According to the Bill Bryson biography
“Shakespeare”, in Elizabethan times,
paper/parchment was expensive. This meant
Shakespeare would never write his plays with no titles
or divisions into acts, scenes etc.
However, Gustav Freytag is known for his analysis of
the structure of ancient Greek and Shakespearean
drama. According to Freytag, a drama is divided
into five parts, or acts: Hence why all of
Shakespeare’s plays are divided into five acts.
Act 1, Scene 1: DUKE ORSINO's palace.
Act 1, Scene 2: The sea-coast.
Act 1, Scene 3: OLIVIA'S house.
Act 1, Scene 4: DUKE ORSINO's palace.
Act 1, Scene 5: OLIVIA'S house.
Act 2, Scene 1: The sea-coast.
Act 2, Scene 2: A street.
Act 2, Scene 3: OLIVIA's house.
Act 2, Scene 4: DUKE ORSINO's palace.
Act 2, Scene 5: OLIVIA's garden.
Act 3, Scene 1: OLIVIA's garden.
Act 3, Scene 2: OLIVIA's house.
Act 3, Scene 3: A street.
Act 3, Scene 4: OLIVIA's garden.
Act 4, Scene 1: Before OLIVIA's house.
Act 4, Scene 2: OLIVIA's house.
Act 4, Scene 3: OLIVIA's garden.
Act 5, Scene 1: Before OLIVIA's house.
Act 1, Scene 1: A desert place.
Act 1, Scene 2: A camp near Forres.
Act 1, Scene 3: A heath near Forres.
Act 1, Scene 4: Forres. The palace.
Act 1, Scene 5: Inverness. Macbeth's castle.
Act 1, Scene 6: Before Macbeth's castle.
Act 1, Scene 7: Macbeth's castle.
Act 2, Scene 1: Court of Macbeth's castle.
Act 2, Scene 2: The same.
Act 2, Scene 3: The same.
Act 2, Scene 4: Outside Macbeth's castle.
Act 3, Scene 1: Forres. The palace.
Act 3, Scene 2: The palace.
Act 3, Scene 3: A park near the palace.
Act 3, Scene 4: The same. Hall in the palace.
Act 3, Scene 5: A Heath.
Act 3, Scene 6: Forres. The palace.
Act 4, Scene 1: A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron.
Act 4, Scene 2: Fife. Macduff's castle.
Act 4, Scene 3: England. Before the King's palace.
Act 5, Scene 1: Dunsinane. Ante-room in the castle.
Act 5, Scene 2: The country near Dunsinane.
Act 5, Scene 3: Dunsinane. A room in the castle.
Act 5, Scene 4: Country near Birnam wood.
Act 5, Scene 5: Dunsinane. Within the castle.
Act 5, Scene 6: Dunsinane. Before the castle.
Act 5, Scene 7: Another part of the field.
Act 5, Scene 8: Another part of the field.
Act 1, Scene 1: Orchard of Oliver's house.
Act 1, Scene 1: Venice. A street.
Act 1, Scene 2: Lawn before the Duke's palace. Act 1, Scene 2: Another street.
Act 1, Scene 3: A room in the palace.
Act 1, Scene 3: A council-chamber.
Act 2, Scene 1: The Forest of Arden.
Act 2, Scene 1: A Sea-port in Cyprus.
Act 2, Scene 2: A room in the palace.
An open place near the quay.
Act 2, Scene 3: Before OLIVER'S house.
Act 2, Scene 2: A street.
Act 2, Scene 4: The Forest of Arden.
Act 2, Scene 3: A hall in the castle.
Act 2, Scene 5: The Forest.
Act 3, Scene 1: Before the castle.
Act 2, Scene 6: The forest.
Act 3, Scene 2: A room in the castle.
Act 2, Scene 7: The forest.
Act 3, Scene 3: The garden of the castle.
Act 3, Scene 1: A room in the palace.
Act 3, Scene 4: Before the castle.
Act 3, Scene 2: The forest.
Act 4, Scene 1: Cyprus. Before the castle.
Act 3, Scene 3: The forest.
Act 4, Scene 2: A room in the castle.
Act 3, Scene 4: The forest.
Act 4, Scene 3: Another room In the castle.
Act 3, Scene 5: Another part of the forest.
Act 5, Scene 1: Cyprus. A street.
Act 4, Scene 1: The forest.
Act 5, Scene 2: A bedchamber in the castle:
Act 4, Scene 2: The forest.
DESDEMONA in bed asleep;
Act 4, Scene 3: The forest.
Act 5, Scene 1: The forest.
Act 5, Scene 2: The forest.
Act 5, Scene 3: The forest.
Act 5, Scene 4: The forest.
In the exposition, the background information that is needed to
properly understand the story is provided. Such information includes
the protagonist, the antagonist, the basic conflict, the setting, and so
forth.
The exposition ends with the inciting moment, which is the single
incident in the story’s action without which there would be no story.
The inciting moment sets the remainder of the story in motion
beginning with the second act, the rising action.
Eg. In Twelth Night, setting introduced straight away, then main
characters introduced – Viola, Orsino, Olivia, followed by the small
background - Orsino’s love for Olivia, Olivia’s dead brother and
Viola’s family.
