https://youtu.be/-shw5__meTQ?si=J-DjAlTl1Ae1O17r

1. Shakespeare
1564-1616

2. The greatest of all Elizabethan
dramatists was Shakespeare in
whose hands the Romantic drama
reached its climax.
As we do not know much about
Shakespeare’s life, and it is certain
that he did not have proper training
and education as other dramatists
of the period had, his stupendous
achievements are an enigma to all scholars up to the present
days. It is still a mystery how a country boy, poor and
uneducated, who came to London in search of odd jobs to

3. scrape a living could reach such
heights in dramatic literature.
Endowed with a marvelous
imaginative and creative mind, he
could put new life into old familiar
stories and make them glow with
deepest thoughts and tenderest
feelings.
There is no doubt that Shakespeare was a highly gifted
person, but without proper training he could not have scaled
such heights. In spite of the meager material we have got

4. about his life, we can surmise that
he must have undergone proper
training first as an actor, second as a
reviser of old plays, and the last as
an independent dramatist. He
worked with other dramatists and
learned the secrets of their trade.
He must have studied deeply and
observed minutely the people he
came in contact with. His dramatic output must, therefore,
have been the result of his natural genius as well as of hard
work and industry.

5. Besides non—dramatic poetry
consisting of two narrative poems,
Venice and Adonis and The Rape
of Lucrece, and 154 sonnets,
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays. His
work as a dramatist extended over
some 24 years, beginning about
1588 and ending about 1612.

6. This work is generally divided into
four periods.
i. 1577-1593
ii. 1594-1600
iii. 1601-1608
iv. 1608-1612

7. First Period 1577 – 1593
This was the period of early
experimental work. To this period
belong to revision of old plays as
the three parts of Henry VI and
Titus Andronicus; his first comedies
Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Two
Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy
of Errors and A Midsummer Night’s
Dream; his first chronicle play Richard III; a youthful tragedy
Romeo and Juliet.

8. Second Period 1594– 1600
To the second period belong
Shakespeare’s great comedies and
chronicle plays Richard II, King
John, The Merchant of Venice,
Henry IV, Part I and II, Henry V,
The Taming of the Shrew, The
Merry Wives of Windsor, Much
Ado About Nothing, As you Like
and Like It and Twelfth Night. These plays reveal
Shakespeare’s great development as a thinker and technician.

9. Third Period 1601 – 1608
To the third period belong
Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies
and somber or bitter comedies.
This is peak period characterised
by the highest development of his
thought and expression. He is
more concerned with the darker
side of human experience and its
destructive passions. Even in comedies, the tone is grave
and there is a greater emphasis on evil.

10. The plays of this period are:
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
All’s Well that Ends Well
Measure for Measure
Troilus and Cressida
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth,
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Timon of Athens.

11. Third Period 1608 – 1612
To the fourth period belong the
later comedies or dramatic
romances. Here the clouds seem to
have been lifted and Shakespeare is
in a changed mood. Though the
tragic passions still play their part
as in the third period, the evil is
now controlled and conquered by
good. The tone of the plays is gracious and tender, and there
is a decline in the power of expression and thought.

12. The plays written during this
period are Cymbeline, The
Tempest and The Winter’s Tale,
which were completely written in
collaboration with some other
dramatist.

13. Shakespeare was not only the
greatest dramatist of the age, but
also the first poet of the day, and
one of the greatest of all times.
Though Shakespeare belonged to
the Elizabethan Age, on account of
his universality he belongs to all
times.
His plays and poetry are like a
great river of life and beauty.

14. THANKS
FOR
WATCHING . . !