История литературы / 14. The comedies of Shakespear

William Shakespeare was born on 23 of April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Sh attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. Нe married Anne Hathaway and had 3 children with her. Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Sh eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part-owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I and he was a favorite of both monarchs. Wealthy and renowned, Sh retired to Stratford and died in 1616. The Renaissance had diff. manifestations in diff. countries but in England it was the R of the theatre. This coincides with the time when Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne. And the theater of that time is called Elizabethan theatre. Shakespeare was the most prominent playwright of that time. Sh. wrote during the age in which England grew to be a world power. As the R awoke interest to Roman and Greek cul-re, playwrights borrowed a lot of devices including ghosts, chorus, 5-act structure, but they also filled the plays with medieval morals. (Sh. drew his plots from history, mythology and other works of fiction, both classical and contemporary. He employed 5-act structure and typically interwove 2 more plots in each play, ranging freely in time and location. His characters, drawn from all classes, speak in verse or prose according to their rank.) Sh didn’t care about the plot. For him words and actions were important. He created a sample of Eng drama-of new form and content. He introduced the Ren spirit into the genre. The man was in the centre of everyth, the man and his dignity. Sh resorted to paradox (his chief tool). Romeo and Juliet-dignity of love against the opposing forces-paradoxical nature of love. Othello-dignity of man, Hamlet and King Lear-highest embodiment of human dignity. Sh. wrote chronicals when he was young and merry; unspoiled by life, misfortunes- he wrote comedies. In middle ages he wrote tragedies. When he became old and wise he began to write tragy-comedies Peculiarities of comedies: themes: love, friendship, brotherhood; major theme – a human being is a creator of his own happiness. Characters – strong, witty, kind, energetic. Much attention should be paid to Sh’s women. They are all equal to men. A happy ending, usually involving marriage for all the unmarried characters. Sh comedies also tend to have: a struggle of young lovers to overcome difficulty that is often presented by elders; separation and unification; mistaken identities, disguises (переодевание); a clever servant; heightened tensions, often within a family; multiple plots. The scene is usually set in some imaginary country, and the action is based on stories that are almost fairy-tales. But within these non-realistic settings and plots are placed true-to-life characters depicted with the deep insight into human psychology. Each comedy has a main plot and one or two sub-plots. The comic characters of these plays always have an English flavour. All the plays are written in easy-flowing verse and light prose. The text is full of jokes and puns, metaphors, metonymies. All the comedies tell of love and harmony, at first disturbed, finally restored. In them Sh often treats one of his favourite motifs: the right of an individual to free choice in love, despite the conventions and customs of the time. To emphasize this point, Sh more often embodies that tendency in a female character; his typical comedy heroines are brave, noble, full of initiative and free in speech. Another motif is the contrast between appearance and reality. Sh makes us see the importance of self-knowledge. In the complicated plots of his comedies the heroes and heroines select wrong partners so often because they have formed wrong opinions about their own characters. However, Sh treats their mistakes good-humouredly, and the comedies end happily with the characters understanding themselves and those they love, and everything is brought to a harmonious conclusion. Sh borrowed plots, he introduced some changes + filled it with his own characters. Comedies should be romantic, with humorous moments. "TWELFTH NIGHT"-a pure comedy with a deal of farce, language is simple. It is a comedy of errors.There r 2 key words there-integrity and dignity. All the fooling depends on the fact that the main ch-rs r twins (Viola and Sebastian). This comedy is built around the typical Shakespearian conflict between true and false emotion. Duke Orsino tries to convince himself that he is in love with Countess Olivia. But Olivia is in deep grief for her dead brother. In Sh's opinion this is treachery (предательство) to human nature, a view that is shared by Sir Toby Belch and Maria [m?`rai?], the comic ch-rs that personify the optimism of the Renaissance. "The villain of the piece" is Malvolio [m?l'vouljou], a hypocrite[i]; in this figure Sh caricatures rigid Puritan ethics, showing the contrast between Malvolio's outward morality and his inner dishonesty, cruelty and stupidity. Sh's irony in depicting Malvolio is not bitter, He remains a humorous rather than a satirical figure; otherwise the light vein (тон) of the play would be unbalanced. He is placed somewhere apart. He is a pivot.After the plot has been quite tangled up (запутывать), its solution is provided by the twin sister and brother, Viola and Sebastian; the marriage of Orsino to Viola and Sebastian to Olivia brings the desired happy ending.Viola is one of the famous Shakespearian unique comedy heroines, a true woman of the Renaissance: she is brave, adventurous, clever, witty, and capable of deep feeling. But she is static as in fairy-tales. She makes the comedy romantic. We see that in "12th Night" 3 types of emotion are contrasted: the active love of Viola, the self-inducted infatuation (одержимость) of Orsino, and the so-called "love" of Malvolio, born out of his desire for social elevation (величие).The play is written with great skill; the comic sub-plot of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Maria and Malvolio is intermingled with the lyrical story that forms the main plot. In this comedy Sh introduces a ch-r who becomes typical of all his writings-a clown-шут, he is witty and knowledgeable.  He is also a talented actor and singer. At the end an important song is sung by Feste. The song of Feste in "12th Night" are probably the best Sh ever wrote.  The wisest of all, he is able to see through all pretence. ("This fellow is wise enough to play the fool And to do that well craves a kind of wit."Pg 95 Viola says to herself about Feste.) He is the only character who finds no personal happiness in the final count. He gains nothing for himself, and the merry comedy ends with his sad song about "the rain that raineth every day"=tears, monotony of life, coming disaster. Feste is closer to Sh, he gives grains of wisdom. The title of the play comes from the twelve days of Christmas festival which were known for their wild celebration. Summary^ Duke Orsino is in love with Lady Olivia, but she won't have anything to do with suitors. ("If music be the food of love, play on."Pg. 7. Orsino opens the play expressing his love for the Lady Olivia.)Viola believes her twin brother Sebastian to be dead. She pretends to be a boy and becomes a servant to Orsino and gets sent to woo Olivia. However, Olivia falls in love with Viola, believing her to be a boy. Viola falls in love with Orsino. The love triangle is complete: Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario—and everyone is miserable Sir Toby Belch (Olivia's uncle), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (his friend), Maria (a maid), Feste (a jester) and Fabian (a servant) plot to make a fool out of Malvolio (Olivia's head steward). They write a letter, apparently from Olivia, in which she confesses her love for Malvolio and wishes him to dress and behave in a ridiculous manner. Believing that this will get Olivia to marry him, he does everything the letter asks but Olivia, who knew nothing about this, has him locked away for being insane. They eventually set him free but he is furious. Sebastian, Viola's brother, turns up and, believing him to be Viola (who Olivia thinks is a boy) she asks him to marry her and he does. Viola's identity is revealed and Orsino falls in love with her and they marry and it is revealed that Sir Toby and Maria have also married.