SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

COMEDIES The central story is love

The lovers must overcome obstacles

Often there are misunderstandings that need to be cleared up before they can be together

When everyone is paired up and parades out is often the conclusion to a Shakespeare comedy

Often comedies feature fantastical elements such as magic and fairies

The marriages can appear to be utterly unlikely

The themes are often the power of language, the importance of love, the value of individuals, the capacity of art or literature to transform and the idea that appearances can be deceptive

COMEDIES All’s Well That Ends Well

As You Like It

The Comedy of Errors

Cymbeline

Love’s Labours Lost

Measure for Measure

The Merry Wives of Windsor

The Merchant of Venice

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Much Ado About Nothing

The Taming of the Shrew

Twelfth Night

HISTORIES Shakespeare’s histories were grouped together because they all dealth in

some way with the history of England

Based on the lives of famous monarchs

The themes are about power, the virtue of good leadership and its importance to the common good of the country, the might of right and the destructive power of war for the unworthy

They dramatise five generations of medieval power struggles

Centre on a great event in history

Emphasis the importance of a queen or king

HISTORIES 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

Richard II

Richard III

TRAGEDIES Focus on a tragic hero

The themes of tragedy are about order, power, loyalty, honesty and the susceptibility of all people to evil

They begin by identifying a man of high estate and excellent character, but one who has a tragic flaw such as pride/jealousy/greed

They expose the tragic hero’s flaw and bring him down

They feature violence murder or alienation of former allies and enemies

They demonstrate the gradual isolation of the tragic hero

A final battle is played out between the forces of good and the tragic hero, resulting in the death of the tragic hero

The finish with the restoration of the rightful order

TRAGEDIES Antony and Cleopatra

Coriolanus

Hamlet

Julius Caesar

King Lear

Macbeth

Othello

Periles, Prince of Tyre

Romeo and Juliet

The Tempest

Timon of Athens

Tutis Andronicus

Troilus and Cressida

The Winter’s Tale

GENERAL STRUCTURE All of Shakespeare’s plays are structure in five acts

ACT I: Introduces the setting, characters and the central conflict of the play. Lays the foundation in terms of the motivation and emotional interest

of characters in the conflict.

ACT II: Characters become more clearly aligned as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and there is a build up of suspense as the first moves or schemes are played out.

ACT III: The audience is invested in the outcome as the ‘bad’ characters appear to the winning the conflict.

ACT IV: Against all odds the ‘good’ characters rise up. The act ends at a point where the audience is ready for the final victory – but not quite at it.

ACT V: The good characters win and although there could be a twist or turn that was not expect, the win is inevitable.

IN PAIRS… What is the narrative structure of modern romantic comedies?

Why do people enjoy watching these films?

Define: feminist, bawdy, tavern, wench and masquerading (add to your vocabulary list)

HOMEWORK Go on to http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/

Find either a comedy or tragedy in the list

Have a brief read over the plot overview and write down three characteristics that define it as being either a comedy or a tragedy

ROMEO AND JULIET Romeo and Juliet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjxHdNxvySU (Leonardo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=055c9Gic_g0#t=77 (Sci-Fi)

How have changes been made to the setting of these two modern interpretations of Romeo and Juliet?

1. What are the common themes between the two?

2. How can you see plot being adapted to suit the genre of the modern interpretation (Sci-Fi/romance)

3. Can you see any similarities between characterisation?

4. Who do you think each modern interpretation would appeal to?

THEMES Individual Vs. Society

Conflict is created in the way that Romeo and Juliet cannot abide by what society wants them to conform due to the intensity of their love. The love the two share is forbidden, as the Montagues and the Capulets have a rivalry which runs deep.

Inevitability of Fate

Romeo and Juliet are described as ‘Star Crossed lovers’ which means that fate and their wanting to be together essentially controls them, leading to their deaths.

Love as a cause of violence

Romeo and Juliet consider suicide as a way of escaping the society that sees their love as unacceptable and eventually this becomes their fate in the closing chapters of the text.

PLOT The 1996 adaptation starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes begins at a party that the Capulet’s (Juliet’s family) are throwing.

Romeo, a Montague, decides to crash the party where he meets Juliet and they fall in love (love at first sight).

First conflict: they are from opposing families and are therefore forbidden to be together.

Second conflict: Romeo is challenged to a duel whereby he kills Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin.

3rd Conflict: Juliet is instructed to marry Paris. Romeo is banished from Verona for killing Tybalt. Juliet takes a drug which will make her appear dead so that she can get out of marrying Paris.

PLOTClimax: Romeo discovers Juliet looking as though she is dead and commits suicide beside her.

Juliet awakes after Romeo has done this and does the same.The families are reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent feud. The play ends with the Prince's elegy for the lovers: "For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

The entire play takes place over a period of four days whereby Romeo expresses his love to Juliet and the two agree to be wed.

PLOT1) Reflect on the Shakespearean text that you identified an interest in for homework, and map out the plot for this to be used as the basis of your short story.

Orientation: Introduces the setting, characters and the central conflict of the play. Lays the foundation in terms of the motivation and emotional interest of characters in the conflict.

