Transcript Shakespeare
Shakespeare an Introduction •Dominant Renaissance World Views • Christian Humanist • History as moral • Nature understood through Bible • language: metaphor • growth toward essence, vertical concept of time • identity more simple, ideal personality, the same with everyone • Machiavellian • History as natural cycle • Nature understood by logic, reason • language: scientific • change cyclical, horizontal concept of time • identity plural, different in various situation, with different people •The Great Chain of Being • derived from Ptolemaic view of earth at center • orderly universe, everything has place and purpose • the hierarchies used in metaphoric language • king associated with sun, lion, head, air • antagonist associated with moon, snake, feet, earth • reality tied with moral truth, what ought to be • man’s place in the world determined by birth • belief in the guiding hand of Providence •Characters often found in Shakespeare plays • the Fair • past as heroic myth • ideal world • world of heroic action • advice giving and tradition • innocence and idealism • belief and trust • ideal character • remembered past • the Foul • present as corrupt society • unweeded garden • world of Machiavellian intrigue • spying and conflict • experience and cynicism • suspicion and doubt • malcontent, deceiver • experienced present •Staging • No set design -- actors must establish setting, time • Few props -- actors must bring on throne, table, chair, then take them off stage again • If a character dies, Shakespeare must find a way to get the body off the stage • Shakespeare must invent reason for characters to exit the stage • The stage is a fixed place, so certain areas can be associated with a character • stage has trap door, two entrances, balcony area •Reading the plays • No Act, scene divisions originally, editors added • Use of 5 acts is an editor’s choice • could see all plays in three acts • Act 1 -- introduces issues, ends in instigating event • Act 2-4 -- develops issues and characters • includes midpoint pivotal event • includes second turning point • Act 5 -- climax, resolves conflicts • No stage directions (ie “enter Hamlet”), dialogue used •Characters • Primary • dynamic, change • complex, are revealed • Protagonist • Antagonist • Secondary • static, don’t change • simpler, stereotyped • Reflective, reveal something about main characters •Plot structures • Rise and Fall • external / condition • gaining/losing power • internal / character • • • • • become more aware become more complex less formal, fixed to “role” more analytical of self language less formal • Main plot/subplot • Main plot • protagonist/antagonist • court world/macrocosm • major actions • Subplot • reflective characters, comment on main actions • foiling with main characters • private world/microcosm