Shakespeare (W. william shakespeare; ; 1564 ~ 16 16) was a great playwright and poet in the English Renaissance and a master of humanistic literature in the European Renaissance.

Chinese name: william shakespeare.

William Shakespeare

Nationality: UK

Place of birth: Stratford, Warwickshire, England

Date of birth:1April 23, 564

Date of death:1665438+May 3, 2006

Occupation: playwright, poet, actor

Representative Works: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth.

There are four tragedies in Shakespeare's representative works: Hamlet (English), Othello (English), King Lear (English) and Macbeth (English). Four comedies: A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night and All is Happy. Historical plays: Henry IV, Henry V, Richard II, etc. He also wrote 154 sonnets and two long poems. Ben Jonson called him "the soul of the times", and Marx called him and Aeschylus of ancient Greece "the greatest drama genius of mankind". Although Shakespeare writes only in English, he is a world-famous writer. Most of his works have been translated into many languages, and his plays have been staged in many countries. 16 16 died on May 3rd. Shakespeare was born in the same year as Galileo, a famous Italian mathematician, physicist, astronomer and philosopher, and a pioneer of modern experimental science.

Legendary life

William shakespeare, a great playwright and poet in the English Renaissance, 1 1564 was born in Stratford, Varvik, central England on April 23rd. His father, Jone Shakespeare, is a grocer, engaged in wool, leather manufacturing and grain business. 1565 Portrait (1 1) served as town civil affairs, and was elected mayor three years later. As a teenager, he studied in a local "literature school" which mainly taught Latin, and mastered the basic skills and rich knowledge of writing. However, due to his father's bankruptcy, he failed to graduate and embarked on his own way of making a living. He was an apprentice in a butcher shop, taught in a rural school and engaged in various other occupations, which made him gain a lot of social experience. Historian George Stevenson said that later generations roughly outlined Shakespeare's life track from these written materials: after the age of 20, he went to London, first as a groom, working as a handyman in the theater, and later as an actor, director and screenwriter, becoming a shareholder in the theater; He started writing around 1588, first adapting his predecessors' plays, and soon began to write independently. At that time, the theater was full of "university talents" with Oxford and Cambridge backgrounds. A famous playwright once wrote an article scornfully mocking Shakespeare, a "vulgar cloth" and a "nouveau riche crow", who dared to be compared with a "noble genius"! But Shakespeare later won the support and love of the audience, including college students' groups. The students performed some Shakespeare's plays at school after school, such as Hamlet and Wrong Comedy. 1597 Go back to your hometown to buy real estate and spend the last time of your life. Although he received a good basic education, he didn't go to college. 1598, F. Mills, a university scholar, listed Shakespeare's plays before the age of 35 in his treasure house of wisdom, praising his comedies and tragedies as "unparalleled" and equal to the first-class drama poets in ancient times. But he never published his own play before his death. The success of writing made Shakespeare win the favor of Lord Southampton, who became his protector. In the early 1990s, Shakespeare dedicated his two long poems Venus and adonis and the Shame of Lucretius to the Lord, and wrote some sonnets for the Lord. With the help of the Lord, Shakespeare entered the aristocratic culture salon, giving him an opportunity to observe and understand the upper class, expanding his life vision and providing a rich source for his later creation. Since 1594, the troupe to which he belongs has been sheltered by the palace minister and is called "the palace minister troupe". 1596, he applied for the title of "gentleman" and the right to own the coat of arms in the name of his father, and bought considerable real estate in three times. 1603, James I succeeded to the throne, and his troupe was renamed "King Sacrifice Troupe". He and the actors in the troupe were appointed as attendants of the court. Therefore, in addition to frequent tours, the troupe often performs in the court, and Shakespeare's plays are famous in all walks of life. Shakespeare has lived in London for more than twenty years, while his wife has been living in Stratford. He retired and returned to his hometown of Stratford when he was close to his fate (about 16 12). 1665438+On April 23rd, 2006, Shakespeare died unfortunately around his 52nd birthday and was buried in Trinity Church. Leave a will before death. Shakespeare

