SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

By: Tim HeltonJake Hamby

Anthony VarcelliNick Haynes

Types Of Plays

Tragedy

Comedy

History

Problem

Tragedy A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to

ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances

Examples:Antony and CleopatraKing LearMacbethOthelloTitus Andronicus

Othello, written four hundred years ago, represent what we can recognize as a modern psychopath and a modern alcoholic, in Imago and Cassio respectively, is incredible. Iago is a fully realized physochological character just as the David is a fully realized man physically

Comedy

Comedy is a word that Greeks and Romans confined to descriptions of stage-plays with happy endings

Much comedy contains variations on the elements of surprise, incongruity, conflict, repetitiveness, and the effect of opposite expectations, but there are many recognized genres of comedy

History Play with a theme from history that

often holds up the past as a lesson for the present

Chronicle plays developed from medieval morality plays and flourished in times of nationalistic fervour, as in England from the 1580s to the 1630s. They included plays such as The Victories of Henry the Fifth and The True Tragedie of Richard III and reached maturity with Christopher Marlowe's Edward II and William Shakespeare's Henry VI.

“Problem Plays”

Refers to the three plays by William Shakespear written between 1590s and a few years of 1600s, All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida

Problem plays are characterised by their complex and ambiguous tone, which shifts violently between dark, psychological drama and more straightforward comic material

Modern Day Influence

William Shakespeare's influence extends from theatre and literature to present-day movies and the English language itself.

Shakespeare is cited as an influence on a large number of writers in the following centuries, including major novelists such as Herman Melville, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and William Faulkner

“Lost Plays” The lost plays of Shakespeare are objects

of great interest to the theater community and historians alike. They are a romantic topic among scholars hoping to find rare and priceless manuscripts.

Example of Lost Plays: The History of CardenioThe Isle of God

Works Cited "William Shakespeare Tragedy Plays." Globe Theatre. Web.

23 Sept. 2011. http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/william-shakespeare-tragedy-plays.htm.

King, John, and Warren King. "Shakespeare's Tragedy Plays: Tragic Plays By Shakespeare." Shakespeare Resources: Modern English Shakespeare Translations. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/play-types/tragedy-plays/.

"William Shakespeare Comedy Plays." Globe Theatre. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/william-shakespeare-comedy-plays.htm.

"William Shakespeare History Plays." Globe Theatre. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/william-shakespeare-history-plays.htm.