William Shakespeare

Brief Introduction
 William Shakespeare
 William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor of the
Renaissance era. He was an important member of the King’s Men
company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward.. Born in 1564,
he was an English playwright, poet, actor, favorite dramatist of queens
and kings, inventor of words, master of drama, and arguably the most
famous writer of all time. In his 36 plays and 154 sonnets, he left behind
the evidence of a brilliant mind, a wicked sense of humor, a deep
sensitivity to human emotions, and a rich classical education.
 Shakespeare changed the English language, inventing dozens of new
words we still use today. His plays have been translated into more than
80 other tongues and performed in dozens of countries.
 Actor and Playwright

Actor and Playwright

 By 1592, there is evidence Shakespeare earned a living as an
actor and a playwright in London and possibly had several
plays produced.
 The September 20, 1592 edition of the Stationers' Register (a
guild publication) includes an article by London playwright
Robert Greene that takes a few jabs at Shakespeare: "...There
is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his
Tiger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as
well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and
being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit
the only Shake-scene in a country," Greene wrote of
Shakespeare.
 Globe Theater

 Globe Theater
 By 1599, Shakespeare and his business partners built
their own theater on the south bank of the Thames River,
which they called the Globe Theater.
 In 1605, Shakespeare purchased leases of real estate
near Stratford for 440 pounds, which doubled in value
and earned him 60 pounds a year. This made him an
entrepreneur as well as an artist, and scholars believe
these investments gave him the time to write his plays
uninterrupted.
 Shakespeare’s Writing Style
 Shakespeare's early plays were written in the conventional style
of the day, with elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases that
didn't always align naturally with the story's plot or characters.
 However, Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the
traditional style to his own purposes and creating a freer flow of
words.
 With only small degrees of variation, Shakespeare primarily used
a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed iambic
pentameter, or blank verse, to compose his plays. At the same
time, there are passages in all the plays that deviate from this and
use forms of poetry or simple prose.
 William Shakespeare: Plays
 While it’s difficult to determine the exact chronology of Shakespeare’s plays, over the
course of two decades, from about 1590 to 1613, he wrote a total of 37 plays
revolving around several main themes: histories, tragedies, comedies and
tragicomedies.
 Early Works: Histories and Comedies
 With the exception of the tragic love story Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's first plays
were mostly histories. Henry VI (Parts I, II and III), Richard II and Henry V dramatize the
destructive results of weak or corrupt rulers and have been interpreted by drama
historians as Shakespeare's way of justifying the origins of the Tudor Dynasty.
 Julius Caesar portrays upheaval in Roman politics that may have resonated with
viewers at a time when England’s aging monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, had no
legitimate heir, thus creating the potential for future power struggles.
 Shakespeare also wrote several comedies during his early period: the whimsical A
Midsummer Night's Dream, the romantic Merchant of Venice, the wit and wordplay
of Much Ado About Nothing and the charming As You Like It and Twelfth Night.
 William Shakespeare: Plays continue
 Other plays written before 1600 include Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Two
Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew, Love’s Labour’s Lost, King John, The Merry
Wives of Windsor and Henry V.
 Works after 1600: Tragedies and Tragicomedies
 It was in Shakespeare's later period, after 1600, that he wrote the tragedies Hamlet, Othello,
King Lear and Macbeth. In these, Shakespeare's characters present vivid impressions of
human temperament that are timeless and universal.
 Possibly the best known of these plays is Hamlet, which explores betrayal, retribution, incest
and moral failure. These moral failures often drive the twists and turns of Shakespeare's plots,
destroying the hero and those he loves.
 In Shakespeare's final period, he wrote several tragicomedies. Among these are Cymbeline,
The Winter's Tale and The Tempest. Though graver in tone than the comedies, they are not the
dark tragedies of King Lear or Macbeth because they end with reconciliation and forgiveness.
 Other plays written during this period include All’s Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure,
Timon of Athens, Coriolanus, Pericles and Henry VIII.
 When Did Shakespeare Die?

Tradition holds that Shakespeare died on his

52nd birthday, April 23, 1616, but some scholars
believe this is a myth. Church records show he
was interred at Trinity Church on April 25, 1616.
The exact cause of Shakespeare's death is
unknown, though many believe he died
following a brief illness.
In his will, he
 Winter
William Shakespeare
 Winter
When icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail;
When blood is nipp'd, and ways be foul, Audio
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
"Tu-whit, to-who!"—
A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw;
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
"Tu-whit, to-who!"—
A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
 Form and Structure

 Narrative poem
 Meter: iambic tetrameter
 This poem by Shakespeare is divided into two stanzas with nine lines each.
 About the Poem
 The speaker:- There is only one speaker in the poem who seems to be the poet himself.
 The meaning of the words:
 Icicle: thin point stick of ice that hangs down from something such as a roof.
 Dick: name of person.
 Shepherd: someone whose job is to take care of sheep.
 Blow: wind moving.
 Log: peace of cut trees.
 Hall: a room or passage that is just inside the front entrance of a house or public building.
 Pail: bucket.
 Nipped: frozen.
 Foul: disgusting, very ugly
 Meaning of Words

 Nightly: every night.

 Stare: to look at someone or something for a long time without
moving your eyes.
 Owl: kind of bird hunts at night and has large eyes.
 Merry: happy.
 Greasy: full of oil.
 Keel: cooling.
 Blow: to remove.
 Cough: pushing air out of your throat with tough sound because
you are sick.
 Parson: the man of the church
 Meaning of words

 Saw: a tool with sharp points, used for cutting wood.

