La vita di William Shakespeare, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica La vita di William Shakespeare e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! SHAKESPEARE William Shakespeare’s life William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon on the 23rd of April in the year 1564, which is also said to be the date of his death. He was the son of a successful tradesman until he met with financial difficulties. Shakespeare was the eldest son, and he attended the local grammar school from the age of 7 to 13, which gave him an outright grounding in the use of language and classical authors. At the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway while she was already pregnant with their daughter. In 1584 he left Stratford to go to London, this was the first time he experienced the playhouse. As a matter of fact, he was admitted into one of the acting companies at a minor level at first, but his commendable wit distinguished him very soon, not as a great actor but as an exceptional writer. In 1593 the theatres in London were closed because of the plague so Shakespeare needed the support of a private patron, he found it in the Earl of Southampton. When the theaters reopened, Shakespeare became the shareholder and the main playwright of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the most famous acting company in London. His company in 1599 built The Globe (which will burn down in 1613, but he’ll help rebuild it). - 1590-96: he mainly wrote historical dramas; - 1593-1600: he put ten comedies onto the stage (ranging from farce to romance); - 1595-1605: the tragedies were written within this time. - 1610: he retired from the theatre; - 1616: he died at 52 and was buried in Stratford, Holy Trinity Church. His wife outlived him by seven years. The First Folio: Seven years after Shakespeare’s death, his friends and fellow actors published the First Folio, a volume which contains an edition of thirty-six of his plays. It’s the first collected edition of his plays, it is so important because some of his plays might have been lost forever. Its title is Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories & Tragedies, and it groups his plays into those categories. The tragic playwright → classical tragedies: - the protagonist acts against inexorable destiny; - the actor is limited to one place and one day; - The turning point is where the goals of the tragic hero seem within reach. → Shakespeare: - Real balance between fate and human choices, based on characters’ flaws; - Shakespeare breaks the rule of place and time unities; - The catastrophe at the end spells disaster for the tragic hero, responsible for his own fall, although his plan was noble. THE ELIZABETHAN THEATRE → the architecture - round or octagonal in shape; - twelve metres high; - 25 meters diameter; - rectangular stage. → internal layout