The Chandos portrait, commonly assumed to depict William Shakespeare, "the man who of all Modern, and perhaps Ancient Poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul" (John Dryden, 1668), "our myriad-minded Shakespeare" (S. T. Coleridge, 1817).

In his own time, William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was seen as merely one among many talented playwrights and poets, but ever since the late 17th century he has been considered the supreme playwright, and to a lesser extent poet, of the English language. No other dramatist has been performed even remotely as often on the British (and later the world) stage as Shakespeare. The plays have often been drastically adapted in performance; the version of King Lear used in performance between 1681 and 1838, for instance, had a happy ending. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the era of the great acting stars, to be a star on the British stage became synonymous with being a great Shakespearean actor. The emphasis was then on the soliloquies as declamatory turns, at the expense of pace and action, and Shakespeare's plays threatened to disappear under music, scenery, thunder, lightning and wave machines. Image File history File links Shakespeare. ... Image File history File links Shakespeare. ... The Chandos portrait, popularly believed to depict William Shakespeare (in a 20th century reproduction) The Chandos portrait is one of the most famous of the portraits that may depict William Shakespeare (1564–1616). ... John Dryden John Dryden (August 19 {August 9 O.S.}, 1631 - May 12 {May 1 O.S.}, 1700) was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator and playwright, who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834) (pronounced ) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Events March 27 — Naples bans kissing in public under the penalty of death June 22 — Fort Caroline, the first French attempt at colonizing the New World September 10 — The Battle of Kawanakajima Ottoman Turks invade Malta Modern pencil becomes common in England Conquistadors crossed the Pacific Spanish founded a colony... Year 1616 (MDCXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Template:Unsourced A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is generally regarded as one of William Shakespeares greatest tragedies. ... Events March 4 - Charles II of England grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... STAR is an acronym for: Organizations Society for Telescopy, Astronomy, and Radio, a non-profit New Jersey astronomy club. ... Soliloquy is an audible oratory or conversation with oneself. ... Theatrical scenery is things that are used as setting for a theatrical production. ...

Editors and critics of the plays, disdaining the showiness and melodrama of Shakespearean stage representation, began early to focus on Shakespeare as dramatic poet, to be studied on the printed page rather than in the theatre. The rift between Shakespeare on the stage and Shakespeare on the page was at its widest in the early 19th century, at a time when both the Shakespeares were hitting peaks of fame and popularity: theatrical Shakespeare was successful spectacle and melodrama for the masses, while book or closet drama Shakespeare was being elevated by the reverential commentary of the Romantics into unique poetic genius, prophet, and bard. Before the Romantics, Shakespeare was simply the most admired of all dramatic poets, especially for his insight into human nature and his realism, but Romantic critics such as S. T. Coleridge refactored him into an object of almost religious adoration or "bardolatry" (from bard + λατρεία, Greek for worship—a word coined by George Bernard Shaw), who towered above mere mortal writers, and whose plays were to be worshipped as not "merely great works of art" but as "phenomena of nature, like the sun and the sea, the stars and the flowers" and "with entire submission of our own faculties" (Thomas de Quincey, 1823). To the later 19th century Shakespeare became in addition an emblem of national pride, the crown jewel of English culture, and a "rallying-sign", as Thomas Carlyle wrote in 1841, for the whole British empire. A critic (derived from the ancient Greek word krites meaning a judge) is a person who offers a value judgement or an interpretation. ... Poster for The Perils of Pauline (1914). ... A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or, sometimes, out loud in a small group. ... Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich Romantics redirects here, for the band, see The Romantics Romanticism is an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in 18th century Western Europe during the industrial revolution. ... A genius is a person of great intelligence. ... In religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has directly encountered the divine and serves as an intermediary with humanity. ... The Bard (ca. ... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834) (pronounced ) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. ... Latria is a Greek term used in Catholic theology to mean adoration, which is the highest form of worship or reverence and is directed only to God. ... Taken during a Hindu prayer ceremony on the eve of Diwali. ... George Bernard Shaw (born 26 July 1856, Dublin, Ireland died November 2, 1950, Hertfordshire, England) was an Irish writer. ... Thomas de Quincey from the frontispiece of Revolt of the Tartars, Thomas de Quincey (August 15, 1785 – December 8, 1859) was an English author and intellectual. ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The most familiar view of Carlyle is as the bearded sage with a penetrating gaze. ... 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Beginning around the turn of the 20th century, the historic rift between poet and playwright has begun to heal.

