NAZARBAYEV INTELLECTUAL SCHOOL
William Shakespeare –
“Immortal Poet of Nature”
Leaders: Teachers of English
Language Department
Taldykorgan
Theme: William Shakespeare – “Immortal Poet of Nature”
Student 1: Good evening dear teachers, students and guests!
(Slide #1)
Student 2: You are welcome to our meeting which is dedicated to the greatest playwright of the world of
literature: William Shakespeare. We hope that all of you will take an active part in it. Let’s watch some facts
about William Shakespeare’s biography and the time when he lived and worked.
Student 1: The name of William Shakespeare is known all over the world. The last half of the 16th and the
beginning of the 17th centuries are known as the Golden Age of English literature. It was the time of the
English Renaissance and sometimes it is called “The Age of Shakespeare”.
Student 2: People often call Shakespeare “Our National Bard”, “Immortal Poet of Nature” or “The Great
Unknown”. We really know few facts of his life and many of them are doubtful. But some facts are known
to us and are proved by documents.
(Video about W.Shakespeare’s biography)
Student 1: William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 on his family home in Stratford –Upon - Avon,
England. William spent his childhood being raised in Stratford -Upon-Avon, England. He had a huge family
which consisted of 7 siblings: 4 sisters and 3 brothers. However, most of his sisters died due to the black
plague and only one survived.
Student 2: Around this time hygiene wasn’t very important and they took baths once a year. Children were
the last to take a bath and by then the water would by black.
Student 1: William, along with his brothers, attended grammar school at the age of 7. School at this time
lasted literally all day and they had no gym class or sports. However, William was pulled out of school at the
age of 14 for unknown reasons.
Student 2: At the age of 18, Shakespeare impregnated his girlfriend Ann Hathaway. William was pretty
much forced to marry Anne and together they had 3 children. Their first born, Susanna, was born on May
26, 1583. Two years later, they had twins, Hamnet and Judith. However, Hamnet died at the age of 11 due to
Black Death.
Student 1: William wrote 4 types of plays: tragedies, comedies, histories and late romance. His plays were
performed in the Globe Theatre and the Blackfriars theatre. His plays were performed by the King’s men
and the Lord Chamberlain’s men.
Student 2: William was more than just a play writer. He was a “jack of all trades”.
Student 1: He wrote sonnets, taught for the Houghton family, and was a theatre owner. Shakespeare wrote
37 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 poems.
(Slide #2)
Student 2: One of the famous tragedies of William Shakespeare is “Romeo and Juliet”.
(Scene I. “Romeo sees Juliet for the first time”
Scene II. “Capulet’s orchard”)
Scene I. “Romeo sees Juliet for the first time”
Enter Romeo into the ball. Dance.
Romeo
Good evening, milady!
Will you dance with me?
Juliet appears above at a window
Good evening, sir! Why not!
Romeo
I’m Romeo and what is your name?
Juliet
I’m Juliet.
Romeo
O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art
As glorious to this night, being o’er my head
Juliet
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
Scene II. “Capulet’s orchard”)
Romeo
Lady Juliet, Juliet
Juliet
Oh, Romeo. Why are you here? If they see you here, they will kill you.
Romeo
I have night’s cloak to hide me from their sight;
And but thou love me, let them find me here:
My life were better ended be their hate,
Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.
Juliet
O gentle Romeo,
If you love me, pronounce it faithfully:
My true love’s passion: therefore pardon me.
Romeo
If my heart’s dear love
Nurse calls within
Juliet
I hear some noise within; dear love, adieu!
Anon, good nurse! Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again.
Exit, above
Romeo
O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard.
Being in night, all this but a dream,
Too flattering-sweet to be substantial
Re-enter Juliet, above
Juliet
Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
Romeo
Ok, good night my dear …
Nurse
[Within] Madam!
Juliet
I’m coming, anon.
Student 1: “To be or not to be: that is the question” composed by Shakespeare, makes everyone think.
To be or not to be (spoken by Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 1)
To be, or not be: that is the question:
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ‘tis a consummation’
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance a dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off thes mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppresor’s wrong, the proud man’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveler returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others what we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sickled o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action—Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember’d.
“To be or not to be”
Student 2: Let’s listen to the classical work of 17th and 18th centuries. “Feeling” by Goya.
Student 1: Some are reworking of the stories based on English and Roman history. One of them is “King
Lear”.
“King Lear”
Act 1
Narrator:
-London city, year 1608
- King Lear, the old and tired king of England, decides to give up his rule and divide his kingdom between
his three daughters. He invites his daughters to tell him how much they love him.
King Lear:
-Tell me, my dear daughters, which of you shall love me most?
1st daughter:
-Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter.
2nd daughter:
-Sir, I am made of the same metal as my sister. I am ready to give up all my joys but my love for you, my
Lord!
King Lear:
(After two daughters answer him):
-Do you agree with your sisters, my younger daughter?
3rd daughter:
-My Lord, I can not love you like my sisters do. I have to give half of my love to my future husband.
King Lear:
(After the third daughter’s answer):
-To this daughter I shall give one third of my kingdom, to this daughter I shall give one third of my kingdom
and this daughter gets nothing! I shall divide her part of the kingdom between you two.
(He says to his younger daughter):
-And you must leave the kingdom now.
Narrator:
-So the youngest daughter leaves England and goes to France where she marries the King and becomes the
queen of France. She feels very sad.
Act II
Narrator:
-Meanwhile, the King spends his time staying with one daughter and another.
-But the sisters are not happy. They treat their father very badly and do not allow him to have any servants.
Shocked and upset, he leaves England.
King Lear:
(The two daughters treat him badly):
-Oh, God, why was I so stupid?
(he leaves the kingdom):
-My dear daughters, how can you be so evil? (he goes mad)
Narrator:
-He goes insane. His youngest daughter Cordelia finds out of his misfortune.
3rd daughter:
-My poor father!
-Let the army of France go and find my beloved father!
Narrator:
-So there is a war between England and France.
Act 3
-But the army of England is stronger than the army of France and so King Lear and Cordelia are taken
prisoners. -Cordelia is hanged... and the king, unable to take this pain, dies.
King Lear:
(After his youngest daughter is hanged):
-My poor beloved daughter? How shall I live after this?
Narrator:
-The two sisters, full of greed and anger, kill each other, too.
-So the moral of this story is :There is a price to be paid for the sins that we carry through
life.
Student 2:
Shakespeare wrote most of his plays as `quarto texts', that being on a sheet of paper folded
four ways.
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise.
(Video “Quarto text”)
Student 2 - William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52. He died in
Warwickshire, England.
Student 1 - Even though William is long gone, we still study and read his works. The central
themes that run in William’s work is still relevant today.
Song: “Shakespeare”