Shakespeare was a famous homosexual, and all his sonnets were written to his homosexual lover. According to British media reports, a British collector recently reconfirmed the identity of the person in a family oil painting. It turns out that this beautiful "woman" is none other than the legendary gay couple in Shakespeare's works-Henry Riotsley III, Earl of Southampton. Alec Cobb, who discovered this "amazing" oil painting and inherited all the art collections, said in an interview that he always thought that the person in the painting was a lady named Norton since he was a child, because the words Mrs. Norton were written on the back of the oil painting. But a few years ago, an accidental art collector told Cobb that he thought the people in the painting were not women, but men disguised as women. It was not until the beginning of this year that Cobb began to re-examine his true identity. The history of this oil painting can be traced back to Shakespeare's former residence (20 pieces) at the end of 16. The Earl of Southampton in the painting is painted with makeup, lipstick on his lips, exquisite earrings on his left ear and long hair hanging down to his chest, which looks very feminine. The National Trusteeship Association, the authoritative organization of British historical relics, has confirmed that the painting is authentic. This painting was completed from 1590 to 1593, when Shakespeare was living in the house of Earl III of Southampton. Although Shakespeare, a great literary master, married Anna Hathaway, his true sexual orientation has always been a controversial topic in literary critics. The legend that the Earl of Southampton is gay has a long history, and his relationship with Shakespeare is even more confusing. The count once hosted Shakespeare in his apartment, and Shakespeare's famous sonnets were dedicated to a handsome young man who was "as beautiful as a woman". Students think that the first ten capitals of the sonnet set are devoted to the family line and cannot be understood as written for boyfriends. Many historians have verified that the admiration in Shakespeare's poems is probably directed at this handsome boyfriend who pretends to be a woman. 16 16 Shakespeare died unfortunately around his 52nd birthday and was buried in Trinity Church. The day he died was the same as the day he was born. Leave a will before death. His two portraits, which are said to be reliable, are busts in the church and portraits of Droshute. His handwriting has six signatures and a three-page manuscript of Sir Thomas More.

Personal work

Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays (thirty-eight, if you add two aristocratic relatives written with Fletcher), two long poems Venus and adonis, The Humiliation of Lucretius and one hundred and fifty-four sonnets in more than twenty years. His plays are mostly based on historical records, novels, folklore and old plays, which reflect the historical reality of the transition from feudal society to capitalist society and publicize the humanitarian thought and human nature view of the emerging bourgeoisie. On the one hand, he borrowed extensively from ancient drama, English medieval drama and emerging culture and art in Europe, on the other hand, he deeply observed life, understood society and grasped the pulse of the times, which enabled Shakespeare to create many vivid characters and paint a broad and colorful picture of social life, and was famous for his blending of sadness and joy, poetic and picturesque, unity in contradiction and change, philosophy of life and critical spirit. Mcpace

Generally speaking, Shakespeare's drama creation can be divided into the following three periods:

The first phase (1590 ~ 1600)

Mainly writing historical dramas and comedies, 9 historical dramas, comedies 10 and 2 tragedies. Of the nine historical dramas, except King John, which tells the history of England at the beginning of the 65438+3rd century, the other eight are all two tetralogy: the first, middle and last three of Henry VI and Richard III; Richard II, Henry IV (known as the most successful historical drama) and Henry V, these historical dramas summed up the turmoil in British history for more than 100 years, shaped a series of positive and negative monarchies, and reflected Shakespeare's humanistic political and moral ideals of opposing feudal separatism, supporting centralization, condemning tyrants and tyranny, demanding enlightened monarchies to carry out top-down reforms and establishing harmonious social relations. 10 Most comedies, The Wrong Comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The futility of love, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much ado about nothing, All Happy and Twelfth Night, are all about it. Praise progress and beautiful new features, but also gently expose and ridicule the decay and ugliness of old things, such as the wrong correction of asceticism, the hypocrisy of Puritans and the greed of usurers. The basic tone of Shakespeare's drama creation in this period is optimistic and clear, full of confidence in solving social contradictions with humanistic ideals, so that the tragicomedy Romeo and Juliet written in this period is also full of comedy atmosphere. Although the hero died of double suicide, the ideal of love overcame death and got the reconciliation of feudal feud. However, the mature comedy The Merchant of Venice in the later period of this period contains melancholy and tragic factors. While advocating kindness, friendship and sincere love, it reflects the class oppression and racial discrimination of the law of the jungle in Christian society, which shows that the author has gradually realized that there is an intractable contradiction between ideal and reality.