17th century

A 1596 sketch of a performance in progress on the platform or apron stage of the typical circular Elizabethan open-roof playhouse The Swan.

It is impossible to calculate Shakespeare's reputation in his own lifetime and shortly after. England scarcely had a modern literature to speak of prior to the 1570s, and detailed critical commentaries on modern authors did not begin to appear until the reign of Charles I. The facts about his reputation must be surmised from fragmentary evidence. He was included in some contemporary lists of leading poets, but he seems to have lacked the stature of the aristocratic Philip Sidney, who became a cult figure due to his death in battle at a young age, or of Edmund Spenser. Shakespeare's poems were reprinted far more frequently than his plays; but Shakespeare's plays were written for performance by his own company, and because no law prevented rival companies from using the plays, Shakespeare's troupe took steps to prevent his plays from being printed. That many of his plays were pirated suggests his popularity in the book market, and the regular patronage of his company by the court, culminating in 1603 when James I turned it into the "King's Men," suggests his popularity among higher stations of society. Modern plays (as opposed to those in Latin and Greek) were considered ephemeral and even somewhat disreputable entertainments by some contemporaries; the new Bodleian Library explicitly refused to shelve plays. Some of Shakespeare's plays, particularly the history plays, were reprinted frequently in cheap quarto (essentially pamphlet) form; others, including many of his finest, took decades to reach a third edition. Download high resolution version (502x602, 348 KB)A cropped version of this sketch. ... Download high resolution version (502x602, 348 KB)A cropped version of this sketch. ... Events February 5 - 26 catholics crucified in Nagasaki, Japan. ... The Elizabethan Era is the period associated with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603) and is often considered to be a golden age in English history. ... A 1596 sketch of a performance in progress on the platform or apron stage of the Swan. ... Significant Events and Trends Transition from the Muromachi to the Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan Categories: 1570s ... Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. ... Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. ... Philip Sidney. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Generally, patronage is the act of a so-called patron who supports or favors some individual, family, group or institution. ... Year 1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... James Stuart (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old. ... Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library. ... William Shakespeares earliest published plays are referred to as folios or quartos according to the size of the book. ...

After Ben Jonson pioneered the canonization of modern plays by printing his own works in folio (the luxury book format) in 1616, Shakespeare was the next playwright to be honored by a folio collection, in 1623. The fact that that folio went into another edition within nine years indicates that he was held in unusually high regard for a playwright. The dedicatory poems by Ben Jonson and John Milton in the second folio were the first to suggest that Shakespeare was the supreme poet of his age. These expensive reading editions are the first visible sign of a rift between Shakespeare on the stage and Shakespeare for readers, a rift that was to widen over the next two centuries. In his 1630 work 'Timber' or 'Discoveries', Ben Jonson praised the speed and ease with which Shakespeare wrote his plays as well as his contemporary's honesty and gentleness towards others. Benjamin Jonson (circa June 11, 1572 – August 6, 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. ... Icon of St. ... William Shakespeares earliest published plays are referred to as folios or quartos according to the size of the book. ... Year 1616 (MDCXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1623 (MDCXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other persons named John Milton, see John Milton (disambiguation). ... Events February 22 - Native American Quadequine introduces Popcorn to English colonists. ...

During the Interregnum (1642–1660), all public stage performances were banned by the Puritan rulers. Though, while denied the use of the stage, costumes and scenery, actors still managed to ply their trade by performing "drolls" or short pieces of larger plays that usually ended with some type of jig. Shakespeare was among the many playwrights whose works were plundered for these scenes. Among the most common scenes were Bottom's scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream and the gravedigger's scene from Hamlet. When the theatres opened again in 1660 after this uniquely long and sharp break in British theatrical history, two newly licensed London theatre companies, the Duke's and the King's Company, started business with a scramble for performance rights to old plays. Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and the Beaumont and Fletcher team were among the most valuable properties and remained popular after Restoration playwriting had gained momentum. The English Interregnum was the period of republican rule after the English Civil War between the regicide of Charles I in 1649 and the restoration of Charles II in 1660. ... Events January 4 - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape. ... // Events January 1 - Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and begins advance towards London in support of English Restoration. ... For the record label, see Puritan Records. ... Droll is classically defined as whimsical or comical, but American slang has adapted this word to mean boring, lifeless, and uninteresting. ... Nick Bottom is a character in Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream who provides comic relief throughout the play, and is famously known for getting his head transformed into an Asss head by the elusive Puck within the play. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Hamlet and Horatio in the cemetery by Eugène Delacroix For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I. It is still uncertain how many plays were their joint work. ...

