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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE- THE OUTSTANDING ENGLISH

MASTERMIND

Have more than you show, speak less than you know, writes William Shakespeare in
his brilliant play King Lear, revealing a deeply meaningful recommendation for his readers.
We ought to hold a veil of mystery when communicating with other people, and, furthermore,
as they reveal themselves, allow them to permeate our arcane cloak. There is always a way to
impress, the most awe-inspiring of them all, as I believe, being a scent of conundrum. This
attracts curiosity, eagerness and a hint of wonderment. The deepest solace lies in
understanding what makes us unique, thus unravelling the enigma. I have chosen this topic for
my certificate paper mainly because Shakespeare bewilders me. I find him to be one of the
most remarkable authors of all time, an everlasting spectrum of wisdom and magnificent
poetry, in whom brightness and darkness collide. His works of art compose a genuine legacy,
which invigorates even present-day generations. Could any other playwright exceed the
Shakespearean mastery?
In my opinion, the answer is no. Shakespeare portrays an immortal icon in world
literature. Poets like Homer and Dante, and novelists like Leo Tolstoy and Charles Dickens,
have transcended national barriers, yet no writers living reputation can compare to that of
Stratford-upon-Avons hero, whose plays, written in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries for a small repertory theatre, are now performed and read more often and in more
countries than heretofore. The prophecy of his great contemporary, the poet and dramatist Ben
Jonson, that Shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time, has been fulfilled.
Shakespeares first eight published plays did not have his name on them. What is remarkable
though, is that after 1598 Shakespeares name commonly appears on printed playssome of
which are not his. Presumably his name was a drawing card, and publishers used it to attract
potential buyers. Shakespeares plays written between 1603 and 1606 unmistakably reflect a
new, Jacobean skepticism. James I, who claimed divine ascendancy, was far less able than
Elizabeth to maintain the authority of the throne. The so-called Gunpowder Plot , that took
place in 1605, showed a determined protest by a small minority in the state. Jamess struggles
with the House of Commons in successive Parliaments, in addition to indicating the strength
of the new men, also betrayed the inefficiencies of the administration. Among
Shakespeares tragedies the following hold spellbound: Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet
(1594-1595), Julius Caesar, Hamlet (1600-1601), Othello (1604-1605), King Lear (16051606), Macbeth (1603-1606), Antony and Cleopatra, Timon of Athens.
Celebrated for the radiance of its lyric poetry, Romeo and Juliet was tremendously
popular from its first performance. The sweet whispers shared by young Tudor lovers
throughout the realm were often referred to as "naught but pure Romeo and Juliet." The
influence of the aforementioned tragedy has been exerted internationally through countless
stage productions, films for cinema and television, video, radio, records, tapes, adaptations
and modernisations, parodies, cartoons and burlesques. If not profound and tempestuous,
Romeo and Juliet is lively and engaging. Though the play is so famous, however, it has not
always been fully appreciated. For instance, modern readers may underestimate the extent to
which it is a political work, whose influence has been extensive, and on the whole, helping to
change the world for the better. Generally, the plays vitality depends on a range of contrasts
or paradoxes. The origins of the plot are ancient, dating back to the second century of the
Christian era, when Xenophon of Ephesus told the story of two teen-age lovers who become
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separated. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the tale was elaborated by various writers
including Masuccio Luigi da Porta, Matteo Bandello, Pierre Boaistuau and eventually the
English poet Arthur Brooke. It was Brookes The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet
(1562) which provided Shakespeares main source, but contrasts in characterization, themes,
style, tone and scene are repeatedly introduced or accentuated. Stratford-upon-Avons
mastermind not only enlivens the structure but also coordinates it very systematically. He
provides numerous speeches of ominous anticipation and clarifying recollection, multiple
dramatic ironies and a range of recurrent leit-motifs or images- particularly the recurrent
imagery of light against darkness. The hero and heroine of Romeo and Juliet are probably the
most famous literary representatives of intense romantic love: consequently, many people
know something of the play even if they havent read it. But if they actually read it, they may
well have some surprises. Romeo and Juliet proves to be stronger, livelier, more radical and
more paradoxal than hearsay suggests. Admittedly, in the twentieth century, various
influential literary critics, such as A. C. Bradley, H. B. Charlton and D. A. Traversi, argued
that this early tragedy by Shakespeare was variously immature, a failed experiment, a work
marred by romantic sensationalism. It lacked, they suggested, the psychological subtlety and
philosophical profundity of such later works as Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear. But there are
many ways of gauging the success of a literary work. One test is the scale of influence;
another test is fertility, its ability to produce literary offspring. Some works have been
splendid but of limited influence and fertility. By those tests, Romeo and Juliet is one of the
two or three most successful of Shakespeares plays, and, indeed, one of the most important
works in the history of the worlds drama.
Some of his brilliant comedies are: The Comedy of Errors ,The Taming of the Shrew,
Love's Labour's Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-1596), Much Ado About Nothing,
The Merry Wives of Windsor ,Troilus and Cressida, All's Well That Ends Well , Measure for
Measure , Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Cymbeline The Winter's Tale (1610-1611), The Tempest
(1611-1612).
In Shakespeares explorations of English history, as in romantic comedy, he put his
distinctive mark on a genre and particularized it. The genre was, moreover, an unusual one.
There was as yet no definition of an English history play, and there were no aesthetic rules
regarding its shaping. The ancient Classical world had recognized two broad categories of
genre, comedy and tragedy. Aristotle and other critics, including Horace, had evolved, over
centuries, Classical definitions. Tragedy dealt with the disaster-struck lives of great persons,
was written in elevated verse, and took as its setting a mythological and ancient world of gods
and heroes: Agamemnon, Theseus, Oedipus, Medea, and the rest. Pity and terror were the
prevailing emotional responses in plays that sought to understand, however imperfectly, the
will of the supreme gods. Classical comedy, conversely, dramatized the everyday. Its chief
figures were citizens of Athens and Romehouseholders, courtesans, slaves, scoundrels, and
so forth. The humour was immediate, contemporary, topical; the lampooning was satirical,
even savage. Members of the audience were invited to look at mimetic representations of their
own daily lives and to laugh at greed and folly.
All things considered, William Shakespeare assumes the role of a distinguished author,
illustrious, but controversial, as the aforementioned scholars have considered him. His
priceless heritage has guided young writers to pursue their literary ideals, and has encouraged
readers to further explore the wondrous universe of creation. I believe that Shakespeare will
never go out-of-date or cause disinterest, for his works belong to a unique sphere of talent and
brilliance. His plays and poems bestow an extraordinary shadow on mankind, just as the
Englishman says himself, The object of art is to give life a shape. Shakespeare illustrates,
indeed, an outstanding English mastermind, drawing breath with every passing century.