 Brood: to think sadly.
 Marian: name of a girl.
 Raw: uncooked.
 Roasted: to cook or be cooked in an oven or over a fire.
 Crabs: a wild fruit (green apple).
 Hiss: sound (hiss).
 Bowl: a wide round container that is open at the top, used for
holding liquids, food etc
The Tone in “Winter” by William Shakespeare

The poem is gloomy and sad. The speaker conveys

his tone through the use of words like "icicles"
"frozen" "owl" "blood is nipp'd".
 First Stanza Summary:
 The poet gives to us homely details of the cold weather in winter.
He said that water is freezing while it is dropping from the wall, so
it is extremely cold. And people can't stop working because the
coldness of winter and they have to go out and work. Dick the
shepherd has nothing to warm him just his breath because he is
poor man so he is blowing his fingertips to warm him. And Tom is
working hard to survive in this cold winter. He cuts logs and
brings them home to fuel the fire to get their home little warmer.
Also in this cold weather while they were getting the milk from
the farm to the house . it froze in the bucket before it arrives to
the home , So they can't drink it until its defrosted .
 First Stanza Summary:

Harsh winter and extreme cold make the blood frozen

too. And the people couldn't move around easily
because of this cold and because of the street are full
of mud. At the night while Joan a greasy, dirty looking
women was keeling a pot to prepare some hot food in
this coldness. The staring owl was singing in scary
tune. And when the poet said "merry note" it is ironic
because people always believe that the owl tone is
scary and gives pessimistic feeling of death
 Second Stanza Summary
 When the wind blew with noise, it made the weather colder.
And in the church while the priest was giving an important
religious speech people usually listen and the room is quiet
but actually no one was hearing him from people's coughing
because they were sick and that drowned his voice. Also the
birds were sad and not moving in the snow as if they were
nesting, And Marian has got a cold from this horrible winter
.Therefore her nose is red and soft.
 Second Stanza Summary

In winter people usually prepare warmed food.

So they prepared some roasted and hot apples
At night the owl was singing again while Joan
was keeling hot food which makes life bearable.
The repetition of the sound that the owl makes
adds a humorous and scary tone. Although the
owl is a symbol of bad luck but Shakespeare
trying to use it to add cheerful note and
atmosphere to the poem.
Stanza I:
The poem is full of images of warmth amidst the coldness of
winter

When icicles hang by the wall

The ice is hanging down from the roof to describe how

cold the weather is. (Visual image)
The icicles hanging on the wall is a sign of winter.
(symbol)
 And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,

A shepherd called Dick is sitting outside suffering from the

cold weather and he is trying to warm his hand. Here we
have image of feeling the skin (very cold).
 And Tom bears logs into the hall
Tom is carrying woods that he cut to store. (Visual image)
And milk comes frozen home in pail

Even the milk becomes frozen from the very cold weather.
(Visual image)

When blood is nipped and ways be foul

The blood in people’s veins becomes frozen and all the roads are
very dirty. Tactile image here because it is something you feel on
your skin.
 Then nightly sings the staring owl
"Tu-with.tu-who"

Every night the owl is singing the song "Tu-with_tu-who".

(Auditory imagery)
The owl symbolizes both death and the circle of life, or
rather the food chain (it's natural for him to hunt).
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot
A "greasy" woman standing over a pot definitely makes us
think of a warm meal—some type of comforting soup or
stew. Apparently, the meal is a little too hot because "greasy
Joan" has to stir it a little bit to cool it off. (Visual image)
 When all aloud the wind doth blow
It is a description for the loud sound of the wind, it is a sound
imagery because in this line you can imagine that you are hearing
the wind blows. The image is auditory image.
 And coughing drowns the parsons saw
The voice of the sick people in the church while they are coughing
is very loud and annoying so he describes it as the sound of the
saw and no one can hear the parsons talking. Here we have
Auditory image and metaphor.
Stanza II:
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
The birds are sitting sadly and not singing because of the snowy
weather. The image is visual.
These birds definitely symbolize life amid the desolation of winter.
"Brooding" means just sitting, but it is a word that is sometime
associated with laying eggs, sitting on top of eggs.
And Marian's nose looks red and raw

Marian has a red and row nose because of the very cold weather
and sickness. (Visual image)
The poet compares Marian's nose to the color red. (Metaphor)
 When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,

The image of "roasted crabs" in a "bowl" echoes and

foreshadows the image of "greasy Joan" over her pot.
Something that is "roasted" is warm, and also probably very
savory. Even in winter, nice, warm beverages (the "bowl" of
apple) are to be found. (Auditory imagery)
 "Tu-whit, to-who!"—
A merry note,

While the owl's song may be "merry" to people, it probably

wouldn't be very merry to other animals that might be the
owl's prey (mice, cute little bunnies). For that reason, there is
definitely some irony here.
Themes in “Winter” by William Shakespeare
Theme of man and nature:
Winter is in many ways a poem about nature; there are
owls and birds and descriptions of winter scenes (icicles,
snow). The poem is not just about a frozen forest, but about
what people do in winter. It's about how humans make their
way through the bleakest time of the year. Life’s basic
necessities (milk, water, blood) are frozen or chilled, but
people manage to overcome nature's lack of hospitality and
soldier on.
Themes in “Winter” by William Shakespeare
Theme of death:
If spring is all about life, winter is all about death. Note all
the images of death, or semi-death, in this poem: frozen
things (icicles, milk), cold things (blood, snow), owls (they
hunt), etc. Winter isn't all about actual death and dying, but
the lifelessness and coldness of winter cannot help but make
us think of death.
 Work Cited

Baldick, Chris. Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York, Oxford University
Press, 2004.

http://theroadnottakenanalysis.weebly.com/irony.html

https://katiehylton.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/symbol-allegory-and-irony-the-chimney-
sweeper/