William Shakespeare: Alive Forever

William Shakespeare is "considered the most influential and prolific writer of English language [and] remains the world's most produced play write four hundred years after he penned his final text (the acting company)." He has focused his life's work on placing hidden meanings and life lessons into his plays, hoping that the audience/ readers will find them. Though Shakespeare died "April 23, 1616," he is not forgotten. He lives on through his plays (Gale biography in context). Teachers and students teach, preform, and read his works. Therefore, as long as Shakespeare's works are being preformed, he will live forever.Through plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare has warned humanity of their own possible flaws.Shakespeare produced enjoyable stories that everyone can learn something from and i think that was what has made his a great play write. Shakespeare was honest and straightforward in his plays yet created a sense of pleasure in them. With plays so enjoyable and inspiring, and words so wise, its hard to deny that Shakespeare has created a huge effect on society. i believe that everyone can learn a lesson from any of his plays and apply it to their own life. Shakespeare may no longer be physically living, but he will always live on through his works.



Sources:

http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:m5nRxCokYBkJ:scholar.google.com/+william+shakespeare+romeo+and+juliet&hl=en&as_sdt=0,44

http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=GALE%7C00000000MPVT&documentId=GALE%7CK1631005993&mode=view

Picture Source:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/4957917/Painting-thought-to-be-the-first-portrait-of-William-Shakespeare-done-in-his-lifetime.html

Romeo and Juliet: True Love

Love is the worlds greatest source of passion. Everyone is capable of love and everyone can have true love. Though love is a good emotion, it is also one of the biggest human flaws. When one is in love, they will do anything to be with this person. They have no concern for the number of rules of morals that are broken as long as they can be with the one they truely love. Some take their actions from defying parents and friends to committing suicide. Shakespeare describes the power of love and the affect it has, through one of the greatest love stories of all of mankind. Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet takes the reader/audience through the relationship between Romeo and Juliet. We are shown love and hate, passion and committment, and finally, we are shown true love and true sacrifice.

Is it possible that love at fist sight really exists? That there are such forces such as fate, that compell a person to find true love and never let go no matter what the cercumstance may become? The answers to these questions are found in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The Capulets and the Montegues are natural enemies. The hate between these two families run deep, but fate would have it that Romeo (a Montegue) and Juliet (a Capulet) are the rare exception to the hate. The moment that Romeo sees Juliet at the Masquerade he knows she is the one and asks "Did my heart love till now? Forswearit, sight, for i ne'er saw true beauty till this night (Shakespeare, 53)." Romeo and Juliet rebell against all who stand in the way of their love, betrataying their loyalties to family.

Romeo and Juliet show what true love is when they are dealing with all these adversities and yet they still hold on and fight to protect their love. Of course, the two housholds were completely against the idea of Romeo and Juliet being together but Romeo and Juliet didnt care. The two lovers felt that they couldnt live without one another and that they would do whatever it takes to be together even if it killed them. Juliet fakes a death to escape her family, but Romeo is unaware. When he finds his love "dead", he decides to take his own life, swollowing poison he had bought for the apothecary. Juliet awakens from her sleep to find her dear Romeo laying lifeless beside her. Her love for Romeo is so deep that qithout hesitation, she takes his dagger and ends her life.

Shakespeare has shown the reader/sundience that true love is a powerful thing and it is to be taken seriously. He shws exactly what true love is, through the journey of Romeo and Juliet. Fate also plays as a major theme in Romeo and Juliet. It is fate that Romeo and Juliet, who were born as enemies, would meet and fall in love. It is decided by fate that the only way for Romeo and Juliet to truely be together is through death. Not even death can seperate true love and the two "star-crosssed lovers take their life" in an attempt of happiness together (Shakespeare, 35). True love can be described as a human flaw because it is the most powerful emotion. Love trumps all and if it is real, then there is no stopping it. Love makes people do crazy things and it would appear that when a person is in love, they are no longer living for themself; they are living for the other person, only wishing for their happiness. When someone is in love, they show weakness. People will do anything and everything for true love, even if it is what eventually leads to their downfall in the end.

Sources:

Shakespeare, William. Act I, Scene 5. 2000. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Cedric Watts. Ware: Wordsworth Classics, 2000. 53. Print.

Shakespeare, William. "The Prologue." Foreword. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. Cedric Watts. Ware: Wordsworth Classics, 2000. 35. Print.

