William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist He is often called England's national poet, and the Bard of Avon." He was bornon April 23,1564,inStratford-on-Avon as the third child of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. He was probably cducated at the King Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford, where he learned Latin and a little Greek and read the Roman dramatists. At eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. It is believed that after marriage and the birth of his children, William Shakespeare shifted to London to begin his apprenticeship as an actor and later rose to the position of a playwright and producer of plays.
William Shakespeare has written more than 30 plays.The plays written by Shakespeare have the reputation of being among the greatest in the English language and in Western literature. Traditionally, the plays are divided into the senres of tragedy, history, and comedy, Shakespearean Tragedies are the most significant and discussed plays during the 19% and 20a century especially in the field of literary criticism. His tragedies include Hamlet.(1603) Othello (1923). King Lear (1608) and Macbcth (1623). Tragedies are primarily concerned with the tragic hero and his tragic flaw. The fundamental tragic trait of the Shakespearcan hero or protagonist. his interest, passion or particular habit of mind that leads to his downfall, is his tragc flaw which is the key feature of Shakespearean tragedies.
Shakespeare has also written 154 sonnets. A sonnet is a lyric poem of fourteen lines written in a single stanza. The linès are linked by an intricate rhyming scheme. Two different rhyme schemes are practised in sonnets written in English language. One is the Petrarchan sonnct (named after the fourteenth century Italian poet Petrarch) which rhymcs as abba abba in the first eight lincs (Octave) and cde cde in the second part (Scstct). The sccond type of thyme scheme of the quatrains is abab cded cfef. The couplet has the rhyme scheme.This sonnet structure is commonly called the English sonnet or the Shakespearean sonnet. There arc fourteen lines in a espearean sonnet. The first twelve lines are divided into three quatrains with four lines each. In the three quatrains the poct establishes a theme or problem and then resolves it in the final two lines. called the couplet.
The sonnets are Shakespearc's most popular works. The most famous among them are Sonnet 18 (Shall I compare thee to a sunimer's day), Sonnet 116 (Let me not to the marriage of true minds), and Sonnet 73 (That time of year thou mayst in me behold). Most of his sonnets are addressed cither to a you man or a dark lady. His sonnets, though wide ranging in theines focus predominantly on love, transience of life and beauty and the workings of desire.
Sonnet 29 shows the poet at his most insecure and troubled situation. He presents himself in a despicable state of mind. He has fallen from grace and feels so much deprcssed.He also feels unlucky, shamed and fiercely jealous of those around him. What causes the poet's anguish will remain a mystery; as will the answer to whether the sonnets are autobiographical. In the latter half of the poem the speaker happens to cheer up thinking of someone. All is not lost for the sonnet ends with a positive affirmation that the poet can combat his anguish with the "sweet love" of his dear friend.Memories of the sweet love motivate him to remain hopeful.
Credits: ways with words (published by calicut university)