The Restoration playhouses had elaborate scenery. They retained a shortened version of the apron stage for actor/audience contact, although it is not visible in this picture (the artist is standing on it).

In the elaborate Restoration London playhouses, designed by Christopher Wren, Shakespeare's plays were staged with music, dancing, thunder, lightning, wave machines, and fireworks. The texts were "reformed" and "improved" for the stage, an undertaking which has seemed shockingly disrespectful to posterity. A notorious example is Nahum Tate's happy-ending King Lear (1681) (which held the stage until 1838), while The Tempest was turned into an opera replete with special effects by William Davenant. In fact, as the director of the Duke's Company, Davenant was legally obliged to reform and modernize Shakespeare's plays before performing them, an ad hoc ruling by the Lord Chamberlain in the battle for performance rights which "sheds an interesting light on the many twentieth-century denunciations of Davenant for his adaptations" (Hume, p. 20). The common modern view of the Restoration stage as the epitome of Shakespeare abuse and bad taste has been shown by Hume to be exaggerated, and both scenery and adaptation became more reckless in the 18th and 19th centuries. Inside the Dorset Gardens playhouse, scenes for Elkanah Settles The Empress of Morocco. ... Inside the Dorset Gardens playhouse, scenes for Elkanah Settles The Empress of Morocco. ... King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... Sir Christopher Wren, (20 October 1632–25 February 1723) was a 17th century English designer, astronomer, geometrician, and the greatest English architect of his time. ... It has been suggested that Firework be merged into this article or section. ... Nahum Tate (1652 – July 30, 1715) was an Anglo-Irish poet and lyricist. ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is generally regarded as one of William Shakespeares greatest tragedies. ... Events March 4 - Charles II of England grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Tempest is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... William Davenant Sir William Davenant (February 28, 1606 - April 7, 1668), also spelled DAvenant, was an English poet and playwright. ... The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom, and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State. ...

The incomplete Restoration stage records suggest that Shakespeare, although always a major repertory author, was bested in the 1660–1700 period by the phenomenal popularity of Beaumont and Fletcher. "Their plays are now the most pleasant and frequent entertainments of the stage", reported fellow playwright John Dryden in 1668, "two of theirs being acted through the year for one of Shakespeare's or Jonson's". In the early 18th century, however, Shakespeare took over the lead on the London stage from Beaumont and Fletcher, never to relinquish it again to anybody. John Dryden John Dryden (August 19 {August 9 O.S.}, 1631 - May 12 {May 1 O.S.}, 1700) was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator and playwright, who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles... 1668 (MDCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I. It is still uncertain how many plays were their joint work. ...

By contrast to the stage history, in literary criticism there was no lag time, no temporary preference for other dramatists: Shakespeare had a unique position at least from the Restoration in 1660 and onwards. While Shakespeare did not follow the unbending French neo-classical "rules" for the drama and the three classical unities of time, place, and action, those strict rules had never caught on in England, and their sole zealous proponent Thomas Rhymer was hardly ever mentioned by influential writers except as an example of narrow dogmatism. Dryden, for example, argued in his influential Essay of Dramatick Poesie (1668) — the same essay in which he noted that Shakespeare's plays were performed only half as often as those of Beaumont and Fletcher — for Shakespeare's artistic superiority. Though Shakespeare does not follow the dramatic conventions, Dryden wrote, Ben Jonson does, and as a result Jonson lands in a distant second place to "the incomparable Shakespeare", the follower of nature, the untaught genius, the great realist of human character. Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. ... King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture. ... The three unities or classical unities are rules for drama derived from a mistaken interpretation of a particular passage in Aristotles Poetics. ... This article is about the English playwright. ... This article is on dogma in religion. ... Essay of Dramatick Poesie is a work of dramaturgy by John Dryden published in 1668. ... 1668 (MDCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Benjamin Jonson (circa June 11, 1572 – August 6, 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. ... A genius is a person of great intelligence. ...

