William shakespeare (1564— 16 16) was the most important writer in Britain and Europe during the Renaissance. He was born into a merchant family in Stratford, central England. When I was a teenager, I received basic education in the local grammar school, studied Latin, philosophy and history, and got in touch with the works of ancient Roman playwrights. Later, he dropped out of school to make a living because of his family's decline. When Shakespeare was young, famous troupes often toured the countryside, which cultivated his interest in drama. 1585 or so, he left his hometown and went to London. First he worked as a handyman in the theater, then he became an actor, and then he changed to writing plays. Shakespeare not only participated in performances and screenwriters, but also had extensive contacts with society, and often went to court or went to the countryside with the troupe. These experiences broadened his horizons and laid the foundation for his creation.

Shakespeare's works

1590 to 1600 is the early period of Shakespeare's creation, also known as the historical drama and comedy period. During this period, Shakespeare's humanistic thought and artistic style gradually formed. At that time, Britain was in the heyday of Queen Elizabeth's rule, with stable and unified kingship and prosperous economy. Shakespeare is full of confidence in realizing humanistic ideals in the real society, and his works are full of optimism and clarity. During this period, he wrote nine historical plays, including Richard III (1592), Henry IV (parts I and II) (1597- 1598) and Henry V (10). The basic theme of the script is to support the central kingship, condemn the feudal tyrant and praise the enlightened monarch. For example, "Henry IV" shows the picture of the turbulent domestic situation. The nobles United against the king, but the rebellion was finally quelled; The prince lived a dissolute life earlier, but later he made a mistake and made great contributions to quelling civil strife. In the play, historical facts and artistic fiction are highly unified. Falstaff is one of the most vivid characters. He is selfish, lazy and timid, but he is alert, intelligent and optimistic, which makes people laugh.

The comedies created in this period include poetic A Midsummer Night's Dream (1596), The Merchant of Venice (1597), The Merry Wives of Windsor (1598), and Much ado about nothing (/) The basic themes of these plays are love, marriage and friendship, which are full of lyrical colors and show Shakespeare's ideal of humanistic life. At the same time, he also wrote three tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet (1595). Although the work has a sad side, the basic spirit is the same as comedy. Shakespeare also wrote the long poems Venus and adonis (1592- 1593), The Humiliation of Lucretius (1593- 1594) and 154 sonnets. In the early 7th century, Elizabeth. During this period, Shakespeare's thought and art became mature, and the humanistic ideal collided fiercely with social reality. He felt that his ideal was difficult to realize, and his creation turned from praising humanistic ideals in the early days to exposing and criticizing social darkness. The second period of Shakespeare's creation (1601-1607) is also called the tragic period. He has written Hamlet (160 1), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606), Macbeth (1606) and Ty of Athens. In Othello, Desdemona, who was born in a noble family, married Othello the Moor privately despite the opposition of her father and society, showing the theme of opposing racial prejudice. The reason for their tragedy is not only Othello's jealousy, but also the powerful evil forces represented by Iago. Othello's sobriety before his death contains the victory of human reason. King Lear shows a broken society. King Lear paid the price of his life because of his stubbornness, and also brought great disaster to the country and people. The protagonist has changed from a feudal monarch with absolute authority to a homeless old man with nothing, and the fate and character of the characters have undergone tremendous changes, which is the most distinctive in Shakespeare's works. In Macbeth, a hero became a personal careerist and tyrant because of his inner ambition and external instigation. Its tragic significance lies in that personal ambition and egoism can destroy a person who is not evil. Generally speaking, these tragedies profoundly exposed the decay of feudal nobles, appalling egoism, the evil of money relations and the suffering of working people; Stylistically, the romantic and joyful atmosphere is reduced, the melancholy and indignation are increased, the image is fuller, and the language is more proficient. After 0608, Shakespeare entered the last period of creation. At this time, Shakespeare saw that the ideal of humanism could not be realized in the real society, so he turned from writing tragedies to writing legendary dramas, from exposing and criticizing the darkness of the real society to writing dreamland. Therefore, this period is also called Shakespeare's legendary drama period. During this period, his works often solved the contradiction between ideal and reality through myth and fantasy and supernatural power; The works are permeated with the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. There is no joy in the early stage and no gloom in the middle stage. But full of beautiful life fantasies and rich romantic feelings. The Tempest (16 1 1) best represents the style of this period and is called "a will written in poetry". In addition, he also wrote three legendary dramas, such as cymbeline and The Story of Winter, and the historical drama Henry VIII.

Characteristics of Shakespeare's works

Shakespeare's works, starting from the truth of life, profoundly reflect the characteristics of the times and social essence. In his view, drama "seems to give nature a mirror: show its face to virtue, show its posture to absurdity, and show its image and imprint to the times and society". Marx and Engels praised Shakespeare as a classic writer of realism, and proposed that drama creation should be more "Shakespearean". This is a creative principle put forward in view of the disadvantages of "turning the individual into a simple mouthpiece of the spirit of the times" in drama creation. The so-called "Shakespearization" means that the writer, like Shakespeare, is good at starting from the truth of life, showing a broad social background and providing a typical environment with the characteristics of the times for the characters and events in his works; The plot of the work should be vivid and rich, and the characters should have distinctive personality and typical significance; The realistic depiction and romantic atmosphere in the works should be skillfully combined; Language should be rich and expressive; The writer's tendency should be hidden and naturally revealed in the plot and character description.