Phase II (160 1 ~ 1607)

Mainly based on tragedy, he wrote three Roman plays, five tragedies and three "black comedies" or "problem plays". The Roman plays Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra and Cory Ollanu are historical plays adapted from Plutarch's biographies of Greek and Roman heroes. These four tragedies, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Timon of Athens, mark the author's deep thinking about the times and life, and strive to shape some tragic protagonists in the new era: they woke up from the imprisonment and ignorance of the Middle Ages and developed or improved themselves ambitiously under the dawn of modern times, but they could not overcome the limitations of the times and themselves, and finally found themselves in the same environment and inner hostile forces. In order to avenge his father, Hamlet found that "the whole video of Hamlet (10) lost its tenon" and decided to take the responsibility of "rectifying Gankun". As a result, he was too ambitious to return to heaven. Othello is honest and simple, and people hate him. He killed his wife at the mercy of traitors, and was punished for pursuing perfection. King Lear lost his nature and reason in the honor, pride and self-confidence brought by power. He fantasized that by dividing power into different countries to prove that he was not a king, he could be as great as ordinary people, so he suffered painful hardships. Macbeth is a hero with meritorious service, and there are goodness and beauty in his character. Driven by the temptation and ambition of the throne, he degenerated into a "bloody to bloody" sinner and regretted the world. The tragedies of these characters profoundly reveal all kinds of social ugliness and bourgeois egoism that began to appear in primitive accumulation of capital period, and show the irreconcilable contradiction between humanistic ideal and cruel reality, which has a high degree of generalization significance. Due to the enhancement of the ideological depth and realism depth of dramas in this period, comedies such as troilus, Cressida, All ends well, and Tit for Tit also showed a dark side, shrouded in the evil shadow of treachery and conspiracy, so they were called "problem dramas" or "black comedies".

The third phase (1608 ~ 16 13)

A tragicomedy or legendary drama inclined to compromise and fantasy. His major works are four tragicomedy or legendary dramas Prince Ricci of Tyre, cymbeline, Winter's Tale and The Tempest. Most of these works are about separation, reunion, framing and revenge. Although we still adhere to the ideal of humanism and expose the dark reality, the solution of contradictions mainly depends on magic, fantasy, coincidence and accidental events, and ends with preaching forgiveness, tolerance, compromise and reconciliation. Shakespeare also collaborated with Fletcher to write the historical drama Henry VIII and the legendary drama Two Noble Relatives, which has been included in the existing Shakespeare plays in recent years.

The creative background of Shakespeare's works

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. Shakespeare

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 0/7th century, the regime of Queen Elizabeth I and James I alternated, the social contradictions in Britain intensified, and the social ugliness 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. Shakespeare's tomb

Main work

tragedy

Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear (four tragedies), Titus Antelo Knicks, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coe Leoline, Fortress Besieged Troy, Timon of Athens, etc.

comedy

The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, everyone is happy. Twelfth Night (four comedies), Happy Birthday, All shall be well, Jack shall have Jill, Much ado about nothing, tit for tat, The Storm, The Taming of the Shrew, Merry Wives of Windsor, Love in vain, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Prince Pax of Tyre.

Tragic comedy (drama)

Romeo and Juliet

historical play

Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VIII, King John, Richard II and Richard III.

sonnet

Lover's Complaint, Rukris Lost her virginity, Venus and adonis, Enthusiastic Pilgrim, Phoenix and Turtledove, etc.

Achievements and influence

Most of Shakespeare's plays are based on old scripts, novels, chronicles or folklore, but they have been rewritten with their own ideas, giving new, rich and profound contents to the old themes. In artistic expression, he inherited and developed the three traditions of ancient Greek and Roman drama, medieval England and Renaissance European drama, and made creative innovations in content and form. His plays are not bound by the three laws, breaking through the boundaries between tragedy and comedy, trying to reflect the true nature of life and explore the inner mysteries of characters, thus shaping many typical characters with complex and diverse personalities and vivid images, and depicting a broad and colorful picture of social life, which is famous for its profoundness, poetry and meaningful philosophy. classic lines

