William Shakespeare

           

        William Shakespeare was the most celebrated playwrites of his time. It was his understanding of the lives and lifestyles of different kinds of people, ranging from the aristocrats to the peasants,which made his work most admireable.His passion for the written word earned him thousands of ardent followers.Each of his plays is mind boggling and  has a different flavour to it.
            His famous tragedies,Julius Caeser, King Lear,Macbeth,Romeo and Juliet,Othello and Hamlet are celebrated as each one captures a wide range of emotion from joy to grief,of death and deceit. Love and hatred are portrayed in unequal proportions in plays. In his most famous play Romeo and Juliet,love in exuberant amount between the two main characters inspite of the bitter enemity between their families leads most unfortunately to both their deaths. In Macbeth,influence from the lies told by the three evil witches along with the greed for power turns the protagonist of the play into a murderer and a tyrant, being dreaded by the  common man.King Lear is a story where the ruler of the country is blinded by the meer flattery of  his two elder daughters. He doesnt realise the true love of his youngest daughter in the beginning. But when he is in desparate need of aid, only his youngest daughter provides a helping hand while his other two daughters
desert him, leaving him to rot on the streets in his oldage.
         Another characteristic feature of his plays is, that those who are good willed also do not live happily ever after. The twists and turns of the plays keeps one at the edge of the seat while watching them. In the story of King Lear, one would expect his good hearted and youngest daughter to lead a blissful life thereafter, but sadly misfortune befalls her and she is also most cruelly killed. Hamlet is a story of treachery where the young prince fights to avenge his father's murder.But most dismally, in the end, the prince too along with the murderer is killed at he end of the battle.Othello is a story of jealousy and cruelty where the protagonist's own friend turns against him and poisons his mind into suspecting his own lover and asphyxiating her. Later, on discovering the truth he thrusts himself with his own sword for commiting such a sinful crime.
     "Et tu Brute"?, who can forget Caeser's famous lines which he recites as he falls to his death, on discovering that his dear friend Brutus was also part of the conspiracy to overthrow him.Embedded with betrayal and misjudgement which in the end is prevailed by justice, this play is appreciated by all.
    A Midsummer Night's Dream which is referred to as a 'comedy', boasts of fairies,ass-headed men and other mythical creatures.A small misunderstanding between the fairy king and queen along with an error made by the fairy chief causes a brawl between two couples.In the end however, by virtue of magic, all ends well.
   The Taming of the Shrew is one of my personal favourites.It has also been made into a movie with a few minor adjustments to suit the modern day problems. It is the story of a man who by his wit and whimsicality turns a hot tempered lady into a gentle, soft spoken wife who obeys his every command.Merchant of Venice  is also a play filled with wit, where, due to appreciable reasoning by his friend, the protagonist is saved from cutting off a huge chunk of his own flesh in return for his overdue payment.
   Measure for Measure is one such play which highlights the importance of witholding one's self respect and esteem even when the life of  someone so dear is at stake.
   These are just  a few of the many magnificent works of Shakespeare.

    But the real question here is, were all these plays actually written by Shakespeare himself? There is no real proof that Shakespeare was the actual playwrite of all these masterpieces.
 In the movie 'Anonymous' Shakespeare is portrayed as a mere actor.Infact, many people claim that he was infact illiterate. In the film,the real author is revealed as Edward, the Earl of Oxford.In olden days,it was considered improper for noblemen to write.Their only tasks were that of administration and conquests.So the Earl could not proclaim himself as the playwrite.But he could not tolerate the thought of his plays being mere manuscripts. He wanted to infuse flesh and action into his words.Hence it is shown that the manuscripts are handed over to Shakespeare who declares them as his own and has the plays enacted on his stage.

    So until this day, the bewildering question still remains. Who is the real author of all these works of perfection? We may never know! This question may never be answered! But let us honour the author, who so ever he may be, by enjoying and relishing the plays which have provided us with a sense of disdain and comfort both at the same time!!!