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ENGL 339 Home Page
English 339: Introduction to ShakespeareFall, 2013 Site Navigation PREREQUISITES: GE area A (esp. expository writing, e.g. A WRITING-INTENSIVE, G.E. GWR: As a C4 literature class, ENGL 339 may be taken by students wishing to fulfill the Graduate Writing Requirement (GWR). ENGL 339 is designed to introduce both English or Theatre majors and G.E. students to representative plays of all genres by William Shakespeare, perhaps the finest poet ever to write in English. REQUIRED TEXTS: The SIGNET CLASSICS editions of A Midsummer Night's Dream; Henry V; Macbeth; Hamlet; and The Tempest. NOTE: As You Like It has been dropped from the class this quarter due to the necessity of scheduling a video screening of a film available only on VHS during class time. Other required readings will be accessed electronically: Online Readings are found in .HTML files accessible through links on this website and E-reserve readings in the form of .PDF files on "electronic reserve" in PolyLearn.
Essential knowledge and literary terms for understanding Shakespeare. An Award winning
You - you- your- your formal and distant form of address suggesting respect for a superior or courtesy to a social equal. Thou - thee - thy - thine informal and close form and can imply either closeness or contempt. Gertrude: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. Hamlet: Mother, you have my father much offended. Gertrude: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue. "Ye/you" or "thou/thee" sometimes show social classes, too. Falstaff: Dost thou hear, hostess? It can be insulting if it was used by an inferior to address a superior social rank.
Romeo & Juliet
Using this Guide List of other study guides The notes were prepared for use with an edition of Romeo and Juliet bound together with the book for West Side Story and in conjunction with a showing of Franco Zeffirelli's film version of the play, but they will be useful with any edition or production. The introduction focuses primarily on comparisons with West Side Story, so it has relatively little to say about the play as such. As noted, this is often regarded as a lesser Shakespeare tragedy by scholars, but what should also be kept in mind is that audiences have made it one of the most beloved plays of all time from the Elizabethan Age to the present. Romeo and Juliet are often considered the archetypal lovers, and at one time "a romeo"--meaning a lover--was a common noun. Although Shakespeare's dialogue often reads beautifully enough on the page, please keep in mind that he never intended his words to be read. Shakespeare wrote almost no original plots. Prologue Act I: Scene 1
Romeo and Juliet
Want more deets? We've also got a complete Online Course about Romeo and Juliet, with three weeks worth of readings and activities to make sure you know your stuff. Before young William Shakespeare wrote his play about two poetry speaking, hormone-driven teenagers who defy their families' long-standing feud and risk everything to be together, love wasn't even considered a suitable subject for a "tragedy." Not anymore. Shakespeare adapted the storyline from Arthur Brookes' popular Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet (1562), a long English poem based on a story that dates back to a novella by Masuccio Salernitano called "Mariotto and Giannozza" (1476). Despite its fancy pedigree, Romeo and Juliet is also considered to be one of Shakespeare's most accessible works. It's also one of the most adapted plays of all time—Franco Zeffirelli made it into an Oscar winning film in 1968 and the play was also adapted into a Tony Award winning musical, West Side Story (1957). Why? Our point?
Romeo: courtly lover
Courtly lover and madman Commentary Table of Contents | Next page On this page: Introduction Partly because you will be thoroughly familiar with the main line of the plot of Romeo and Juliet, I am going to start my discussion of the play by beating about the bush: I will ask you to look at Romeo before he meets Juliet; at the brilliant but eccentric speech of Mercutio on Queen Mab; at Romeo and Juliet as tragedy; and at some of the many colourful minor characters in the play--then to look again at Romeo and Juliet themselves. Look with some care at the dialogue between Benvolio and Romeo, 1. 1. lines 163-241. Look especially at the near-comic juxtaposition of ideas in lines 174-8, just before Romeo's first apostrophe to Love. Look ahead to the next scene with Romeo (still before he has met Juliet), 1. 2, particularly lines 91-6 where he speaks again in response to Benvolio. Think of Orlando in the first three acts of As You Like It, even perhaps Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing.
William Shakespeare - Biography - Poet, Playwright
Who Was William Shakespeare? William Shakespeare (baptized on April 26, 1564 to April 23, 1616) was an English playwright, actor and poet and is often called England’s national poet. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward. Written records give little indication of the way in which Shakespeare’s professional life molded his artistry. All that can be deduced is that, in his 20 years as a playwright, Shakespeare wrote plays that capture the complete range of human emotion and conflict. Known throughout the world, the works of William Shakespeare have been performed in countless hamlets, villages, cities and metropolises for more than 400 years. William Shakespeare: Plays Early Works: Histories and Comedies With the exception of the tragic love story Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare's first plays were mostly histories. Works after 1600: Tragedies and Tragicomedies Family
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
te hell, all Montagues, and thee: Have at thee, coward! [They fight.] [Enter several of both Houses, who join the fray; then enter Citizens with clubs.] 1 Citizen. [Enter Capulet in his gown, and Lady Capulet.] Capulet. Lady Capulet. Capulet. [Enter Montague and his Lady Montague.] Montague. Lady Montague. [Enter Prince, with Attendants.] Prince.