18th century

Britain

In the 18th century, Shakespeare dominated the London stage, while Shakespeare productions turned increasingly into the creation of star turns for star actors. After the Licensing Act of 1737, one fourth of the plays performed were by Shakespeare, and on at least two occasions rival London playhouses staged the very same Shakespeare play at the same time (Romeo and Juliet in 1755 and King Lear the next year) and still commanded audiences. This occasion was a striking example of the growing prominence of Shakespeare stars in the theatrical culture, the big attraction being the competition and rivalry between the male leads at Covent Garden and Drury Lane, Spranger Barry and David Garrick. Apparently no incongruity was perceived in having Barry and Garrick, in their late thirties, play adolescent Romeo one season and geriatric King Lear the next: age appropriateness was nothing, the power to command and electrify audiences was all. The Licensing Act or Theatrical Licensing Act of 1737 (citation ) was a landmark act of censorship of the British stage and one of the most determining factors in the development of Augustan drama. ... Title page of the Second Quarto of Romeo and Juliet (published 1599) For other meanings see Romeo (disambiguation) and Juliet (disambiguation). ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is generally regarded as one of William Shakespeares greatest tragedies. ... Spranger Barry (November 23, 1719 – January 10, 1777), British actor, was born in Dublin, the son of a silversmith, to whose business he was brought up. ... Portrait of David Garrick David Garrick (February 19, 1717 – January 20, 1779) was an English actor, dramatist, theatrical producer and theatrical manager, and a friend and pupil of Samuel Johnson. ...

David Garrick as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, 1770.

As performance playscripts diverged more and more from their originals, the publication of texts intended for reading developed rapidly in the opposite direction, with the invention of textual criticism and an emphasis on fidelity to Shakespeare's original words. The texts that we read and perform today were largely settled in the 18th century. Nahum Tate and Nathaniel Lee had already prepared editions and performed scene divisions in the late 17th century, and Nicholas Rowe's edition of 1709 is considered the first truly scholarly text for the plays. It was followed by many good 18th-century editions, crowned by Edmund Malone's landmark Variorum Edition, which was published posthumously in 1821 and remains the basis of modern editions. These collected editions were meant for reading, not staging, and some of them were even convenient for a poetry lover to carry around; Rowe's 1709 edition was, compared to the old folios, a light pocketbook. Shakespeare criticism also increasingly spoke to readers, rather than to theatre audiences. Download high resolution version (451x639, 377 KB)David Garrick as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, 1770, image from the Theatre Museum’s Collections. ... Download high resolution version (451x639, 377 KB)David Garrick as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, 1770, image from the Theatre Museum’s Collections. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... Battle of Chesma, by Ivan Aivazovsky. ... Textual criticism or lower criticism is a branch of philology or bibliography that is concerned with the identification and removal of errors from texts. ... Nahum Tate (1652 – July 30, 1715) was an Anglo-Irish poet and lyricist. ... Nathaniel Lee (c. ... Nicholas Rowe Guilt is the source of sorrow, tis the fiend, Th avenging fiend, that follows us behind, With whips and stings Nicholas Rowe (1674 – 1718), English dramatist, poet and miscellaneous writer, was selected Poet Laureate in 1715. ... // Events January 12 - Two-month freezing period begins in France - The coast of the Atlantic and Seine River freeze, crops fail and at least 24. ... Edmond Malone (October 4, 1741 - April 25, 1812), was an Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor of the works of William Shakespeare. ... The coronation banquet for George IV 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

The only aspects of Shakespeare's plays that were consistently disliked and singled out for criticism in the 18th century were the puns ("clenches") and the "low" (sexual) allusions. While a few editors, notably Alexander Pope, attempted to gloss over or remove the puns and the double entendres, they were quickly reversed, and by mid-century the puns and sexual humor were (with only a few exceptions, see Thomas Bowdler) back in to stay. It has been suggested that dajare be merged into this article or section. ... Alexander Pope, an English poet best known for his Essay on Criticism and Rape of the Lock Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) is generally regarded as the greatest English poet of the early eighteenth century, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Thomas Bowdler (July 11, 1754 – February 24, 1825), an English physician, who published The Family Shakespeare, is best known as the source of the eponym bowdlerize (or bowdlerise[1]), the process of expurgation, censorship by removal, of material thought to be unacceptable to the intended audience, especially children or religious...

