William+Shakespeare

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= William Shakespeare =

====William Shakespeare was born in April, 1564, to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in Stratford-on-Avon. His father was a prominent businessman in the area, which allowed the family to live relatively comfortably, He did, however, run into some financial difficulties during William's teen years. As a child, Shakespeare attended Stratford Grammar School, where he became well-versed in English, Latin, and Greek writings. William had to leave school at the age of 13 because of his father's financial troubles. William did not return to school after this and it is speculated that he possibly worked as a scholar, lawyer, butcher or the head of his father's business. It is known that Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was six years his senior, on Novemeber 28, 1582. The couple had three children; Sussana, born May 26, 1583, and the twins, Judith and Hamnet, born February 5, 1585. For the next seven years, also known as the "Lost Years," Shakespeare disappeared off the grid and records of him did not resurface until 1592 in London. Many scholars believe that over these seven years Shakespeare was collecting material for his plays and attempting to perfect his theater craft. It is known that a few of his plays did surface during this time including //Henry IV//, //The Comedy of Errors//, and //Titus Andronicus//, most of which were put on by Pembroke's Men.==== ====Shakespeare's big break came in April, 1593, when the Earl of Southhampton became his offcial patron and he was able to formally begin publishing his works, the first of which was the poem //Venus and Adonis//. The next year, Shakespeare became a member of the Lord Chamberlin's Men, later known as the King's Men. Shakespeare was not only a playright and actor for the troupe, but he was also a managing partner with Will Kemp and Richard Burbage. Over the next four years, from 1594 to 1598, Shakespeare wrote the==== ====majority of his works including //Richard II//, //The Merchant of Venice//, //Romeo and Juliet//, as well as //A Midsummer Night's Dream//. These plays were performed at a variety of theaters across England including the Swan, the Curtain, and the Theater. Then, in 1599, he constructed the Globe theater in the south of London from the remains of the Theater, which they had leased beforehand. By this time Shakespeare had retired from acting and was now exclusively a writer. He worked from the Great House of New Place in Stratford during this time and produced performances at the Globe for the next 14 years. However, on June 19, 1613, cannon fire from a performance of Henry VIII caused the theater to catch on fire and eventually burn to the ground. Shakespeare passed away about three years later on April 23, 1616, which many believe to be his birthday.====
 * William Shakespeare is one of, if not, the most famous playwright of the English Renaissance. He is genius of literary collaboration and editing.
 * some works are:
 * Hamlet
 * Macbeth
 * Othello
 * The Merchant of Venice
 * A Midsummer Night's Dream
 * Taming of the Shrew
 * Two Gentleman of Verona
 * And an abundance of Sonnets

Here is a link to an interactive Globe theater viewer as well.

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Sonnet XVIII: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?
media type="file" key="Sonnet 18.m4a" width="300" height="50" Shall I __compare__ thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

media type="file" key="Sonnet 29.m4a" width="300" height="50" When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more __rich__ in hope, Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least: Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee,--and then my state (Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate; For thy sweet love remember'd such __wealth__ brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings'.
 * Sonnet XXIX: When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men's Eyes**

Below is a link to the complete list of Shakespeare's works: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/

Here is a link to one of Shakespeare's most famous play, Othello: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/othello/full.html


 * Hamlet: To Be or Not to Be Soliloquy**

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To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural __shocks__ That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover'd country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.--Soft you now! The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember'd.

What is Hamlet saying in this piece? What is he saying about his own life? What themes may be introduced in this piece? What does this say about Hamlet as a character?

Here is the link to the full Hamlet play: []

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media type="file" key="romeo.m4a" width="300" height="50" =Romeo and Juliet= **PRINCE** > Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, > Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel,-- > Will they not hear? What, ho! you men, you beasts, > That quench the fire of your pernicious rage > With purple fountains issuing from your veins, > On pain of torture, from those bloody hands > Throw your mistemper'd weapons to the ground, > And hear the sentence of your moved prince. > Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word, > By thee, old Capulet, and Montague, Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets, > And made Verona's ancient citizens > Cast by their grave beseeming ornaments, > To wield old partisans, in hands as old, > Canker'd with peace, to part your canker'd hate: > If ever you disturb our streets again, > Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace. > For this time, all the rest depart away: > You Capulet; shall go along with me: And, Montague, come you this afternoon, > To know our further pleasure in this case, > To old Free-town, our common judgment-place. > Once more, on pain of death, all men depart.

Questions
 * What are the "three civil brawls" that the Prince is speaking of?
 * Who are the Montague's and the Capulet's?
 * What does this passage tell about the relationship between the two groups?
 * Through this passage the Prince in urging the Montague's and the Capulet's to do what?