1. Fragile, your name is woman! (Just the plot needs, not everything: fragile, you call a woman! To be or not to be, that is a question. To be or not to be, this is a question worth thinking about. People who give up time will also be given up by time. A successful liar no longer needs to lie for a living, because the deceived person has become his supporter, and nothing I say is useless. Man can control his own destiny. If we are controlled by others, it is not fate, but ourselves. A happy love relaxed the nervousness of the fighter. Too perfect love, sad and harmful, as a Jianghu child, I don't have the leisure time. 8 jealous brothers are all lies! God is fair, and those who master fate will always stand at both ends of the scale. Those who are mastered by fate only understand that God gave him fate! 10 Proud people always destroy themselves in pride. 1 1 Love is sweet pain, and sincere love is never smooth. 12 is sought after by men because of her beauty; Because she was a woman, she was captured by a man. 13 it would be terrible if women were jealous because of their feelings. Do not, for one repulse, give up the purpose that you resolved to achieve. 15 women do not have the conditions to be proud of love. 16 I admit that nothing is more painful than the punishment of love, and nothing is more enjoyable than serving love. 17 A new flame can put out the old flame, and a big pain can alleviate a small pain. 18 A wise man becomes a fool, which is the easiest fish to take the bait. Because he relies on his own talent and knowledge, he can't see his arrogance. 19 The folly of fools is not unusual, but the folly of wise men makes people laugh. Because he used all his skills to prove his stupidity. The appearance is often completely inconsistent with the thing itself, and the world is easily deceived by the surface decoration. No matter how long the darkness is, the day will come. 22 if you work hard for a day, you will get a day's sleep; If you work hard all your life, you can sleep forever. Gold, you are really something. You can turn the old into the few, the ugly into the beautiful, the black into the white, and the wrong into the right ... 25 Rotate when you are dizzy, and your own sadness can be cured by the sadness of others! Love is like a flower growing on a cliff. You must have the courage to choose it. The whole world is a huge stage, and men and women in the world of mortals are just actors. On-off and on-off. Everyone plays many roles in his life, and there are seven stages from birth to death. When you are unhappy, don't get too close to the window and stare at happiness. What a great masterpiece human beings are! What a noble reason! What a great power! What a beautiful instrument! What an elegant move! What an angel in action! What a wise god! The essence of the universe! The spirit of all things! 30 people are just a walking shadow. 3 1 is too hasty, and any slower will lead to sad results. Although the axe is small, it can finally cut down the hardest oak tree after many chopping. Action should be as great as imagined-practice words with actions and act with words. Personality is a person's inner nature, and reputation is a person's appearance. Anyone who can laugh at sadness will also weaken its bite force. No matter how good things are, there will be a lost day, no matter how deep memories, there will be a day when people who love again will go far away, and no matter how beautiful dreams will wake up. Never keep the person who should give up, and never let go of the person who should cherish. You can't be friends after breaking up because you have hurt each other; You can't be enemies, because you love each other deeply.

well-known saying

To be or not to be. This is a problem. To be or not to be, this is a question worth considering. It is better to be a clever fool than a stupid wise man. People who are in a happy mood live long. Open-minded people live long. Do not, for one answer, give up the purpose that you resolved to achieve. Do not, for one repulse, give up the purpose that you resolved to achieve. There is not enough time in procrastination, so kiss me, sweet twenty years old, and youth will never end. Delayed, the future is numbered, 20 beautiful women, please kiss me, youth is fleeting. The time of life is short; If this short time is wasted, it will be too long. Life is short, and if we waste it, it will be too long. Don't gild the lily Don't gild the lily Empty containers make the loudest sound. A full bottle is silent, and a half bottle is sonorous. There is no royal road to true love. The road to true love will never be smooth. Love, like charcoal, is burning and needs to find a way to ask for cooling. If you are allowed to be arbitrary, you will burn your heart. Love is like charcoal, burning and needing cooling. If you let it go, you will burn a heart. Laughter is the root of all evil. Laughter is the root of all evil. Words can't express true love, and loyal behavior is the best explanation. True love cannot be expressed in words, and behavior is the best interpretation of loyalty. Love is when a woman uses her ears, if a man can love, but love is with her eyes. Women fall in love with their ears, and men fall in love with their eyes if they can produce love. My back leg was in a sea of blood, and I couldn't stop and walk back. It was like, people felt there was no way out. The future is a swamp, and people are getting deeper and deeper. My leg has been trapped in a sea of blood for a long time. I can't stop. I want to turn around. It's like the end. It's chilling. There is no way out. The future is a swamp, which makes people sink deeper and deeper. Nothing is good or bad, but thoughts make it so, so there is no such thing as good or evil, which depends on one's personal thoughts. When the heart of honor is hurt, friendship is a good medicine to cure it. When the heart of honor is hurt, friendship is a good medicine to cure it. "Kindness is golden."