WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE WAS BORN IN STRATFORD-UPON-AVON IN
APRIL 1564. HE WAS THE THIRD OF EIGHT CHILDREN TO HAVE JOHN SHAKESPEARE,
A PROSPEROUS MERCHANT WHO CAME TO A PROMINENT POSITION IN THE
TOWNSHIP, AND MARY ARDEN,WHO DESCENDED
FROM A FAMILY OF ANCESTRY.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE TOOK HIS FIRST STUDIES AT
THE LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL, THE STRATFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, IN THE CENTER OF HIS
HOMETOWN, WHICH SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT HIM AN INTENSIVE EDUCATION IN LATIN
GRAMMAR AND LITERATURE.ALTHOUGH THE QUALITY OF THE GRAMMAR SCHOOLS IN
THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD WAS QUITE
IRREGULAR, THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT STRATFORD WAS QUITE GOOD . ON NOVEMBER 28, 1582, WHEN HE WAS 18 YEARS OLD, SHAKESPEARE MARRIED ANNE HATHAWAY, 26, FROM TEMPLE GRAFTON, A TOWN NEAR STRATFORD. TWO NEIGHBORS ANNE, FULK SANDALLS AND JOHN
RICHARDSON, TESTIFIED THAT THERE WERE NO IMPEDIMENTS TO THE CEREMONY. IT SEEMS SHE WAS IN
A HURRY TO ARRANGE THE WEDDING,
PERHAPS BECAUSE ANNE WAS THREE MONTHS PREGNANT.
THE 26 OF MAY OF 1583, THE FIRST DAUGHTER OF THE
PAIR, SUSANNA, WAS BAPTIZED IN STRATFORD. A SON, HAMNET, AND ANOTHER DAUGHTER,
JUDITH, BORN TWINS, WERE ALSO BAPTIZED SOON AFTER, ON FEBRUARY 2, 1585;
HAMNET DIED AT THE AGE OF ELEVEN, AND ONLY DAUGHTERS CAME TO ADULTHOOD.
JUDGING BY THE PLAYWRIGHT'S WILL, WHICH SHOWS SOME DISDAIN WITH ANNE
HATHAWAY, THE MARRIAGE WAS NOT WELL AVENGED
..
BY 1592 SHAKESPEARE WAS ALREADY IN LONDON
WORKING AS A PLAYWRIGHT, AND WAS WELL-KNOWN ENOUGH TO DESERVE A DISDAINFUL
DESCRIPTION OF ROBERT GREENE, WHO PORTRAYS HIM AS "AN UPSTART,
EMBELLISHED WITH OUR FEATHERS, WHO WITH HIS TIGER HEART WRAPPED IN FUR COMEDIAN
THINKS HIMSELF CAPABLE OF IMPRESSING WITH A WHITE VERSE AS THE BEST OF
YOU, "AND ALSO SAYS THAT" HE HAS THE ONLY SHAKE-SCENES OF THE COUNTRY "(IN
THE ORIGINAL, GREENE USES THE WORD SHAKE-SCENE, ALLUDING SO MUCH TO THE REPUTATION
OF THE AUTHOR AS TO HIS SURNAME, IN A
GAME OF PARONOMASIA).
THE SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS
ITS MOST BROKEN AND UNLIKELY WORKS WERE:
*COMEDIAS.
