Theater plays

English playwright, poet and actor, considered one of the greatest writers of all time. His most famous works include the tragedies Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, as well as the comedies A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice. Additionally, Shakespeare wrote numerous history plays and sonnets. He was one of the founders of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and his literary legacy continues to be relevant and celebrated around the world.

There are different versions about the number of works he wrote. It is believed that he could have written around 39 plays classified in the genres of comedy, tragedy and historical drama. On the other hand, Shakespeare also wrote 154 sonnets and four lyric works.

Between 1590 and 1613, he wrote at least 37 plays and collaborated on several more. Many of these plays were successful, both at court and in public theaters. William Shakespeare used his surname in more than 80 different ways, ranging from "Shappere" to "Shaxberd." In the few signatures that have survived, he never wrote his own name "William Shakespeare", and used variations or abbreviations such as "Willm Shakp", "Willm Shakespeare". In addition to writing his numerous plays and sonnets, he was also an actor in many of his own plays, as well as those of other playwrights.

His first plays had a high degree of formality and were predictable and mannered. Henry VI, First, Second and Third parts (ca. 1590-1592) and Richard III (ca. 1593), deal with the consequences that the lack of strong leadership had for the country. 

The cycle closes with the death of Richard III and the accession to the throne of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty, to which Queen Elizabeth belonged. They contain references to medieval theater and the works of the first Elizabethan playwrights, especially Christopher Marlowe, through whom he learned about the works of the classical Latin playwright Seneca. The influence is manifested in its numerous bloody scenes and in its colorful and redundant language, especially noticeable in Titus Andronicus (1594), a tragedy filled with revenge.

In this first period he wrote numerous comedies, among which it is worth highlighting:

The Comedy of Errors (around 1592) a farce about the identity errors caused by two sets of twins and the misunderstandings that occur regarding love and war.

The character of farce is no longer so evident in The Taming of the Bravery (around 1593), a comedy of characters.

On the other hand, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (around 1594) bases its appeal on the use of idyllic love

While Love's Labour's Lost (around 1594) satirizes the loves of its male characters.

He wrote some of his most important works related to English history and the so-called lighthearted comedies, as well as two of his best tragedies. Among the first it is worth highlighting:

Richard II (c. 1595)

Henry IV, First and Second Part (ca. 1597)

Henry V (c. 1598), covering a period of time immediately preceding that of his Henry VI.

Among the comedies of this period the following stand out:

A Midsummer Night's Dream (around 1595), a work full of fantasy in which several plot threads intermingle.

In The Merchant of Venice (ca. 1596), another subtle evocation of exotic atmospheres similar to that of the previous work can be found.

The comedy Much Ado About Nothing (around 1599) deforms, in the opinion of many critics, in its somewhat insensitive treatment of the female characters.

However, the coming-of-age comedies As You Like It (around 1600) and Epiphany Night (around 1600) are characterized by their lyricism, their ambiguity, and the attractiveness of their beautiful heroines.

In As You Like It, he describes the contrast between the refined customs of the Elizabethan court and those of the rural areas of the country and constructed a complex plot based on the relationships between reality and fiction.

Another of the comedies of this second period, The Merry Wives of Windsor (around 1599), is a farce about middle-class life

Two tragedies, very different from each other in their nature, mark the beginning and the end of this second period.

On the one hand, Romeo and Juliet (around 1595) depicts the tragic fate of two lovers, forged by the enmity of their families.

On the other hand, Julius Caesar (ca. 1599) is a tragedy about political rivalry.

Hamlet (ca. 1601), his most universal work, goes beyond other tragedies focused on revenge, as it portrays the mixture of glory and sordidness that characterizes human nature.

Othello, the Moor of Venice (around 1604) exposes the emergence and expansion of unjustified jealousy in the heart of the protagonist, a Moor who is the general of the Venetian army.

King Lear (c. 1605), conceived in a more epic tone, describes the consequences of the irresponsibility and errors of judgment of Lear, ruler of ancient Britain, and his advisor, the Duke of Gloucester.

Antony and Cleopatra (around 1606), focuses on another type of love, the passion of the Roman general Mark Antony for Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, glorified by some of the most sensual verses in all of Shakespeare's production.

Macbeth (around 1606) describes the process of a good man who succumbs to ambition and leads to murder.

Troilus and Cressida (around 1602), reveals the abyss between the ideal and the real.

In Coriolanus (around 1608), the Roman Gaius Marcius Coriolanus is unable to seduce the masses.

Timon of Athens (around 1608) tells the story of a character reduced to misanthropy.

In the end there is no bad beginning (around 1602).

Measure by measure (around 1604) they question official morality.

The romantic tragicomedy Pericles Prince of Tire (around 1608), shows a character despondent over the loss of his wife and the persecution of his daughter.

In Cymbeline (around 1610) and The Winter's Tale (around 1610), the characters also endure great suffering, although in the end they achieve happiness.

The Tempest (around 1611), another tragicomedy, exposes the effects of the alliance between wisdom and power.

The historical drama Henry VIII (c. 1613) and The Two Noble Kinsmen (c. 1613 and published in 1634), attributed to Shakespeare, seem to be rather the fruit of his collaboration with John Fletcher.

William Shakespeare video:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkCs8SXkK3g