Shakespeare: The Genius and An Artist
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William Shakespeare was born at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 and died in 1616. He is undoubtedly the greatest English dramatist and poet. He began writing at an early age and had established a reputation for himself by acting and writing plays. His early works include the poems "Venus and Adonis " (1593) and "The Rape of Lucrece' (1594). The controversial sonnets:" To the dark lady" appeared in 1609.
He acted in Ben Johnson's "Every Man in his Humour" and probably played the part of the Ghost in his own 'Hamlet'. The 18th century did not think much of Shakespeare as a dramatist, as his plays were adapted and changed to suit the taste of the age. However, the 19th century saw a reaction in his favor and modern critics agree that he is a world's greatest dramatist: his knowledge of men and women is unequaled. Not only does he gives us magnificent poetry, but also a profound insight into human nature.
Shakespeare reached the position of an eminent dramatist very gradually. It is believed that at first, he did only odd jobs in the theatre. For some time, he also acted in plays, one of the best-known parts being in Ben Johnson's Every Man in his Humour. It is quite likely that for quite some time he was only a revisor or "mender" of the works of other playwrights. However, by 1592 he had attained a position important enough to have envoked the jealousy of Robert Greene who calls him 'an upstrat crow', he applies a line in Henry Vl, Part lll, which Shakespeare edited, to Shakespeare himself. The line in question is " Tiger's heart wrapt in a player's hide' - an adaptation of the actual line in the play' O Tiger's heart wrapt in a woman's hide". It is possible that Greene himself might have been associated with the writing of the original play, in which case his bitterness is all the more understandable.
Plague caused the theatres to be closed in 1593, and on their reopening, in the following year, we knew that Shakespeare became the charter member of The Lord Chamberlain's Men, a group of actors who later changed their name to The King's Men when they gained the sponsorship of King James 1. By 1598, he was "principal comedian", for the troupe, and by 1603, he was "principal tragedian". Acting and writing plays at this time were not considered noble professions, but successful and prosperous actors were relatively well- respected. Shakespeare was very successful and made quite a bit of money. He invested this money in Stratford real estate and was able to purchase the second largest house in Stratford, the New Place, for his parents in 1597. In 1596, Shakespeare applied for a coat of arms for his family, in effect making himself into a gentleman, and his daughters married successfully and wealthily.
The first well known plays by Shakespeare is the lyrical tragedy Romeo Juliet assigned to 1594-95. Richard ll and A Midsummer Night's Dream are assigned to 1595-96. The Merchant of Venice is believed to have been written in 1596-97 and the two parts of Henry lV in 1597-98. Shakespeare's greatest comedies which include Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night are assigned to the period 1598-1600 to which Julius Caesar is also believed to belong. After the turn of the century i.e. in 1600-1601, Shakespeare is believed to have written his great tragedy 'Hamlet followed by Troilus and Cressida in the most theatrical season.
The death of Queen Elizabeth seems to have cast a gloom or added to pre-existing unhappiness in the poet's life although her successor, James l (according to Ben Johnson's assertion) esteemed Shakespeare as greatly as Queen Elizabeth. The gloom gave rise to the greatest tragedies of Shakespeare. King Lear and Macbeth are believed to have been written during 1605-1606, while Othello is assigned to the theatrical season immediately before this and Antony and Cleopatra to 1606-1607. Shakespeare seems to have overcome his melancholy near- about this time and from 1608 to the end of his dramatic career in 1611, he wrote Romantic plays. These have been aptly described as 'at once grave and glad, serene and beautiful'. The Winter's Tale and The Tempest are the most celebrated plays belonging to this period. All the plays written during this period possess some important common characteristics. They are often called romances and they are romantic in the true Elizabethan sense of the word, dealing with love in people of high estate, events controlled by the supernatural agency and by chance, and heroic adventure in both courtly and Arcadian settings. They were written in the similar style and have similar peculiarities of language and versification.
Virtue, beauty, and happiness are in them all; but they contain evil, ugliness, and misery too, and at times they all come near tragedy: yet they all end happily. Their story is the evil caused by jealousy, hatred, or treachery and of the conquest of this evil in the course of time by integrity, constancy and courageous love aided by good fortune. It has even been said that they are so closely connected that 'the prospect of understanding Cymbeline without The Winter Tale and The Tempest is poor indeed', and whether it is accepted or not, it must certainly be agreed that these plays are of a kind.
All the plays of Shakespeare are rich in poetry but even apart from them, he has a claim to be regarded as one of the greatest poets of the world. This claim rests on his Sonnets and, to a lesser extent, on Venus and Adonis. The Rape of Lucrece is much inferior, to the rest of poetry. The greatness of Shakespeare's poetry depends on his intensity as well as on its technique and craft. In Venus and Adonis, he has used the six-line stanza with a mastery which surpasses that of Spenser. Shakespeare reveals an absolute mastery of his meter and handles phrase and rhythm in such a way as though he could mould his material to any shape he desired.
Shakespeare is by far by the greatest dramatist which has his country - or indeed the world has ever produced. The chief reason for this is the fact that Shakespeare's dramatic mastery is sustained and his dramatic output is large and versatile. In single scenes as well as in brief passage, some other Elizabethan dramatists often match Shakespeare, and at times even excel him, but they lack his range and his unfailing sureness of touch.
Shakespeare's claim to greatness rests also on the fact that his command over comedy and tragedy was equally great and that in his last plays, in violation of the rules of the ancients he was able to accomplish a harmonious blending of the two. Shakespeare did not evince much inventive power so far as plots are concerned, but his gifts of the structure were unmatched and the genius which he revealed in visualizing character, and the poetry which suffuses his plays, will always remain unequaled. Still another facet of Shakespeare's greatness as a dramatist is the delightful variety of themes, incidents, and characters which his plays provide.
Shakespeare's claim to greatness rests also on the fact that his command over comedy and tragedy was equally great and that in his last plays, in violation of the rules of the ancients he was able to accomplish a harmonious blending of the two. Shakespeare did not evince much inventive power so far as plots are concerned, but his gifts of the structure were unmatched and the genius which he revealed in visualizing character, and the poetry which suffuses his plays, will always remain unequaled. Still another facet of Shakespeare's greatness as a dramatist is the delightful variety of themes, incidents, and characters which his plays provide.
As a critic observes, of the thirty- six plays Shakespeare has left, no two plays are alike, nor does any play create an impression which is similar to that of any other play. Shakespeare's distinctive style is also one of the important features of his greatness as a poet and dramatist. Even style Shakespeare's range and versatility were truly astonishing. Of all the world's greatest dramatists, he alone displays an equal aptitude for tragedy and comedy.
Notwithstanding the popular view that Shakespeare was an untaught genius, his work evinces an astonishing degree of delightful variety and delicately concealed art. He never presents the same theme alike in his works, nor does he ever repeat a set mood or emotion. The diversity marks all his dramatic output. Shakespeare has no fixed formula but seems to apply to the special recipe to every work. Under the surface, there is much carefully wrought art, thought and symbolism in his plays, yet all this is managed with a consummate artistic modesty which conceals all outward traces of art.