During rising action, the basic conflict is complicated by the introduction
of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate
the protagonist’s attempt to reach their goal. Secondary conflicts can
include adversaries of lesser importance than the story’s antagonist, who
may work with the antagonist or separately, by and for themselves.
(In Twelfth Night, increasing complications resulting from
love, and mistaken identity. Viola is in love with Orsino yet
he thinks she is a man and Olivia is in love with Viola as she
also thinks Viola is a man)
The third act is that of the climax, or turning point, which marks
a change, for the better or the worse, in the protagonist’s
affairs. If the story is a comedy, things will have gone badly for
the protagonist up to this point; now, the tide, so to speak, will
turn, and things will begin to go well for him or her. If the story is
a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things
going from good to bad for the protagonist.
The climax of Twelfth Night occurs, according to the first
definition, when Olivia claims to love Cesario (Olivia).
According to the second definition, the climax occurs in
the final act when twins Viola and Sebastian establish their
true identities.
Often these two are expressed similarly.
During the falling action, the conflict between the protagonist
and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or
losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain
a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of
the conflict is in doubt.
The comedy ends with a dénouement (a conclusion) in which
the protagonist is better off than at the story’s outset. The
tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is
worse off than at the beginning of the narrative.
In twelfth Night, Viola prepares to marry Orsino;
Malvolio is freed and vows revenge; everyone
else goes off to celebrate
•All's Well That Ends Well
•As You Like It
•The Comedy of Errors
•Love's Labour's Lost
•Measure for Measure
•The Merchant of Venice
•The Merry Wives of Windsor
•A Midsummer Night's Dream
•Much Ado about Nothing
•Pericles, Prince of Tyre
•The Taming of the Shrew
•The Tempest
•Twelfth Night (What You Will)
•The Two Gentlemen of Verona
•Two Noble Kinsman
•The Winters Tale
•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
•Romeo and Juliet
•Coriolanus
•Titus Andronicus
•Timon of Athens
•Julius Caesar
•Macbeth
•Hamlet
•Troilus and Cresida
•King Lear
•Othello
•Antony and Cleopatra
•Cymbeline
• Shakespeare’s Sonnets
• Venus and Adonis
• The Rape of Lucrece
• The Passionate Pilgrim
• The Phoenix and the Turtle
• A Lovers Complaint
•Arden of Faversham
•The Birth of Merlin
•Locrine
•The London Prodigal
•The Puritan
•The Second Maidens Tragedy
•Sir John Oldcastle
•Thomas Lord Cromwell
•A Yorkshire Tragedy
•Edward III
•Sir Thomas More
A great comedy of Shakespeare’s, As You Like It is a
play that centers around love and life. Orlando, son of
a friend of a banished duke falls in love with the
gorgeous Rosalind. The heroine Rosalind, after being
banished from court by her uncle takes off to the Forest
Of Arden under the guise of Ganymede. Throughout
the play new friends are made, and families are
reunited. At the end, everything is set right. Rosalind
and Orlando get together. Rosalind’s father changes
his ways and resumes ruling.
Othello is one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. The
story revolves around the protagonist Othello, a highly
esteemed general. When Othello promotes Michael Cassio to
the position of personal lieutenant, Iago his ambitious friend
gets jealous. Iago begins an evil and malicious campaign
against Othello. When Othello elopes with his lover
Desdemona Iago begins fiendish plots against them. What
follows is a deadly web of deceit and lies spun cautiously
together that results in the dramatic death of all the
characters.
This play tracks the life of Macbeth – Thane of Cawdor. The play has
several underlying messages or themes, the most prominent one
being fate and ambition. In the course of the drama, Macbeth is
confronted by three witches, who make several predictions about
the future, including one that states Macbeth will become king.
When the witches other prophecies come true Macbeth suspects
that he may indeed become king. Overcome by ambition and
greed Macbeth embarks on a dangerous path and decides to
murder Duncan in order to become king. Seconding his ever motion
is his wife Lady Macbeth. As the story unfolds the murder eventually
results in disastrous consequences for both Macbeth and his wife
Some Popular Quotations
• All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely
players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one
man in his time plays many parts – As You Like It.
• To be, or not to be: that is the question – Hamlet
• Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to
bury Caesar, not to praise him. – Julius Caesar
• If music be the food of love, play on – Twelfth Night
• Out, damned spot; out, I say – Macbeth
• Be not afraid of greatness: Some are born great, some
achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon
them – Twelfth Night
Shakespeare created a large number of words and
phrases that are still commonly used today. Prior to and
during Shakespeare's time, the grammar and rules of
English were not fixed. Shakespeare however contributed
significantly to standardise English language – the way we
know it today. He also introduced several new grammar
and poetry structures.
Words coined by Shakespeare
• Advertising
• assassination
• bedazzled
• consanguineous
• dishearten
• enmesh
• eventful
• eyesore
• Lack luster
• moonbeam
• outbreak
• quarrelsome
Shakespeare and Imagery
Shakespeare introduced to the world of literature a new and
unexplored element
of poetic expression. He chose to use imagery to focus on stock
metaphors, such as the “coral lips” of Bianca in The Taming of the
Shrew. Over time, however, Shakespeare refined his technique to
produce more complex and meaningful images that help reinforce
.
his plots, characters, and themes Imagery was Shakespeare’s
trademark style and was used frequently to describe and create a
mood.