OBRA COMPLETA 1
*SOBRE EL
PODER
*TRAGEDIAS
*A BUEN FIN
NO HAY MAL PRINCIPIO
*ANTONIO Y
CLEOPATRA
*CIMBELINO
*COMO
GUSTÉIS
*CORIOLANO
*EDUARDO
III
*EL CUENTO
DE INVIERNO
*EL
MERCADER DE VENECIA
*EL REY
JUAN
*EL REY
LEAR
*EL SUEÑO
DE UNA NOCHE DE VERANO
*ENRIQUE IV
*ENRIQUE V
*ENRIQUE VI
*ENRIQUE
VIII
*HAMLET
*JULIO
CÉSAR
*LA COMEDIA
DE LAS EQUIVOCACIONES
*LA
FIERECILLA DOMADA
*LA
TEMPESTAD
*LA
VIOLACIÓN DE LUCRECIA
*LAS
ALEGRES CASADAS DE WINDSOR
*LOS DOS
CABALLEROS DE VERONA
*LOS DOS
NOBLES CABALLEROS
*MACBETH
*MEDIDA POR
MEDIDA
*MUCHO
RUIDO Y POCAS NUECES
*NOCHE DE
EPIFANÍA
*OTELO
*PERICLES,
PRÍNCIPE DE TIRO
*RICARDO II
*RICARDO
III
*ROMEO Y
JULIETA
*SONETOS
*SONETOS Y
LAMENTO DE UNA AMANTE
*TIMÓN DE
ATENAS
*TITO
ANDRÓNICO
*TRABAJOS
DE AMOR PERDIDOS
*TROILO Y
CRÉSIDA
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE BOOK'S
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
AUTHOR: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
GENRE: CLASSICAL UNIVERSAL / TEACHER / FICTION & LITERATURE
LENGUAGE: SPANISH
IN SHAKESPEARE'S WORK, PRIVILEGED INTELLIGENCE,
INVENTIVENESS AND
GENIUS, COUPLED WITH A MASTERFUL MASTERY OF
THEATRICAL
TECHNIQUE, RIDE A CREATIVE POWER OF RELEVANT
CHARACTERS AND A
DUCTILE VARIETY WITH A SENSE OF ADAPTATION TO
THE TASTES OF THE
PUBLIC, HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND LITERARY
CURRENTS OF HIS
TIME.
ALL THIS LEADS TO DESERVEDLY QUALIFY THE
SHAKESPEAREAN THEATER
WITH THE
INDISPUTABLE ATTRIBUTE OF UNIVERSALITY.
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE REVOLVES AROUND THE
SYLOCK JEW AND HIS
FIERCE PASSIONS, AND THE CHARACTERS AND FEELINGS
AT STAKE ARE AS
CURRENT AS THEY
WERE FOUR HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
CORIOLANUS IS A TRAGEDY SET IN THE FIRST
CENTURIES OF ROME. HIS
PLOT FOCUSES ON THE CHARACTER OF THE
PROTAGONIST, HIS PREJUDICES
AND THE SOCIAL
STRUGGLES OF HIS TIME.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE INTRODUCES US TO THE
MERCHANT OF VENICE IN
HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF
ENGLAND AT THE TIME:
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AGAINST JEWS, SEXUAL
DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST WOMEN, SUSPECTED LEGALITY OF HUMAN
ACTIONS, REVENGE
AND FORGIVENESS, RELIGIOUS REPRESSION,
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
SOCIAL CLASSES.
THE MAIN THEME OF THE PLAY, THE HATRED THAT THE
SYLOCK JEW FEELS
TOWARDS ANTONY, REFLECTS THE ANTAGONISM BETWEEN
THE JEWISH
AND CHRISTIAN
RELIGIONS.
WHAT SHAKESPEARE WANTED TO EMPHASIZE WITH THIS
WORK
IS THE TRIUMPH OF TRUE HUMAN FEELINGS, SUCH AS
LOVE AND
TOLERANCE, ABOVE RELIGION OR THE SOCIAL
CONDITION OF
PEOPLE. HIS RECOMMENDATION
REMAINS NECESSARY FIVE
CENTURIES LATER.
HAMLET:
AUTHOR: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
GENRE: CLASSICAL UNIVERSAL /
THEATER / FICTION & LITERATURE
LENGUAGE: SPANISH
SUMMARY:
WHEN GOETHE SAID: 'NO BOOK, NO PERSON, NO FACT
OF MY LIFE HAS
PRODUCED AS MUCH EFFECT ON ME AS SHAKESPEARE'S
DRAMAS', HE
POINTED OUT THE EXCEPTIONAL MAGNITUDE OF THE
ENGLISH WRITER,
THE WORLD'S FIRST DRAMATIC POET BORN IN
STRATFORD-ON -AVON
(1564-1616).
HAMLET AND ROMEO AND JULIET, TWO OF THE GREAT
CREATIONS OF
THE AUTHOR, MAKE SHAKESPEARE AN EXCEPTIONAL
SPOKESMAN OF
THE SPECIES, FOR HIS COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING
OF HUMAN
CREATURES AND FOR THE POETIC EXCELLENCE WITH
WHICH THEY
DEVELOP THEIR TRAGIC OR
JOYFUL EXISTENCES.
