The Myth of Shakespeare : The man who became a legend.

Transcription

1 The Myth of Shakespeare : The man who became a legend. Shakespeare in Madame Tussaud s.

2 Shakespeare : myth or reality? Authorship doubters believe there is a lack of concrete evidence proving that the actor/businessman baptized as "Shakspere" of Stratford was responsible for the body of literary works that bear his name. Very little biographical information exists about him and, although much has been inferred from his writings, this lack of solid information leaves an enigmatic figure. Mainstream scholars, however, find the lack of information unsurprising, given that in Elizabethan England the lives of commoners were not as well documented as those of the members of upper classes. Some find difficult to believe that a 16th century commoner, with no university education, could be so well versed in English language and literature, as well as a number of other disciplines including politics, law, medicine, astronomy and foreign languages. Firstly, Shakespeare of Stratford's name was spelled in many different ways, including "Shakespeare". Anti Stratfordians (those who doubt that the man born in Statford upon Avon wrote what is known as Shakespeare s work) conventionally refer to the man from Stratford as "Shakspere" (the name recorded at his baptism) or "Shaksper" to distinguish him from the author "Shakespeare" or "Shake speare" (the spellings that appear on the publications), who they claim has a different identity. Those doubters deliver the argument that during the 16 th century, the Golden Age of pseudonyms, almost every writer used a pseudonym at some time in his career, and so, that Shakespeare should not make exception. Then, several historian affirmed that Shakespeare died in 1604 which would mean the man associated with King Lear, Mac Beth, Henry VIII, The Tempest or The Winter Tale ; would have never write these plays ; all written between this date and his official death in The very last controversial point remains in William Shakespeare s will, long and explicit listing the possessions of a successful bourgeois in detail. However, the will makes no mention at all of personal papers, letters, or books of any kind. In addition, no early poems or manuscripts, plays or unfinished works are listed, whereas at the time of Shakespeare's death, 18 plays remained unpublished. However, it remains many evidences proving that the man who is considered as the Greatest Writer in English literature and the greatest dramatist ever, did have existed. Indeed, instead of Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon and Edward de Vere s pretentions to Shakespeare work s authorship, the baptism act, signatures, portraits, and numerous evidences remaining of Shakespeare s life ; seem to be sufficient proofs to confirm the traditional and wellknown Shakespeare s biography.

3 What is his literacy legend based on? Shakespeare's works have been a major influence on subsequent theatre. Not only did Shakespeare create some of the most admired plays in Western literature (with Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear being ranked among the world's greatest plays), he also transformed English theatre. Specifically, in plays like Hamlet, Shakespeare integrated characterization with plot. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare mixed tragedy and comedy together to create a new romantic tragedy genre. Through his soliloquies, Shakespeare showed how plays could explore a character's motivations and conflict, provide an exposition or reveal plans. His plays were made of spectacular violence melting comedy with tragedy. In King Lear, Shakespeare had deliberately brought together two plots of different origins. His closeness to human nature made him greater than any of his contemporaries. Humanism and contact with popular thinking gave vitality to his language. Shakespeare's plays borrowed ideas from popular sources, folk traditions, street pamphlets, and sermons etc. Shakespeare used groundlings widely in his plays. He represented English people more concretely and not as puppets. His skills have found expression in chronicles, or history plays, and tragedies. Shakespeare's earliest years were dominated by history. His histories were based on the prevailing Tudor political thought. They portrayed the follies and achievements of kings, their misgovernment, church and problems arising out of these. Shakespeare developed his skills in getting into his characters, which so, were very near to reality. Shakespeare's characters are more sharply individualized after Love's Labour's Lost. His Richard II and Bolingbroke are complex and solid figures whereas Richard III is more comic and human. Falstaff trilogy is in this respect very important. Falstaff, although a minor character, has a powerful reality of its own. This shows that Shakespeare had developed a capacity to see the plays as whole, something more than characters and expressions added together. Shakespeare is cited as an influence on a large number of writers in the following centuries, including major novelists such as Herman Melville, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and William Faulkner. Examples of this influence include the large number of Shakespearean quotations throughout Dickens' writings and the fact that at least 25 of Dickens' titles are drawn from Shakespeare, while Melville frequently used Shakespearean devices, including formal stage directions and extended soliloquies, in Moby Dick. In fact, Shakespeare so influenced Melville that the novel's main antagonist, Captain Ahab, is a classic Shakespearean tragic figure, "a great man brought down by his faults." Shakespeare has also influenced a number of English poets, especially