Dryden's sentiments about Shakespeare's matchless imagination and capacity for painting "nature" were echoed without a break in the 18th century by, for example, Joseph Addison ("Among the English, Shakespeare has incomparably excelled all others"), Alexander Pope ("every single character in Shakespeare is as much an Individual as those in Life itself"), and Samuel Johnson (who scornfully dismissed Voltaire's and Rhymer's neoclassical Shakespeare criticism as "the petty cavils of petty minds"). The long-lived belief that the Romantics were the first generation to truly appreciate Shakespeare and to prefer him to Ben Jonson is contradicted by unstinting praise from writers throughout the 18th century. Ideas about Shakespeare that many people think of as typically post-Romantic were frequently expressed in the 18th and even in the 17th century: he was described as a genius who needed no learning, as deeply original, and as creating uniquely "real" and individual characters (see Timeline of Shakespeare criticism). To compare Shakespeare and his well-educated contemporary Ben Jonson was a popular exercise at this time, a comparison that was invariably complimentary to Shakespeare. It functioned to highlight the special qualities of both writers, and it especially powered the assertion that natural genius trumps rules, that "there is always an appeal open from criticism to nature" (Samuel Johnson). Joseph Addison, the Kit-cat portrait, circa 1703–1712, by Godfrey Kneller. ... For other persons named Samuel Johnson, see Samuel Johnson (disambiguation). ... For the sport horse, see Voltaire (horse). ... Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich Romantics redirects here, for the band, see The Romantics Romanticism is an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in 18th century Western Europe during the industrial revolution. ... This page consists of a chronological collection of critical quotations about William Shakespeare, which illustrate the article Shakespeares reputation. ...

Elsewhere in Europe

Some of Shakespeare's work was performed in continental Europe during the 17th century, but it was not until the mid 18th century that it became widely known. In Germany Lessing compared Shakespeare to German folk literature. Goethe organised a Shakespeare jubilee in Frankfurt in 1771, stating that the dramatist had shown that the Aristotelian unities were "as oppressive as a prison" and were "burdensome fetters on our imagination". Herder likewise proclaimed that reading Shakespeare's work opens "leaves from the book of events, of providence, of the world, blowing in the sands of time." This claim that Shakespeare's work breaks though all creative boundaries to reveal a chaotic, teeming, contradictory world became characteristic of Romantic criticism, later being expressed by Victor Hugo in the preface to his play Cromwell, in which he lauded Shakespeare as an artist of the grotesque, a genre in which the tragic, absurd, trivial and serious were inseparably intertwined. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (January 22, 1729 - February 15, 1781), writer, philosopher, publicist, and art thinker, is the most outstanding German representative of the Enlightenment era. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced [gø tə]) (August 28, 1749–March 22, 1832) was a German writer, politician, humanist, scientist, and philosopher. ... A herder is a worker who lives a semi-nomadic life, caring for various domestic animals, especially in places where these animals wander unfenced pasture lands. ... Victor-Marie Hugo (pronounced in French) (26 February 1802 — 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights campaigner, and perhaps the most influential exponent of the Romantic movement in France. ... Mother Nature is surrounded by grottesche in this fresco detail from Villa dEste When commonly used in conversation, grotesque means strange, fantastic, ugly or bizarre, and thus is often used to describe weird shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween masks or gargoyles on churches. ...

19th century

Shakespeare in performance

The Theatre Royal at Drury Lane in 1813. The platform stage is gone, and note the orchestra cutting off the actors from the audience.

Theatres and theatrical scenery became ever more elaborate in the 19th century, and the acting editions used were progressively cut and restructured to emphasize more and more the soliloquies and the stars, at the expense of pace and action.^[1] Performances were further slowed by the need for frequent pauses to change the scenery, creating a perceived need for even more cuts in order to keep performance length within tolerable limits; it became a generally accepted maxim that Shakespeare's plays were too long to be performed without substantial cuts. The platform, or apron, stage, on which actors of the 17th century would come forward for audience contact, was gone, and the actors stayed permanently behind the fourth wall or proscenium arch, further separated from the audience by the orchestra, see image right. Download high resolution version (1097x745, 940 KB)Cropped version of Image:Theatre Royal Drury Lane 1813. ... Download high resolution version (1097x745, 940 KB)Cropped version of Image:Theatre Royal Drury Lane 1813. ... Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. ... Soliloquy is an audible oratory or conversation with oneself. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A proscenium arch is a square frame around a raised stage area in traditional theatres. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Through the 19th century, a roll call of legendary actors' names all but drown out the plays in which they appear: Sarah Siddons (1755—1831), John Philip Kemble (1757—1823), Henry Irving (1838—1905), and Ellen Terry (1847—1928). To be a star of the legitimate drama came to mean being first and foremost a "great Shakespeare actor", with a famous interpretation of, for men, Hamlet, and for women, Lady Macbeth, and especially with a striking delivery of the great soliloquies. The acme of spectacle, star, and soliloquy Shakespeare performance came with the reign of actor-manager Henry Irving at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in London from 1878 to 1899. At the same time, a revolutionary return to the roots of Shakespeare's original texts, and to the platform stage, absence of scenery, and fluid scene changes of the Elizabethan theatre, was being effected by William Poel's Elizabethan Stage Society. Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (1755–1831) was a British actress, the best-known of the 18th century. ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... John Philip Kemble (February 1, 1757 - February 26, 1823), was an English actor. ... 1757 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Sir Henry Irving, as Hamlet, in an 1893 illustration from The Idler magazine John Henry Brodribb (February 6, 1838 – October 13, 1905), knighted in 1895, as Sir Henry Irving, was one of the most famous stage actors of the Victorian era. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Ellen Alice Terry (February 27, 1847 – July 21, 1928) was an English stage actress. ... 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... 1878 (MDCCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... William Poel (1852-1934) was an English actor and theatrical manager, known for his presentation of old plays. ...