Complications: Characters become more clearly aligned as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and there is a build up of suspense as the first moves or schemes are played out

Climax: The audience is invested in the outcome as the ‘bad’ characters appear to the winning the conflict. Against all odds the ‘good’ characters rise up. This

ends at a point where the audience is ready for the final victory – but not quite at it.

Resolution: The good characters win and although there could be a twist or turn that was not expect, the win is inevitable

PERFORMING A MODERN INTERPRETATION… You will be allocated one of the following parts from the plays Othello,

Twelfth Night, Hamlet and Macbeth to perform for the class in a few lessons.

Hamlet Act 3: Scene 2

Twelfth Night Act 3: Scene 4.

Othello Act 4: Scene 2

Macbeth Act 4: Scene 1

MACBETH ACT 4: SCENE 1 Macbeth returns to the Weird Sisters and boldly demands to be shown a

series of apparitions that tell his future. The first apparition is the disembodied head of a warrior who seems to warn Macbeth of a bloody revenge at the hands of Macduff. The second is a blood-covered child who comforts Macbeth with the news that he cannot be killed by any man "of woman born." The third is a child wearing a crown, who promises that Macbeth cannot lose in battle until Birnam wood physically moves toward his stronghold at Dunsinane.

Encouraged by the news of such impossibilities, Macbeth asks, "Shall Banquo's issue ever reign in this kingdom?" The Witches present an image of a ghostly procession of future kings, led by Banquo. All this serves only to enrage Macbeth, who, trusting in his own pride, reveals in an aside to the audience his determination to slaughter the family of Macduff.

HAMLET ACT 3: SCENE 2 Hamlet meets with the actors and instructs them as to the nature of proper acting. He tells them

not to overact, and not to use large gestures. He wishes them to be honest; he asks them to mirror nature, to be entirely realistic in their portrayals. Polonius enters and announces the arrival of the King and Queen to hear the play.

Hamlet, in director mode, tells the actors how he wants them to perform the play. He'd like it to come off naturally, which means they shouldn't be too loud, or gesticulate (make gestures) too much, as bad actors often do. Instead, they should use their discretion to build up suspense with their actions.

Most importantly, they shouldn't be tempted to get a cheap laugh, since the audience might drown out the important parts.

As everyone gets settled, Hamlet pulls Horatio aside, and says he's among the best men that Hamlet has had the fortune of knowing, and BTW he needs a favour: he needs him to watch Claudius's reactions to the play, especially during the scene that reenacts the killing of the King in exactly the way Claudius would've killed King Hamlet.

Together, they can figure out whether Claudius really did kill King Hamlet. Sure, says Horatio, and then it's time for Hamlet to run off and act like a crazy duck again. As Claudius settles in, he asks Hamlet how he's doing. Hamlet says he eats as well as a chameleon

(creatures that were thought to live on a diet of air). Further, he plays on the notion that the air is full of promises of the time when he (Hamlet) will be on the throne (foreshadowing Claudius's death).

 

OTHELLO ACT 4: SCENE 2 Othello and Desdemona have married. Othello’s right-hand man, lago, is determined

to rive a wedge between the couple for no reason other than to be evil. Iago lies to Othello that Desdomona has been unfaithful. Othello is angered by this news and tells Desdemona to confess. She then suggests Othello's rage might be inspired by the letter he received earlier

today calling him back to Venice. Desdemona wonders if perhaps Othello thinks the summons to leave Cyprus (and her) were the machinations of her angry father back in Venice. Still, she says if her father had a hand in this, she's not to blame, as she remains staunchly on Othello's side.

Still, Othello mourns his mystery loss; he says he could bear any amount of suffering from the world, and proceeds to detail any and all types, including sores, poverty, slavery, and a world of scorn. With any of these, he says, he could have patience – but he cannot bear this abuse of his heart.

Desdemona begs him to tell her what she has done wrong, and Othello calls her a whore and a strumpet. Desdemona swears on her soul that she has never touched anybody but him, but he doesn't believe her.

 

ACT 3: SCENE 4 – TWELFTH NIGHT Malvolio works for Olivia. He is a manager in her household. Earlier in the

play Malvolio chastises Maria, a maid, in front of her friends. She devises a plan to humiliate Malvolio and wrties a letter from Olivia, indication Olivia’s supposed love for someone who fits Malvolio’s description.

The letter gives instructions for “someone” to follow in order to gain Olivia’s affections – one instruction being that he wear yellow stockings, and to smile constantly.

Olivia is mourning the death of her brother and seems to enjoy her misery. She is shocked by the way Malvolio is acting in this scene. He thinks of himself as above all of the others. Everything Malvolio does in this scene is strange and out of character.

IN GROUPS OF 5… You will be given one of the above texts to focus on.

Use this to decide how you will perform a modern interpretation of the play:

Orientation: Introduces the setting, characters and the central conflict of the play.

Lays the foundation in terms of the motivation and emotional interest of characters in the conflict.

2 Complications: Characters become more clearly aligned as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and there is a build up of suspense as the first moves or schemes are played out

Climax: The audience is invested in the outcome as the ‘bad’ characters appear to the winning the conflict. Against all odds the ‘good’ characters rise up. This ends at a point where the audience is ready for the final victory – but not quite at it.

Resolution: The good characters win and although there could be a twist or turn that was not expect, the win is inevitable