Shakespeare's Plays
By Makaylia, Taylor, Cole, and Chyann
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was born in April, 1564 and he died on April 23, 1616. He made many contributions to the Elizabethan Age and one of them being the 38 plays he wrote. Starting with Henry VI, Part I, Henry VI, Part II, Henry VI, Part III, Richard III, Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, Taming of Screw, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love's Labour's Lost, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King John, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Part I, Henry IV, Part II, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Troilus and Cressida, All's Well That Ends Well, Measure For Measure, Othello, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, Henry VIII, and The Two Noble Kinsmen. From 1594 to 1634, Shakespeare wrote plays that would be performed and never be forgotten.
Macbeth
In this Shakespearean drama, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murder the King of Scotland, King Duncan, and take power of the country. Three witches foretold of Macbeth's rise as king and the airs of Banquo, his ally general and brother in arms, to rule after him. To initiate Macbeth's rise Lady Macbeth must push her husband to kill wise and kind King Duncan along with Banquo and his son, however Banquo's son, Fleance , escapes. Power corrupts Macbeth and his wife as the play progresses which results in their madness. This power surge that corrupts Macbeth and his lady results in a revolt that ends both of their lives. Lady Macbeth by suicide and Macbeth by decapitation. Some of the main themes of the play lie within the corruption of power and the reversal of normal gender roles in the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play of Shakespeare's that deals with love. In the play, there exists a large love triangle (square) between four characters: Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena. Theseus, the duke of Athens, requires Hermia to marry the man her father has selected for her, but she refuses to accept this reality, and decides to run into the forest. The rest of the main characters end up running into the forest populated with fairies and mystical creatures. During this drama multiple tradesmen including Bottom gather to plan a performance of Pyramus and Thisbe during Theseus' wedding. Oberon and Titania, the fairy King and Queen, are having a feud which ends up involving the rest of the cast. Puck, a lieutenant to Oberon messes with all of the mortals who entered the forest along with Titania. He even turns Bottoms head into the head of an ass and makes Titania fall in love with him! Puck's tricks that mix reality and fantasy are a key theme in the play. At the end of the play the love square sorts out and Bottom is given his regular head back and reunited with his friends who perform their play for the Marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta.
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's play that details the feud between two families, the house of Capulet and the house of Montague. His tragedy also deals with the journey of two star-crossed lovers who cannot be together because of their warring families. This Shakespearean tragedy which ends up with both Romeo and Juliet perishing is a staple of his career in play writing. Their deaths are ironic because neither had to die. Another theme of this play is the recklessness of youth that caused this feud and the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. This play is easily the most well known of Shakespeare's plays.
Works Cited
Mabillard, Amanda. “Chronology of Shakespeare's Plays.” Chronology of Shakespeare's Plays, Amanda Mabillard, 1999, http://shakespeare-online.com/keydates/playchron.html.
Shakespeare, William. “Act Summary.” Romeo and Juliet, Saddleback Educational Publishing, pp. 6–7, EBSCOhost EBook Community College Collection, http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp.tccd.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlymtfxzqzntkzml9fqu41?sid=e399bde8-d7bb-453e-9e51-be463b949be9@sessionmgr102&vid=0&format=eb&lpid=lp_6-2&rid=0.
Shakespeare, William. Timeless Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream. Houghton Mifflin Co., http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp.tccd.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlymtfxzqzntkyof9fqu41?sid
Shakespeare, William. Timeless Shakespeare. Saddleback Educational Publishing, http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp.tccd.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlymtfxzqzntkyof9fqu41?sid.
Shakespeare, William. “Act Summary.” Romeo and Juliet, Saddleback Educational Publishing, pp. 6–7, EBSCOhost EBook Community College Collection, http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp.tccd.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlymtfxzqzntkzml9fqu41?sid=e399bde8-d7bb-453e-9e51-be463b949be9@sessionmgr102&vid=0&format=eb&lpid=lp_6-2&rid=0.
Shakespeare, William. Timeless Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream. Houghton Mifflin Co., http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp.tccd.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlymtfxzqzntkyof9fqu41?sid
Shakespeare, William. Timeless Shakespeare. Saddleback Educational Publishing, http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp.tccd.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlymtfxzqzntkyof9fqu41?sid.
(1/2) Weiss - Lute Sonata(Suite) No.25 in g minor / Robert Barto, baroque lute