HAMLET, HIS MOST FAMOUS TRAGEDY, DOES NOT BIND
US TO BEINGS OF
FLESH AND BLOOD ALONE, BUT WITH EXEMPLARY
CHARACTERS FOR THE
VIGOR OF HIS CLASS AND FOR THE COLOSSAL
SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS
ADMIRABLE CONTEXTURE.
HAMLET'S PERSONALITY SPRINGS FROM THE HORRIBLE
SITUATION IN
WHICH SHAKESPEARE INTRODUCES THE YOUNG PRINCE:
HIS ADMIRED
FATHER DIED RECENTLY, HIS BELOVED MOTHER DID NOT
WAIT A
MONTH TO MARRY THE DECEASED'S BROTHER. SOON THE
FATHER'S
GHOST APPEARS TO HIM, REVEALING TO HIM THAT
CLAUDIO, HIS UNCLE,
IN COMPLICITY WITH HIS MOTHER, KILLED HIM BY
POURING POISON ON
HIS EAR, ORDERED HIM NOT TO TAKE REVENGE ON HIS
MOTHER AND
ASKED FOR A PUNISHMENT FOR
HIS MURDERER.
HAMLET COMES TO BE SEEN NOT ONLY AS A
PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAGEDY,
BUT AS A DEEP DRAMA OF RELIGIOUS CONNOTATIONS
THAT EXPLORES
THE MYSTERIES OF HUMAN
EXISTENCE.
OTHELLO
OTHELLOAUTHOR: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
GENRE: CLASSICAL UNIVERSAL / TEACHER / FICTION & LITERATURE
LENGUAGE: SPANISH
SUMMARY:
OTHELLO'S MAIN NARRATIVE SOURCE WAS GIRALDI
CINTHIO'S NOVEL UN
CAPITANO MORO, PUBLISHED IN 1565.
TO DEFEND CYPRUS, ONE OF ITS POSSESSIONS, THE
VENETIANS ENTRUST THE
COMMAND OF THEIR NAVY TO THE MOOR OTHELLO, A
FOREIGNER. HE HAS
SECRETLY MARRIED DESDEMONA, THE DAUGHTER OF THE
DOGE OF VENICE,
AND THIS WILL UNLEASH THE TRAGEDY.
IAGO, ENSIGN OF OTHELLO, ENVIOUS BECAUSE HE
NAMES CASIO AND NOT HIM,
HE BEGINS TO DISTIL THE INSIDIOUSNESS OF BETRAYAL AND DRIVES
THE MOOR
MAD, MAKING HIM A VICTIM OF JEALOUSY.
AS IN AN ENSEMBLE WHOSE PHANTASMAGORIA POISONS
THE ACTION AND TURNS
IT INTO A NIGHTMARE, REALITY IS
DISTORTED AND FALLS APART.
GEORGE STEINER SAID HE REMEMBERED PIECES OF SLOW TORTURE IN
OTHELLO THAT HE COULD ONLY RARELY
FACE AGAIN.
HERE ARE THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR WORDS
DISPLAYED IN THE CHIAROSCURO
OF THEIR TORMENTS. THEY ARE REFLECTIONS NOT OF THEMSELVES, BUT
OF ALL HUMANITY.
THE BEAUTY OF HIS EXPRESSION IS NOT LOST WHEN
THE LIGHTS GO OUT, FOR
"AS THE SWAN, WHEN
DYING, VANISHES INTO MUSIC."
CROSS OF LIFE. IT IS THE NIGHT IN THE COLOR OF
HIS SKIN, AS DESDEMONA IS
THE DAY IN ITS WHITENESS. NEXT TO OTHELLO THERE IS YAGO, WHICH IS EVIL,
ANOTHER
FORM OF SHADOW, NIGHT OF THE SOUL, DARKNESS, LIE ... IAGO
IS FOR
OTHELLO THE BANDAGE THAT BLINDS THE LOVER'S EYES AND LEADS HIM TO DESPAIR
AND CRIME ... .
