printed in 1594, they appeared as small, cheap pamphlets called quartos. They were called quartos because of the way they were printed. Here is a brief history of the quartos after Shakespeare's death in 1616: 1616 - Eighteen of Shakespeare's plays had appeared in quarto editions 1623 - An extensive folio volume of 36 plays by Shakespeare was printed, which included most of those printed in quarto 1642 - Another three plays were printed in quarto Why are the quartos important? The quartos are the texts closest to Shakespeare's time. The quartos, or the printed texts of his plays, are our only source for what he originally wrote. The quartos are thought to: a) Preserve either his working drafts (his foul papers) or his fair copies -Foul papers were Shakespeare's rough draft manuscripts of a play, with his corrections, additions, and deletions. b) Record versions remembered by actors who performed the plays (which provided information about staging practices in Shakespeare's day)
 * Find out about quartos. Why have different versions of Shakespeare's plays existed over time?**

To learn more about quartos, visit the following link: []

To learn more about vocabulary in Shakespeare's time (such as //foul papers//), visit: []

Shakespeare's Works How many plays did Shakespeare write? Shakespeare is attributed with writing 37 plays between approximately 1590 and 1613. Major themes in his plays include history, tragedy, and comedy. Here is a list of all of Shakespreare's Plays:
 * How many plays did Shakespeare write? Name some of the most famous ones. What else did he write?**


 * Tragedies **

**Antony and Cleopatra****Coriolanus****Hamlet****Julius Caesar****King Lear****Macbeth****Othello****Romeo and Juliet****Timon of Athens****Titus Andronicus****Troilus and Cressida**

**HISTORIES**
**Cymbeline****Henry IV, Part I****Henry IV, Part II****Henry V****Henry VI, Part I****Henry VI, Part II****Henry VI, Part III****Henry VIII****King John****Pericles****Richard II****Richard III**

**COMEDIES**
To learn more about Shakespeare and his plays visit: []
 * All's Well That Ends WellAs You Like ItComedy of ErrorsLove's Labour's LostMeasure for MeasureMerchant of VeniceMerry Wives of WindsorMidsummer Night's DreamMuch Ado about NothingTaming of the ShrewTempestTwelfth NightTwo Gentlemen of VeronaWinter's Tale**
 * []**

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What else did he write? In addition to his plays, Shakespeare's works consisted of sonnets and five other poems. The most popular of his sonnets are: //- O thou my lovely boy// //- My Mistress' eyes// //- When in disgrace with fortune// //- Let me not to the marriage of true minds - Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?//

To learn more about Shakespeare's sonnets, visit: [|//http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-sonnets.htm//]

Shakespeare's poems consisted of: - //A Lover's Complaint - Phoenix and the Turtle - Rape of Lucrece// - //Venus and Adonis// - //The Passionate Pilgrim//

To learn more about Shakespeare's poems, visit: []



Works Cited: Works Cited"Basic facts about William Shakespeare, his life, his plays and the quartos - William Shakespeare in quarto." //THE BRITISH LIBRARY - The world's knowledge//. British Library. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. .Brian, Paul. "Romeo & Juliet." //Washington State University - Pullman, Washington//. 06 June 1996. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. ."Complete list of Shakespeare's plays, by genre :|: Open Source Shakespeare." //Open Source Shakespeare: search Shakespeare's works, read the texts//. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. ."Dido (Quenn of Carthage)." //Wikipedia//. 13 Jan. 2010. Web. 17 Feb. 2010."Glossary - Shakespeare in quarto." //THE BRITISH LIBRARY - The world's knowledge//. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. .Mabillard, Amanda. "The Droeshout Portrait of Shakespeare." //Shakespeare Online//. Amanda mabillard, 07 Feb. 2010. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. ."Queen Cleopatra of Egypt - History of Cleopatra." //Ancient Egypt - Gods, Pyramids, Mummies, Pharaohs, Queens, Hieroglyphics, History, Life in Ancient Egypt, Maps//. Attic designes, 2008. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. ."Shakespeare Quotes - Find a Shakespeare Quote Here!" //ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More.// Enotes. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. ."Shakespeare's Plays." //Shakespeare Online//. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. ."Shakespeare's Use of Allusions Essay by William Shakespeare | Student Essays Summary." //BookRags.com: Book Summaries, Study Guides//. Unknown. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. ."William Shakespeare Biography." //WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE//. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. ."William Shakespeare Poems." //WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE//. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. ."William Shakespeare Sonnets with text of each sonnet." //WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE//. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. [].