SHAKESPEARIAN DRAMA / SHAKESPEARE AS A DRAMATIST

”Soul of the age!

The applause; the delight, the wonder of our stage.”

- -BEN JONSON

To this day Shakespeare remains the Prince of poets, and the king of
Dramatists, not only of England, but of the whole world. He has been acknowledged on all hands as the
glory of the English stage, the Proteus of the drama who changes himself into every character and
enters into every condition of human life and nature as well as the expression o f the genius of English
race. The stream of time which has been continually washing this dissoluble fabrics of other poets,
passes without injury of the adamant of Shakespeare. Shakespeare, in the words of BEN JONSON, “was
not of an age, but of all ages.” Shakespeare is eternal. Shakespeare is universal. The whole world has
adopted Shakespeare. In Germany, he is as widely read and acted as in England. Russia, and Poland, Italy
and Spain, even India have excellent versions of Shakespeare’s plays. In fact, there is hardly any
language in the world in which Shakespeare has not been translated. He is the common possession of all
ages and of all nations.

SHAKESPEARE is the greatest man of genius that have ever born on this
earth. The accent, variety and richness of his plays are quite Bewildering as one approaches them. He is
one of the greatest literary play giarists. Shakespeare’s subject-matter is life in its totality. This is the
secret of his universal appeal. Although, Shakespeare has powerfully expressed the spirit of the age, he
is distinguished by his contemporaries for the expression of those human emotions of love, hate,
jealousy, sorrow, sympathy, longings and aspirations, similes and tears, passions and prejudices, which
are eternal. He stands secure through all eternity transcending boundaries of time and space, class and
race, religion and sex. His men and women are not merely superficial studies of contemporary society,
they are true to the eternal facts of human nature. Shakespeare’s stage is world, his characters are types
of universal mankind, his subject is human soul, and himself is the very genius of humanity. S.T
COLERIDGE writes about his humanity: “The greatest genius that perhaps human nature yet produced,
our myriad-minded Shakespeare.” In his almost infinite variety there is truly “God’s Plenty.” He is the
very “epitome of mankind.” His language fits all times, and his thought all places. No part of human
existence, no depth of universe, no problem of human existence, no variety of character, seems outside
his range.

Shakespeare, first of all, combined to gether all the great dramatic gifts.
He combines Marlowe’s pathos and sublimity, Webster’s terrible atmosphere of grief and terror, the
lyrical intensity of Fletcher and Dekker in his plays. While they tended to be stole and stereo typed,
Shakespeare is ever changing, ever becoming different from what he was before. LEGOUIS writes: “His
flexibility was marvelous. He adopted himself to the most diverse material and seemed to use all with
equal ardour and joy.” Shakespeare’s dramatic skill lies in plot-construction and art of characterization.
In Shakespeare’s plays, there are two or three or four plots running together. His dramatic skill lies in
weaving these different plots into a harmonius design. He did not tie himself to any theory. His first care
was to get hold of a story that would succeed. He sought first for the story. His plots are perfect in their
own ways. They have a good beginning a good middle and a good end. Shakespeare did not invent
stories. He took up popular stories, and by his genius transformed them into great dramas.

Shakespeare surpasses all his contemporaries and rivals in the art of

characterization. EDWARD ALBERT writes: “In Sheer prodigality of output, Shakespeare is unrivalled in
literature. From king to clown, from lunatie and demi-devil to saint and seer, from lover to misanthrope-
all are revealed with the hand of the master.” Shakespeare’s art of characterization is marked by
objectivity. And his characters have a vital force. They are individual figures, who live, move and other
speech. They are entire, rounded and capable. HAZZLITT writes- “His characters are real human beings
of flesh and blood; they speak likes men, not like authors.” Besides, Shakespeare is the greatest
humorist in English literature. His humour is generally impartial objective, genial, human refined and
noble. It is more than a laughter producing power. His style is individual and all his own. He had magic
powers over words.

A study of the plays of Shakespeare reveals a gradual development of

his mind and art. PROF. DOWDEN has divided his dramatic career into four parts , each revealing a
definite advance over the previous one.

1– IN THE WORKSHIP

This is the period of apprenticeship. The dramatist was learning his

craft. He was revising old plats, working in collaboration with other known dramatist of his day and
imitating them. He was “in the workshop.” The plays of this time are immature in theme, treatment and
characterization. The early work consists of Early Tragedy, Early Comedy and Early work on history. The
most important of them are- “LOVER’S LABOUR’S LOST”, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS”, “THE TWO
GENTLEMAN OF VERONA”, “RECHARD’ III”, “ROMEO AND JULIET” and “A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S
DREAM”.

2- IN THE WORLD

This is the period of mature, jovial comedies and mature histories. By this
time, Shakespeare has acquired experience of the world as well as mastery over his craft. He is now, as
DOWDEN remarks, “in the world”. His powers have matured and he writes with full confidence and
sureness of touch. The works of this period are entirely original and independent creation. And cand
easily be recognised as Shakespeare’s own. He is at the fullness of his powers, and his work is robust and
strong. The most important works of this period are- “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING”, “AS YOU LIKE IT”,
“TWELFTH NIGHT”, “MARRY WIVES OF WINDSOR”, “THE TAMING OF THE SHREW”, “THE MERCHANT OF
VENICE”, “RICHARD II”, “HENRY IV” and “HENRY V”.