Shakespeare in criticism

Thomas de Quincey: "O, mighty poet! Thy works are… like the phenomena of nature, like the sun and the sea, the stars and the flowers".

The belief in the unappreciated 18th-century Shakespeare was proposed at the beginning of the 19th century by the Romantics, in support of their view of 18th-century literary criticism as mean, formal, and rule-bound, which was contrasted with their own reverence for the poet as prophet and genius. Such ideas were most fully expressed by German critics such as Goethe and the Schlegel brothers. Romantic critics such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Hazlitt raised admiration for Shakespeare to worship or even "bardolatry" (a sarcastic coinage from bard + idolatry by George Bernard Shaw in 1901, meaning excessive or religious worship of Shakespeare). To compare him to other Renaissance playwrights at all, even for the purpose of finding him superior, began to seem irreverent. Shakespeare was rather to be studied without any involvement of the critical faculty, to be addressed or apostrophized—almost prayed to—by his worshippers, as in Thomas de Quincey's classic essay "On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth" (1823): "O, mighty poet! Thy works are not as those of other men, simply and merely great works of art; but are also like the phenomena of nature, like the sun and the sea, the stars and the flowers,—like frost and snow, rain and dew, hail-storm and thunder, which are to be studied with entire submission of our own faculties…". The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Thomas de Quincey from the frontispiece of Revolt of the Tartars, Thomas de Quincey (August 15, 1785 – December 8, 1859) was an English author and intellectual. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced [gø tə]) (August 28, 1749–March 22, 1832) was a German writer, politician, humanist, scientist, and philosopher. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834) (pronounced ) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. ... William Hazlitt (10 April 1778 – 18 September 1830) was an English writer remembered for his humanistic essays and literary criticism, often esteemed the greatest English literary critic after Samuel Johnson. ... William Shakespeare, the man who of all Modern, and perhaps Ancient Poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul ( John Dryden, 1668), our myriad-minded Shakespeare ( S. T. Coleridge, 1817), up for grabs (Terry Hawkes, 1992). ... George Bernard Shaw (born 26 July 1856, Dublin, Ireland died November 2, 1950, Hertfordshire, England) was an Irish writer. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Thomas de Quincey from the frontispiece of Revolt of the Tartars, Thomas de Quincey (August 15, 1785 – December 8, 1859) was an English author and intellectual. ...

As the concept of literary originality grew in importance, critics were horrified at the idea of adapting Shakespeare's tragedies for the stage by putting happy endings on them, or editing out the puns in Romeo and Juliet. In another way, what happened on the stage was seen as unimportant, as the Romantics, themselves writers of closet drama, considered Shakespeare altogether more suitable for reading than staging. Charles Lamb saw any form of stage representation as distracting from the true qualities of the text. This view, argued as a timeless truth, was also a natural consequence of the dominance of melodrama and spectacle on the early 19th-century stage. Originality refers to something being new or novel. ... A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or, sometimes, out loud in a small group. ... Charles Lamb (1775-1834) Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 –- 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, best known for his Essays of Elia and for the childrens book Tales from Shakespeare, which he produced along with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–1847). ...