4 Romantic poets such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge who were obsessed with self consciousness, a modern theme Shakespeare anticipated in plays such as Hamlet. Shakespeare's writings were so influential to English poetry of the 1800s that critic George Steiner has called all English poetic dramas from Coleridge to Tennyson "feeble variations on Shakespearean themes. English has definitively become The Language of Shakespeare. What did he change in the 16th century casual way of writing so to make of his own way a model of literary perfection? Although he started writing in the conventional way of the Elizabethan Era, Shakespeare transformed English theatre by expanding expectations about what could be accomplished through characterization, plot, language, and genre. The 16 th century saw the establishment of English as a respectable language as well as French or Latin. Indeed, most writers did not write in their native language and English remained having a second class status, as French had been established as the most distinguished language after the Normans conquered Britain in Before the arrival of Shakespeare to London, there was little hope for the future of English but by 1613, when Shakespeare's last work was written, the literature of modern English was already rich in varied achievements, self confident and mature When Shakespeare started writing his plays, the English language was absorbing words from others cultures due to wars, exploration, diplomacy and colonization. It is well known that Shakespeare introduced more words into English than all the other writers of his time. One of Shakespeare's biggest contributions to the English language is the introduction of vocabulary and phrases which enriched the language making it more colorful and expressive. Shakespeare used around 20,138 new words in his work, sometimes borrowing from the classical literature and foreign language. His exceptional experimentation with words "also resulted in formation of expressions and phrases" Many of his phrases like "All's well that ends well", "To be or not to be", etc. have become an integral part of the English language and have been used as quotes. Shakespeare introduced style and structure to an otherwise loose, spontaneous language. The Elizabethan era language was written as it was spoken. Lack of prescribed grammar rules introduced vagueness in literature, but expressed feelings with vividness and emotion. Shakespeare used the exuberance of the language and decasyllabic structure in prose and poetry of his plays to reach the masses and the result was a constant two way exchange between learned and the popular. It was a two way process in which literary language gained force and freedom of popular speech whereas eloquence of the language reached the general masses. His contribution in making the language popular with the masses was immense

5 Furthermore, it is true that in Shakespeare's works generally occur all the English words and grammatical structures of his era. A prominent example is the usage of the personal pronouns thee, thy, thou etc. Nevertheless, it is obvious that his language is very innovative for his times, as he introduced new words, phrases and grammatical structures and also picked up words that were new and fashionable at the time. The Oxford English Dictionary records over 2000 entries that have a supporting quotation from Shakespeare's works. As Shakespeare continued experimenting, his style of writing found many manifestations in plays : The dialogues in his plays were written in verse form and followed a decasyllabic rule. Through experimentation of tri syllabic substitution and decasyllabic rule he developed the blank verse to perfection and introduced a new style. The striking choice of words in common place blank verse influenced the run of the verse itself, expanding into images which eventually seem to bear significant repetition, and to form, with the presentation of character and action correspondingly developed, a more subtle and suggestive unity. Expressing emotions and situations in form of a verse gave a natural flow to language with an added sense of flexibility and spontaneity. In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses the blank verse to convey the turmoil in Hamlet's mind: Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly And prais'd be rashness for it let us know Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well... Shakespeare s place and importance in the English culture. Nowadays, wherever you go in England, you will see Shakespeare s face watching you. He has become the symbol of a whole nation, a people s identity. One of the element a foreigner is used to linking with England in the same way as the Queen, the Red Buses or Special Breakfast. By drawing some of the characteristics of the Modern English, he has remained part of each people. Shakespeare is present everywhere, in every English person. He has created our language, colored it, invented words. He was just a genius, the greatest writer of all time. It is impossible to explain the importance he has in our culture. Every English speaking child knows Shakespeare, knows even without having read his work, that he was the Greatest one. If he had not existed, our language and literature would not have gone this way in the following centuries ; and English would maybe not be the most important language in the world nowadays. St Leonard s very enthusiastic English Teacher.

6 I really consider Shakespeare as part of my national heritage. He is the writer I study the more. For me, he remains the most mysterious, the most interesting and the most beautiful to analyze. I don t know what I could add, I think England can be proud of having offered the word such a genius. Heather Long (18), my Host Student. You can measure the importance of something in any modern culture by the use the medias are making of it. In both soap operas you will find stories about brothers and sisters reuniting after a long time apart. You'll find stories about sons killing step fathers, jealous husbands strangling their wives, old men turning against their daughters, and young lovers kept apart by their feuding families. All these scenarios are inspired of Shakespeare ; commercials employ many quotation from his plays to promote their products. He has become a key element in commercial strategies because it appeals sales and so profits. This is a strong proof of popularity, isn t it? M. Tony Long.

7 Sources The Internet : Books : The Oxford History of English Literature. The Winter s Stale. ; William Shakespeare. (Analyzed and Commented for school studies). Shakespeare on Toast. ; Ben Crystal. (Offered before my departure by my host family).