Picture Sources:

http://www.fanpop.com/spots/romeo-and-juliet-1968/images/7107544/title/olivia-leo-photo

http://www.observer.com/2008/romeo-and-juliet-do-upper-east-side

Hamlet

 Shakespeare's Hamlet is another great example of human flaw. It is portrayed that some of the characters are greedy, revengeful, and prideful. When Hamlets father, King of Denmark, unexpectedly dies, the kings spirit comes to Hamlet and makes him aware that he was murdered by his wife, Gertrude, and his brother, Claudius. Hamlet becomes enraged and sets his sights on one thing; revenge. One may ask why the kings own brother and wife would betray him like this. The answer is simple; greed and lust. The two were having an affair and with the king out of the way they could be together with no one suspecting anything because the brother of the king would have to step in and take over the crown. Claudius would gain the power as well as the girl. Hamlet tries to make the king and queen confess their crime out of guilt. He starts acting like he has gone insane so that no one would suspect his plans of revenge. He creates a play in which the plot is a reenactment of the death of his father, hoping to "catch the conscience of the king (Shakespeare, 84)." Shakespeare introduces the infamous 'to be or not to be' soliloquy where it is stated that "thus conscience makes cowards of us all (Shakespeare, 87)." Claudius is careful to not give away to much, though Hamlet sees right through his charade, and to the guilt. Claudius catches on to Hamlets plan and convinces Laertes (Hamlets best friend) that the death of Ophelia (Laertes sister and Hamlets secret lover) and his father was caused by Hamlet. Claudius then gives Laertes permission to kill Hamlet claiming that "revenge should have no bounds (Shakespeare, 130)." In the end, they are all destroyed. Shakespeare is warning us that nothing good will come from revenge and that it will eventually destroy you if it isn't let go. I is a natural thing for someone to want to take revenge when they are wronged in some way, but that doesn't mean we should listen to the little voice telling us we must get even. Life isn't about everything being perfect. It is about learning to deal the cards handed to you and pushing through the storm. I think revenge is a huge flaw that all people have and that is why Shakespeare decided to make Hamlets major flaw one of a vengeful heart.


Picture Source:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/william-shakespeare/hamlet.htm


Sources:

Shakespeare, William. Act 2, Scene 2. Hamlet. Ed. Cedric Watts. Ware: Wordsworth Editions, 2002. 84. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Act 3, Scene 1. Hamlet. Ed. Cedric Watts. Ware: Wordsworth Editions, 2002. 86-87. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Act 4, Scene 7. Hamlet. Ed. Cedric Watts. Ware: Wordsworth Editions, 2002. 130. Print.

Human Flaw and Shakespeare

Human flaw is a part of everyday life. No one is perfect and Shakespeare made it a point to include a human flaw in all of his plays to show the imperfections of all humans and explain how they can take a toll if one is not careful. In his play, Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the want of power and ambition of Macbeth to destroy him. Macbeth became very greedy and once he had it in his mind that he would be the new king, he refused to stop at nothing to get it. Macbeth's ambition is what led to his down fall. his wife, Lady Macbeth, manipulated him into the first murder and from there everything just fell apart. once one lies or commits a certain crime, things start to unfold and one has to commit another crime or tell another lie to cover for the first and it becomes a pattern. Macbeth listened to his wife and became just as evil and greedy as she was. i believe Shakespeare wrote the play as a warning to his readers about how greed can destroy a person. Shakespeare really focuses on the fact that had Macbeth not listen to the three witches, he would still be alive and so would his wife. Macbeth single handily destroyed his life and all of his happiness through greed and ambition. He continues to listen to the opinion of others instead of what he knows is right and lets others lead him down the path that was never originally designed for him. I believe that Shakespeare was also trying to warn the readers of this. As human beings, everyone has a flaw and everyone wants to be excepted. There are some people out there that will be hoping for nothing more than to bring you down, and others that are just trying to lift you up. we all go to others for approval and acceptance and we listen to their advice in times of need. What one must always decide though, is what is the right path to travel? are you getting advice from someone trust worthy or someone who "look[s] like th'innocent flower, but be the serpant under't (Shakespeare, 19)" it is quite easy to get the two confused and fall right into the paths of the enemy and fall into our own fleshly ways. Shakespeare not only discusses this point in Macbeth, but also in a few other plays, where he warns the readers about humanly flaws.




Sources:

Shakespeare, William. Act 1, Scene 5. Macbeth. Ed. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen. New York, NY: Modern Library, 2009. Print.

Picture Source:

http://sbfmedia.relationalhost.com/index.php?start=93&num=5&categ=6

Better Understandings

William Shakespeare is quite an inspiration to me. Shakespeare is my favorite poet/play write, and has been since I was young. I was recently reading over some of Shakespeare's work, and found myself really thinking about the messages that Shakespeare has presented us with. Shakespeare has put life messages into all of his plays and I think that is what has made him such a great poet. Shakespeare uses Irony and Tragedy to really communicate his messages to the reader. Shakespeare tends to focus on the human flaws and how if we aren't careful, they can over come us. Shakespeare, in not only my mind but a lot of other minds as well, was a sheer genius when it came to play writing. Yes, it is true that Shakespeare is no longer alive, but his poetry and plays have lived on. Today, 394 years after his death, schools are still teaching their students about him and people are still preforming his work. Shakespeare is a legend and lives on in the hearts and minds of his readers. Three of my favorite plays are all Shakespeare's work and they are all tragedies. I decided to create a blog of these three Shakespeare plays, discussing the human flaw, Irony, and the real message behind each play. I hope to show the works of Shakespeare for what they truly are and to help my readers obtain a better understanding of Shakespeare and the messages and truths he has put into his plays for the readers to discover.