Shakespeare became an important emblem of national pride in the 19th century, which was the heyday of the British Empire and the acme of British power in the world. To Thomas Carlyle in On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841), Shakespeare was one of the great poet-heroes of history, in the sense of being a "rallying-sign" for British cultural patriotism all over the world, including even the lost American colonies: "From Paramatta, from New York, wheresoever… English men and women are, they will say to one another, 'Yes, this Shakespeare is ours; we produced him, we speak and think by him; we are of one blood and kind with him'" ("The Poet as Hero"). As the foremost of the great canonical writers, the jewel of English culture, and as Carlyle puts it, "merely as a real, marketable, tangibly useful possession", Shakespeare became in the 19th century a means of creating a common heritage for the motherland and all her colonies. Post-colonial literary critics have had much to say of this use of Shakespeare's plays in what they regard as a move to subordinate and deracinate the cultures of the colonies themselves. The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... The most familiar view of Carlyle is as the bearded sage with a penetrating gaze. ... 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Canonical is an adjective derived from canon. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

20th century

Shakespeare continued to be considered the greatest English writer of all time throughout the 20th century. Most Western educational systems required the textual study of two or more of Shakespeare's plays, and both amateur and professional stagings of Shakespeare were commonplace. It was the proliferation of high-quality, well-annotated texts and the unrivalled reputation of Shakespeare that allowed for stagings of Shakespeare's plays to remain textually faithful, but with an extraordinary variety in setting, stage direction, and costuming. Institutions such as the Folger Shakespeare Library in the United States worked to ensure constant, serious study of Shakespearean texts and the Royal Shakespeare Company in the United Kingdom worked to maintain a yearly staging of at least two plays. The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library located on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. History Standard Oil president, then chairman of the board, Henry Clay Folger was an avid collector of Shakespeareana. ... Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon The Royal Shakespeare Company is a British theatre company. ...

Shakespeare performances reflected the tensions of the times, and early in the century, Barry Jackson of the Birmingham Repertory Theater began the staging of modern-dress productions, thus starting a new trend in Shakesperian production. Performances of the plays could be highly interpretive. Thus, play directors would emphasize Marxist, Feminist, or, perhaps most popularly, Freudian interpretations of the plays, even as they retained letter-perfect scripts. Barry Jackson (born 29 May 1938 in Birmingham, England) is an actor best known for his roles on film and television. ... Marxism takes its name from the praxis — the synthesis of philosophy and political action — of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... Feminism is a collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies largely motivated by or concerned with the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. ... Sigmund Freud His famous couch Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 - September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much behavior. ...

Film

Main article: Shakespeare on screen

That divergence between text and performance in Shakespeare continued into the new media of film. For instance, both Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet have been filmed in modern settings, sometimes with contemporary "updated" dialogue. Additionally, there were efforts (notably by the BBC) to ensure that there was a filmed version of every Shakespeare play. The reasoning for this was educational, as many government educational initiatives recognized the need to get performative Shakespeare into the same classrooms as the read plays. Laurence Oliviers Richard III. This is a list of films and television programmes based on the works of William Shakespeare. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Hamlet and Horatio in the cemetery by Eugène Delacroix For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... Title page of the Second Quarto of Romeo and Juliet (published 1599) For other meanings see Romeo (disambiguation) and Juliet (disambiguation). ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion...

Poetry

Many English-language Modernist poets drew on Shakespeare's works, interpreting in new ways. Ezra Pound, for instance, considered the Sonnets as a kind of apprentice work, with Shakespeare learning the art of poetry through writing them. He also declared the History plays to be the true English epic. Basil Bunting rewrote the sonnets as modernist poems by simply erasing all the words he considered unnecessary. Louis Zukofsky had read all of Shakespeare's works by the time he was eleven, and his Bottom: On Shakespeare (1947) is a book-length prose poem exploring the role of the eye in the plays. In its original printing, a second volume consisting of a setting of The Tempest by the poet's wife, Celia Zukofsky was also included. a poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, which brought him to prominence. ... Ezra Pound in 1913. ... A national epic is an epic poem or similar work which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation; not necessarily a nation-state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with aspirations to independence or autonomy. ... Basil Cheesman Bunting (March 3, 1900 – 1985) was a British modernist poet. ... The cover of the 1978 edition of Zukofskys long poem A. Louis Zukofsky (January 23, 1904 – May 12, 1978) was one of the most important second-generation American modernist poets. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... // Prose poetry is usually considered a form of poetry written in prose that breaks some of the normal rules associated with prose discourse, for heightened imagery or emotional effect, among other purposes. ... A human eye. ...

