10. William Shakespeare

layers of meaning (multi)

as you can see above Shakespeare’s plays while clearly being popular entertainment often contain a certain ambiguity (dvojsmysl) at their core which leaves them open to interpretation

Is the MOV anti-Semitic? Yes, but the humanist message of universal human experience is just as clear and contradicts prejudice

this universality of human experience and therefore a common humanity can also be; we all are hurt and thereby hate, this appears to be answered with the importance of Mercy as a redeeming feature. But is the mercy shown to Shylock really merciful?

ultimately the play leaves us with questions and the suggestion of an imperfect world.

in Shakespeare we find layers of meaning, a play can be simultaneously supportive of mainstream ideas and contemporary ideologies, subversive and questioning of the same, contain insights into the human condition, and an entertainment- funny or thrilling

Macbeth a perfect example of the above, a thriller (violence, madness, murder, the supernatural) propaganda (the divine right of kings, indulging James 1st belief in witchcraft), funny (the porter’s speech) philosophical and subversive (ambition and destiny, what is the point of life?) No, I can’t think of anything.

Othello a tragic hero, manipulated by others to commit evil then upon realising his mistake, redeems himself through suicide. This play is about jealousy but does the play condone or satirise the racism of those who manipulate him?

populism

the importance of the audience is helpful in reaching an understand Shakespeare

his plays work as popular entertainment- excitement, humour, violence, sex, and romance

ideologically they support and subvert (podrýt), confirm and question mainstream ideas

royal favour, Shakespeare clearly wrote to curry royal patronage, his company was called the Queen’s Men, his historical plays flatter Queen Elizabeth’s ancestors

soliloquy, a Shakespearian monologue where a character speaks directly to the audience in order to advance the plot by reveals his plans, reveal inner feelings thereby humanizing the character and creating emotional depth (this means challenging characters such as Edmund from King Lear or Macbeth become more sympathetic)

timelessness and Universality of theme

the reason for Shakespeare’s enduring popularity along with the sheer poetry of his language

Shakespearian themes are the big ones, inescapable aspects of human life, love, death, growing old, being young, idealism versus cynicism, ambition, destiny, male-female relationships, madness, cruelty

to list these themes scarcely does them justice as Shakespeare explores what these things actually means and in the end, there is an ambiguity to what he says which is though provoking rather than simply vague

villains:

range from the entertainingly, irredeemably despicable to more nuanced characters who through soliloquy can have emotional depth

villains are often the characters who express ideas subversive at the time