William Shakespeare

• Work is universal and still relevant today
• Still has best range of human experience, human condition
• Ambition - as a living force driving on a heroic overture otherwise possessed of high aims & capable of great deeds
• Ambition - (Macbeth) as a living force driving on a heroic nature possessed of high aims to capable of great deeds.
• Revenge as a living force driving human nature
1. Hamlet
2. The Merchant of Venice
• The role of the supernatural in Hamlet and Macbeth
• In what way is the Merchant of Venice a potential tragedy but in the end a comedy?
• A comparison of the characters of Hamlet & Macbeth 
• Shakespeare was not "of an age" but universally, of all time - as alive today in 2016 as in the 1590's.
• No other writer has ever had more range, scope, of human life & feeling, psychology, as Shakespeare
• Presents human condition more fully than any other Author
• Began writing plays in 1592-93 - end of career in 1613ish.

Tragedy--

• Must end in catastrophe involving death of the main character
• The catastrophe can't be the result of accident but brought on by some trait in the character of the hero ("tragic flaw") either by direct action OR through its effect on others
• The hero must have something in him which outweighs his defect(s) and makes us interested in him so we care about his fate -- the tragic satisfaction
• In Shakespeare it can be more complex. What IS it in Shake's view? Did he even believe in it?
• Lear may be a better man at play's end than at play's beginning--without suffering he would not have learned sympathy--but this doesn't apply to Hamlet or Othello.

Comedy-- 17 plays - many are funny from start to finish. Others like The Merchant of Venice have a serious tone and strong dramatic aspects. ALL have these things in common:

• Young lovers struggling to overcome obstacles (often brought on by elders/parents - are kept apart figuratively or literally and must find their way back together)
• Mistaken identity--mixed-up twins or gender identity--women masquerading as men
• Clever plot twists
• Wordplay--puns--innuendo--double entendre
• Stock characters
• Happy endings--always in Shakespeare. Marriage, impending marriage--love always win in the end.

• All of Shakespeare's plays have 3 acts & the "volta" or turn almost always happens in Act III
• Ambition is the driving force in a lot of Shakespeare's plays