Learn SHAKESPEARE with Real Code Examples

Shakespeare wrote plays for the stage in Elizabethan and Jacobean England.

He explored themes of love, power, jealousy, ambition, and the human condition.

His works are written in Early Modern English and often employ poetic devices like iambic pentameter.

Shakespeare’s plays were performed at theaters such as The Globe and The Blackfriars.

His literary output includes 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and numerous poems.

Tragedies, comedies, and histories

Sonnets and narrative poems

Dramatic structure: acts and scenes

Metaphor, simile, and iambic pentameter

Innovative wordplay and coinage of new words

Tragedy - deals with human suffering and catastrophe

Comedy - humorous, often ends in marriage or reconciliation

History - dramatizes English monarchs and historical events

Sonnets - 14-line poems with iambic pentameter

Soliloquy - speech revealing a character’s inner thoughts

Acts - main divisions of a play

Scenes - subdivisions of acts with specific settings

Characters - central and supporting roles

Dialogue - spoken lines in verse or prose

Stage directions - cues for movement and action

Choose a play or poem to study or perform

Read or annotate text for themes, characters, and language

Interpret dialogue and poetic devices

Rehearse and perform lines for stage or film

Analyze literary and historical significance

Beginner: reading simplified editions or summaries

Intermediate: analyzing themes, characters, and quotes

Advanced: performing or directing scenes

Expert: scholarly literary criticism or historical study

Architect: adapting works for modern theater or multimedia

Shakespeare vs Molière -> Shakespeare: tragedies and histories, Molière: comedic farce

Shakespeare vs Sophocles -> Shakespeare: complex characters, Sophocles: Greek tragedy conventions

Shakespeare vs Marlowe -> Marlowe: heroic themes, Shakespeare: broader emotional range

Shakespeare vs Chaucer -> Chaucer: poetry in Middle English, Shakespeare: drama and Early Modern English

Shakespeare vs modern playwrights -> Shakespeare: timeless human themes, modern: contemporary settings and language

1564 - Birth in Stratford-upon-Avon

1582 - Marries Anne Hathaway

1590–1594 - Early plays written during theater closures

1594 - Joins Lord Chamberlain’s Men

1600–1610 - Writes major tragedies and histories

1616 - Death in Stratford-upon-Avon

Iambic Pentameter - rhythmic pattern of unstressed/stressed syllables

Soliloquy - speech revealing inner thoughts

Aside - brief remark intended for audience only

Tragedy - play ending in downfall or death

Comedy - play ending happily, often with marriage