The world of Shakespeare
If literature is the mirror of a society the art of Shakespeare’s story telling is the picture of a human heart. The high opinion in which Shakespeare has been held since the middle of the eighteenth century has often led to evaluate his literary merits in such a way which is not confined to the usual literary status. To me it’s much more than that. In The Riverside Shakespeare (1974), Harry Levin has observed that Shakespeare’s works have been “accorded a place in our culture above and beyond topmost place in our literature’. They have been accorded such high profile status virtually canonized as humanistic scriptures, the tested residue of pragmatic wisdom, a general collection of quotable texts and usable examples” for guiding human actions. The dramatist’s works rank beside the Bible as the documents most referred to when explaining and illustrating the variegated qualities of human nature.’
For any critique analysis of the general qualities of a drama is based on the power of the writer to create a character which fits into the emotions which is being created for the character. William Shakespeare was a master of this essential requirement. The most important achievement was his ability to bring his audience’s emotions to play when the drama is being played. Shakespeare not only wrote them, he at the same time sneaked into the hidden plethora of emotions and travelled extensively in the secret alleys to know they look like when they are played live in front of those who have a heart. Drama is not real but the focus initially on the receptive nature of a human mind. There he excelled as a literary genius. He was unique in English literary world that played with the emotions of his readers, viewers, players. His characters became the icons, symbols of frailty and eventually breakers of their own hearts. This he did more than any other author in English; Shakespeare has been able to bring to life individuals who have the mark of reality about them. In creating dramatic characters throughout the dramas, Shakespeare tried use his creativeness to make the characters who themselves are victims who suffered through their agonies and finally reached to the climax. They are special individuals who felt, suffered and languished in lonely circumstances. His art of using those words which penetrates into the heart even they are said in personal circumstances. He worked to specialize his creations through superb patterns of speech and ideas. In Shakespeare’s times deeply philosophical serious thoughts was not very common. The intellectual depth which governs the understanding of human emotions was virtually non-existent. His was a totalitarian time which was not favourable to express deep personal feelings. This was an age when society believed people were governed by clowns and the dominant characteristics those exhibited were of a crude type without any future impact. But Shakespeare was unusual in the modus operandi. Ben Johnson his great contemporary did try some unusual creations but never went close to William Shakespeare. Shakespeare, on the other hand always tried to achieve distinction among his celebrated characters such as kings, princes, knights fools, lovers, and villains.
Writer Harry Levin also observed that,” like most of his contemporaries, Shakespeare makes extensive use of both literary and historical sources for his dramas. Almost nothing in the Shakespeare canon is wholly original. Some of the earliest works are highly derivative; The Comedy of Errors (pr. c. 1592-1594, pb. 1623), for example, is taken from a Roman comedy. As he matured in his art, Shakespeare was able to transform materials from diverse sources, such as Plutarch’s Bioi paralleloi (c. 105-115 c.e; Parallel Lives, 1579) and Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles (1577) into original works of dramatic art. His Julius Caesar and Brutus, his Richard II and Prince Hal, are modeled on the figures Shakespeare discovered in the histories he read. He was not at all averse; however, to changing his characters’ motivations or even making those younger or older than they actually were if the dramatic interest of his plays was better served”.
It’s important to note that a writer’s knowledge of history makes him a pragmatic writer. His analytical power to go through the real facts that helps him to put the information in a way that makes his audience feel it’s happening in front of them.dramatical way was important to him as the historical records on which he drew were the writings of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, whose ideas Shakespeare incorporates into his dramas. His writings are filled with allusions to various ancient authors, as well as to works by his contemporaries. He seems to have been especially influenced by the new movement in Humanism, exemplified best by the works of the French essayist Michel de Montaigne. Many of Shakespeare’s plays exhibit an appreciation for the Aristotelian concept that virtuous action is a kind of golden mean between two extremes; for example, heroism lies between cowardice and foolhardiness.
Among Shakespeare’s most notable contributions to literature was his innovative use of language. He chose those words and style which had a destination. His verses are made up not to enchant the reader rather he aimed at readers inner senses. This is the reason why Shakespeare’s English still stand in its place for a very limited audience but acclaimed by all. His sonnet number 30 reads like this,
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep afresh love’s long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor’d and sorrows end.
Look at the words, sentences and the poised way to mesmerize the readers mind. This is unique William Shakespeare, an unparalleled poet and a writer lost in the ecstasy of his creation.
To evaluate his timeless dramas, especially the tragedies we can only say for himself as Hamlet said” What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god!
The dramatic form of classical tragedy has some ancient historical basis mainly derived from the Greek tragedy. In many cases the fall of a Greek tragic hero was based on destiny but Shakespeare was not fatalistic. He created proper circumstances a well-planned plot to make it real. The hero would struggle against a sea of trouble and his fall and defeat would be so noble to win a moral victory against the forces that brought his downfall. A critic described this as” A tragedy evoked pity and terror in the audience; it was a catharsis, or washing clean of the soul, which left the spectator trembling but purified.”
A. C. Bradley saw Shakespearean tragedy characterized by the “tragic flaw,” the internal imperfection in the hero that brings him down. His downfall becomes his own doing, and he is no longer, as in classical tragedy, the helpless victim of fate. Some say that Othello’s tragic flaw was jealousy which flared at suspicion and rushed into action unchecked by calm common sense. A more modern interpretation would say that Othello’s tragic flaw was that he had internalized, that is taken into him, the prejudices of those who surrounded him. In his heart he had come to believe what they believed: that a black man is an unattractive creature, not quite human, unworthy of love. Thinking this, he could not believe that Desdemona could truly love him for himself. Her love must be preteens, or a flawed and corrupted emotion. Iago hinted at these ideas, and Othello rushed to accept them, because they echoed his deepest fears and insecurities”.
The most people ask Is Shakespeare still relevant today? How does his work influence the mind of a modern man? The themes of his plays still continue to resonate with modern audiences because the fundamental core of a human mind never changes. The rich 400 years old legacy of Shakespeare is a timeless passion which will continue to impress his readers. He is quoted and remembered by people who understand and share his feelings. Many experts on Shakespeare from around the world after examining his talent and understanding has declared his works dedicated to the deepest emotions of mankind. The perspective is still the same after 400 years in relation to their appeal to his fans. This will continue to remain the same in a critical perspective, putting his plays in historical and social context and it will thrive in emotion by interacting with history.