3- OUT OF THE DEPTHS:

This is the period of Dark comedies the four great tragedies and the great
Roman plays. PROF. DOWDEN refers to this stage as “Out of the Depths”. It seems as if some change has
come over the poet and he is ill at case and depressed. Frustration in love, treachery of some trusted
friends, death of his father or son seems to have cast a shadow over him and the plays of this time are
full of gloom and bitterness of life. The plays of this period may be classified as-

(a) THE DARK COMEDIES:

“ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL”, “MEASURE FOR MEASURE”, and

“TROILUS AND CRESSIDA”. They are comedies only in name as they partake fully of tragic pain and
intensity.

(b) ROMAN PLAYS

“JULIUS CAESAR”, “ANTONY AND CLEORATRA”, “CORIOLANUS” etc.

(c) THE FOUR GREAT TRAGEDY

“HAMLET”, “MACBETH”, “KING LEAR” and “OTHELLO” are the four great
tragedies of the world and the supreme creations of Shakespeare.

4- ON THE HEIGHTS

The last period is the period of the great Dramatic Romances.

Shakespeare was now “On the Heights”. He was at the top of his profession and was no longer forced to
follow accepted conventions. He, therefore, wrote with perfect liberty. The plays of this period are
“PERICLES”, “CYMBALINE”, “THE WINTER’S TALE”, “THE TEMPEST” and “HENRY VI”

The plays of Shakespeare can broadly be put into seven groups:

(i) The Early Comedies,

(ii) The English Histories,’
(iii) The Mature Comedies,
(iv) The Sombre, Dark and Problem Plays,
(v) The Great Tragedies,
(vi) The Roman Plays, and
(vii) The Last Plays, Dramatic Romances.

(i) THE EARLY COMEDIES

The early comedies of Shakespeare- “THE COMMON ERRORS”, “LOVE’S

LABOUR’S LOST” and “THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA” are immature plays of the dramatist and
exhibit the early efforts of a writer who scaled high heights of success in his later dramatic career. The
plot of the comedies lack originality. The characters of these plays are less finished and marked with
artistic lapses in character portroyal. The style lacks the graces of the matured work of wit and humour.
His plays of this time are immature in theme, treatment and characterization.
(ii) THE ENGLISH HISTORIES

The plays of this group are “RICHARD II”, “HENRY IV PART I”, “HENRY V”,
“HENRY VII”, “RICHARD III”, “KING JOHN” and “HENRY VI”. In these historical plays Shakespeare presents
the weakness of English Kings. These historical plays served as a guide to kings of England and
acquainted them with the pitfall of the high and mighty kings. In these plays we witness the rapid
maturity of Shakespeare’s Skill plot-construction and characterization.

(iii) THE MATURE COMEDIES

The mature comedies of Shakespeare are- “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING”,

“TWELFTH NIGHTS”, “THE MERCHANT OF VENICE”, “AS YOU LIKE IT” etc. In these comedies, the flower
of Shakespeare’s comic genius are to be found. These plays are full of vitality and are marked with wit
and pleasant humour. They are romantic in character and saturated in the spirit of love. They are rich in
comic spirit. The sparkling heroes and heroines of these plays such as Rosalind and Orlando in “AS YOU
LIKE IT”, Viola and Orsino in “TWELFTH NIGHT”, Beredict and Beatrice in “MUCH ADO ABOUT
NOTHING”, Portia and Bassanio in “THE MERCHANT OF VENICE” have been the object of love and
admiration among the readers of these sunny comedies.

(iv) THE SOBBER / DARK PLAYS

In this groups are- “ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL”, “MEASURE FOR MEASURE”
and “TROILUS AND CRESSIDA”. They have been considered as comedies, for all of them end happily but
their general tone is marked with of tragedy and somberness. They are also known as tragic-comedy or
‘Problem Plays’. They reflect a cynical, disillusioned attitude of life and a fondness for objectionable
desire to expose the falsity of romance and to show the sordid reality of life.

(v) THE GREAT TRAGEDIES

The great tragedies of Shakespeare are- “HAMLET”, “KING LEAR”, “MACBETH”

and “OTHELLO”. “HAMET” is the tragedy of inaction and indecision brought about by the delay in
“MACBETH”, action represents the tragedy of ambition and marks the death of Macbeth. “OTHELLO” is
the tragedy of credulous nature. In “MACBETH” we have a philosophical passage about life and its
futility-

“Life is a tale told by an idiot ,

Full of sound, furry, signifying nothing.”

(vi) THE ROMAN PLAYS

“JULIUS CAESAR”, “ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA” are his Roman plays. They
are based on NORTH’S translation of PLUTARCH’S “LIVES”.
 (vii) THE LAST PLAYS, DRAMATIC ROMANCES

The last plays of Shakespeare are- “CYMBELINE”, “THE WINTER’S

TALE” and “THE TEMPEST”. A mallowed maturity is the chief feature of this group. They are based on
the theme of forgiveness. In short, in the words of DRYDEN.

“Shakespeare was the man who of all modern and perhaps ancient
poets had the largest and the most comprehensive soul.”

As BEN JONSON said,

“He is not of an age, but of all ages, is not of one country,

but of all countries, he is truly the worlds immortal poet.”

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