Critical quotations

Main article: Timeline of Shakespeare criticism

The growth of Shakespeare's reputation is illustrated by a timeline of Shakespeare criticism, from John Dryden's "when he describes any thing, you more than see it, you feel it too" (1668) to Thomas Carlyle's estimation of Shakespeare as the "strongest of rallying-signs" (1841) for an English identity. This page consists of a chronological collection of critical quotations about William Shakespeare, which illustrate the article Shakespeares reputation. ... This page consists of a chronological collection of critical quotations about William Shakespeare, which illustrate the article Shakespeares reputation. ... 1668 (MDCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area...

References

1. ^ See, for example, the 19th century playwright W. S. Gilbert's essay, Unappreciated Shakespeare, from Foggerty's Fairy and Other Tales

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (November 18, 1836 – May 29, 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist and illustrator best known for the fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. ... Foggertys Fairy and Other Tales is an 1890 book by W. S. Gilbert, collecting several of the short stories and essays he wrote in his early career as a magazine writer. ...

External links

E-texts (chronological)

• Ben Jonson on Shakespeare (1630)
• John Dryden, Essay of Dramatic Poesy, (1668)
• Thomas Rhymer's notorious attack on Othello (1692), which in the end did Shakespeare's reputation more good than harm, by firing up John Dryden, John Dennis and other influential critics into writing eloquent replies.
• Joseph Addison, Spectator no. 419 (1712)
• Alexander Pope, Preface to his Works of Shakespear (1725)
• Samuel Johnson, Life of Shakespeare (1765)
• Thomas de Quincey, "On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth" (1823)
• Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841)
• W. S. Gilbert, Unappreciated Shakespeare (1882, revised 1890 for Foggerty's Fairy and Other Tales)

John Dennis (1657 - January 6, 1734), English critic and dramatist, the son of a saddler, was born in London. ... Year 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... Foggertys Fairy and Other Tales is an 1890 book by W. S. Gilbert, collecting several of the short stories and essays he wrote in his early career as a magazine writer. ...

Other resources

• PeoplePlay UK Shakespeare performance timeline
• Shakespeare biography and online resources at NoSweatShakespeare
• The Shakespeare Resource Center A directory of Web resources for online Shakespearean study. Includes a Shakespeare biography, works timeline, play synopses, and language resources.

References

• Hawkes, Terence. (1992) Meaning by Shakespeare. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-07450-9.
• Hume, Robert D. (1976). The Development of English Drama in the Late Seventeenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-812063-X.
• Sorelius, Gunnar. (1965). "The Giant Race Before the Flood": Pre-Restoration Drama on the Stage and in the Criticism of the Restoration. Uppsala: Studia Anglistica Upsaliensia.
• Speaight, Robert. (1954) William Poel and the Elizabethan revival. Published for The Society for Theatre Research. London: Heinemann.

	The complete works of William Shakespeare
Tragedies:	Romeo and Juliet | Macbeth | King Lear | Hamlet | Othello | Titus Andronicus | Julius Caesar | Antony and Cleopatra | Coriolanus | Troilus and Cressida | Timon of Athens
Comedies:	A Midsummer Night's Dream | All's Well That Ends Well | As You Like It | Cymbeline | Love's Labour's Lost | Measure for Measure | The Merchant of Venice | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Much Ado About Nothing | Pericles, Prince of Tyre | Taming of the Shrew | The Comedy of Errors | The Tempest | Twelfth Night, or What You Will | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | The Two Noble Kinsmen | The Winter's Tale
Histories:	King John | Richard II | Henry IV, Part 1 | Henry IV, Part 2 | Henry V | Henry VI, part 1 | Henry VI, part 2 | Henry VI, part 3 | Richard III | Henry VIII
Poems and Sonnets:	Sonnets | Venus and Adonis | The Rape of Lucrece | The Passionate Pilgrim | The Phoenix and the Turtle | A Lover's Complaint
Apocrypha and Lost Plays	Edward III | Sir Thomas More | Cardenio (lost) | Love's Labour's Won (lost) | The Birth of Merlin | Locrine | The London Prodigal | The Puritan | The Second Maiden's Tragedy | Richard II, Part I: Thomas of Woodstock | Sir John Oldcastle | Thomas Lord Cromwell | A Yorkshire Tragedy | Fair Em | Mucedorus | The Merry Devil of Edmonton | Arden of Faversham | Edmund Ironside
See also:	Shakespeare on screen | Titles based on Shakespeare | Characters | Problem Plays | Ghost characters | Reputation | New Words | Influence on English Language | Authorship Question | Chronology of Shakespeare plays | Chronology of Shakespeare's Plays - Oxfordian | BBC Television Shakespeare