Shakespeare

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Shakespeare Sonnets

Sonnet 18 (1609) *

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Commentary This sonnet is certainly the most famous in the sequence of Shakespeare's sonnets; it may be the most famous lyric poem in English. Among Shakespeare's works, only lines such as "To be or not to be" and "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" are better-known. more ..

The Sonnet A fixed form of lyric poetry that consists of fourteen lines, usually written in iambic pentameter. There are two basic types of sonnets, the Italian and the English. more .../ other source

Macbeth / etext / translation (1 MB) / Original v Modern

►summary

►Lamb's version

►course/Br

►enotes

►sparknotes

►list of characters

Extracts / handouts:

►extract 1

►Witches - Sparknotes

Macbeth video:

RSC (1979) - Trevor Nunn

►Royal Shakespeare Company

►Trevor Nunn

►Judy Dench

►Ian McKellen (as Gandalf)

Central Aspects

Villains' propensity to commit crimes

POV: Villains v Victims

Social Setting

Formal Consideration:

Monologue v Dialogue

Formal Aspects

Theme

Teaching Material/Approach

Biographical Focus: Justice and injustice in Shakespeare's contemporary society

BBC 2 series on Shakespeare's life and times

Summaries of relevant dramas

Group work

Focus on Iago (Othello)

extract & character traits/ translation / BBC

Formal Aspects

soliloquy - monologue / dialogue

Formal Considerations Source: Literary Terms and Definitions *

SOLILOQUY: A monologue that is spoken by an actor at a point in the play when the character believes himself to be alone. The technique frequently reveals a character's innermost feelings, such as thoughts, state of mind, motives or intentions, or provides necessary information to the audience. The convention in terms of drama is that whatever a character says in a soliloquy to the audience must be true, or at least true in the eyes of the character speaking (i.e., the character may tell lies to mislead other characters in the play, but whatever he states in a soliloquy is a true reflection of what the speaker believes or feels). The soliloquy was rare in Classical drama, but Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights used it extensively, especially for their villains. Well-known examples include speeches by the title characters of Macbeth and Hamlet, and Iago in Othello.

MONOLOGUE: (contrast with soliloquy and interior monologue) An interior monologue represents not spoken words, but rather the internal or emotional thoughts or feelings of an individual, such as William Faulkner's long interior monologues within The Sound and The Fury. Monologue can also be used to refer to a character speaking aloud to himself, or narrating an account to an audience with no other character on stage. Cf. dramatic monologue.

'DIALOGUE: the lines spoken by a character or characters in a play, essay, story, or novel, especially a conversation between two characters, or a literary work that takes the form of such a characterization. Bad dialogue is pointless. Good dialogue either provides characterization or advances the plot. In plays, dialogue often includes within it hints akin to stage directions. For instance, if one character asks, "Why are you hitting me?" the reader can assume that on stage another character is striking the speaker.

Macbeth Soliloquies / Key scenes from the play / RSC Shakespeare

act one : scene three	the witches' initial prophecies to macbeth and banquo
act one : scene five	lady macbeth's soliloquy: "come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts."
Act One Scene 7	If it were done when 'tis done...
act two : scene one	macbeth's soliloquy: "is this a dagger which I see before me?" *
act three: scene four	banquo's ghost
act five : scene one	lady macbeth's sleepwalking scene
Act Five Scene Five	Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow -Macbeth
act five : scene eight	the final confrontation between macbeth and macduff

BBC AS Guru

	Shakespeare Biography and Historical Context Extra facts on Willie can be found on tv. [83.43]
	Shakespeare Biography and Historical Context Go to tv1 for an interesting montage of Shakespearean theatre clips. [84.25]
	Shakespeare Biography and Historical Context Race-hatred, political intrigue and sexual jealousy. Sound like an interesting mix. Tune in to find out more about the tragic elements of Othello. [104.22]
	Elizabethan Theatre For examples of heightened dramatic tension there's nowhere better than tv1. [87.35]
	Shakespearean Language Do you want to know what Zoe Wannamaker's got to say: tune in and find out. [92.17]
	Shakespeare Biography and Historical Context Just how does the Moor of Venice use language to covey his feelings of jealousy? Tune in to find out. [97.22]

Archive

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Act Five Scene Five