A BRİEF ESSAY ON SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

William Shakespeare is an English poet, dramatist, and actor often called the English

national poet and considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time. Many
information about Shakespeare is known from the official documents and not many known
about his personal life. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England in 1564. In 1582 he
married Anne Hathaway and the couple went on to have three children. Shakespeare lived in
London for 25 years and wrote most of his plays there. He died at his home in Stratford-upon-
Avon on 23 April 1616, aged 52. Shakespeare wrote three different types of plays:
Histories (about the lives of kings and famous figures from history), comedies (which end
with a marriage) and tragedies (which end with the death of the main character). His work
was popular at the time because he earned enough money to live in a smart area of London,
where he wrote some of his most famous plays. He had an incredible influence on the English
language and invented hundreds of words that poeple still use today. His popular plays
include: Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and
Othello.
William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet early in his career in 1597. It is a tragic
love story where the two main characters, Romeo and Juliet, are supposed to be sworn
enemies but fall in love. Due to their families' ongoing conflict, they can not be together, so
they kill themselves because they can not cope with being separated from one another. The
key themes in Romeo and Juliet are love, conflict and family. All three themes interlink with
one another.
Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in a combination of prose and verse. Iambic
pentameter is used almost all the time in Romeo and Juliet. Iambic pentameter is the name
given to the rhythm that Shakespeare uses in his plays. The rhythm of iambic pentameter is
like a heartbeat, with one soft beat and one strong beat repeated five times. He also uses
dramatic irony throughout the play. Dramatic irony is a literary technique in which the
significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience but unknown to the
character speaking them.
The play is set in the thirteenth or fourteenth century in Italy in Verona and Mantua.
Much of the action takes place in Juliet’s house. Two cities of Venice are also mentioned in
the play. The Capulets and the Montagues, the main families of the play, are from noble
lineage and wealth; they dress well, live in fancy surroundings, and are served by many
attendants. The play’s basic setting, therefore, is rich and elegant. Major Characters are
Romeo, Juliet, Friar Lawrence and Nurse.
The Merchant of Venice is another populer play of Shakespeare, it is believed to have
been written between 1596 and 1599. Antonio, an antisemitic merchant, takes a loan from the
Jew Shylock to help his friend to court Portia. Antonio can't repay the loan in time, and
without mercy, Shylock demands a pound of his flesh. The heiress Portia, now the wife of
Antonio's friend, dresses as a lawyer and defends Antonio. Portia wins the case. News arrives
that Antonio’s remaining ships have returned safely. With the exception of Shylock, all
celebrate a happy ending to the affair.
 There are several main themes that run through this play, often linking and
overlapping with each other but the three main themes are love, justice and money. Iambic
Pentameter is used for the majority of the play. Minority of The Merchant of Venice is written
in prose. The Merchant Of Venice is set in renaissance Venice, with a few scenes in a
fictional town called Belmont. The setting is important because Venice was one of the
wealthiest towns in Europe, as it was right on the sea, with excellent shipping facilities for
trading with the east. Major charachters are Antanio, Bassanio, Jessica, Portia and Shylock.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy
written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest
play with 30,557 words. The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his
murder by killing the new king, Claudius who is Hamlet's uncle,. Hamlet feigns madness,
contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises
plots to kill Hamlet. The play ends with a duel, during which the King, Queen, Hamlet's
opponent and Hamlet himself are all killed. 
There are many important themes in Hamlet: Corruption, Death, Revenge, Religion,
Honor. Iambic pentameter is used almost all the time in Hamlet. Hamlet is mostly written in
verse. The story of Hamlet is set in the late middle ages (14th and 15th centuries,) and the
story mostly takes place around the royal palace in Elsinore, a city in Denmark. Major
charachters in Hamlet are Hamlet, Claudius, Ghost of King Hamlet, Gertrude and Polonius.
King Lear, is an another tradegy written by Shakespeare and it is generally believed
that Shakespeare wrote it sometime between 1605 and 1606. King Lear divides his kingdom
among the two daughters who flatter him and banishes the third one who loves him. His eldest
daughters both then reject him at their homes, so Lear goes mad and wanders through a storm.
His banished daughter returns with an army, but they lose the battle and Lear, all his
daughters and more, die.
The most important themes are: Family, Power, Justice, Loyalty. Iambic pentameter is
used the majority of the time in the play. Majority of King Lear is written in verse. The King
Lear play is set in the BCE period, somewhere in England, usually thought of as being what is
Leicestershire today. The action in the first two acts shifts among the castles of Lear,
Gloucester, and those of Lear’s two daughters, Goneril and Regan. The rest of the action takes
place in the frozen countryside, mainly on a blasted heath with violent weather, symbolizing
the state of Lear’s mind. The characters in King Lear are; King Lear who is the king of pre-
Christian Britain. He has three daughters – Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. The Earl of
Gloucester is a senior duke in Lear’s kingdom. He has two sons, Edmund, an illegitimate son
and Edgar, a legitimate son
Macbeth, fully The Tragedy of Macbeth, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It was
probably first performed in 1606. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a
prompt book, and is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy. Three witches tell the Scottish general
Macbeth that he will be King of Scotland. Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth kills the king,
becomes the new king, and kills more people out of paranoia. Civil war erupts to overthrow
Macbeth, resulting in more death.
 The themes of Macbeth are: Ambition, Supernatural, The contrast between what is real
and how things appear, Loyalty and guilt. Most of Macbeth is written in verse. Iambic
pentameter is used almost all the time in Macbeth. Trochaic tetrameter is also used. Trochaic
tetrameter is a rhythm that includes eight syllables in each line rather than the ten that are used
in iambic pentameter. Macbeth is set mainly in various Scottish locations, with just one scene
set in England, at the King’ palace.The characters of Macbeth are Duncan, King of Scotland,
Machbeth and Lady Machbeth and Banquo who is the general of the King’s army.
Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603.
Iago is furious about being overlooked for promotion and plots to take revenge against his
General; Othello, the Moor of Venice. Iago manipulates Othello into believing his wife
Desdemona is unfaithful, stirring Othello's jealousy. Othello allows jealousy to consume him,
murders Desdemona, and then kills himself.
The themes of Othella are: Prejudice, Jealousy, Manhood and Honor, Womanhood and
Sexuality. Iambic pentameter is used for the majority of the play. Majority of Othello is
written in verse. Shakespeare’s Othello is subtitled “The Moor of Venice”, and as such the
play has a few scenes at the beginning set in Renaissance Venice. However, most of the play
is set in Cyprus, in a selection of public places, and various places in and around a castle. In
Shakespeare’s time, Cyprus was an island right on the edge of European territory  -a military
post to keep an eye on the Turks, who were always ready to disrupt European trade and to
fight them if necessary. The setting in a military base is important as Shakespeare made the
army the play’s context. The charachters of the play are;Othello who is a black general in the
army of the Duke of Venice. He falls in love with Desdemona, the daughter of Brabantio, an
influential senator, and secretly marries her. Othello’s standard-bearer, Iago, is a bitter officer
who resents being overlooked for promotion in favour of another officer, Cassio, and vows
revenge, both on Cassio and Othello.
It has been almost 400 years since William Shakespeare died, but people still celebrate
his work all around the world. Whether writing tragedy, history, or comedy, Shakespeare's
plays would not have lasted if people were not able to identify with the characters and the
emotions they experience. He created three dimensional, complicated characters with
complicated plots. These characters were very human - with positive and negative attributes -
and constantly questioning the world around them. These qualities made him one of the most
influential and famous writer of all-time.