1
Colonial Canadian Shakespeare: West Meets East at Stratford
In his essay “The Regional Theatre System”, Czarnecki picks up on the challenge
of creating a national theatre in Canada, but also articulates the central and defining
challenge in developing a unified sense of Canadian identity; Canada, because of its
immense span from ocean to ocean, is inevitably divided into regions distinct from their
provincial boundaries. The regional boundaries which identify the Maritimes as distinct
from French Canada and the Prairies as distinct from the West Coast, for example, imply
not only geographical, but also social, cultural and political differences between these
regions. Because Canada is a nation born from British imperialism, the colonial
relationship that exists even today between Canada and Britain is undeniable, though this
colonial relationship is by no means uniform across Canada. The different regional
attitudes towards Britain and Canada’s colonial history became evident to me when, as a
Western Canadian, I saw a production of Hamlet in Central Canada: at the Stratford
Festival in Stratford, Ontario. This production served to illustrate that Shakespeare
serves as a standard by which to measure the colonial relationships between a given
Canadian region and the British Crown; therefore Shakespeare also helps to illuminate
the discrepancies between these different regions in relation to Canada’s colonial history.
The Stratford Festival, whose mandate is to “produce, to the highest standards
possible, the best works of theatre in the classical and contemporary repertoire, with
2
special emphasis on the works of William Shakespeare”, has become the place in Canada
to see productions of Shakespeare. As Cza...
... middle of paper ...
...ion to the production of Hamlet was only further proof, however, that
Shakespeare’s iconic position in Canadian culture originates in our shared colonial
history. Adaptations of Shakespeare are telling of regional differences, which is only the
case because Canada too is rooted in Shakespeare’s home country.
6
Works Cited:
Czarnecki, Mark. “The Regional Theatre System.” Contemporary Canadian Theatre:
New World Visions. Ed. Anton Wagner. Toronto: Simon and Pierre, 1985. 35-
48.
Fischlin, Daniel and mark Fortier. “General Introduction.” Adaptations of Shakespeare.
Eds. Daniel Fischlin and Mark Fortier. London: Routledge, 2000. 1-22.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Susanne Wofford. New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1994.
Full production details of the Stratford Festival’s 2000 production of Hamlet available at
http://www.paulgross.org/theatreindex.html#hamlet
William Shakespeare’s intellectual use of the English language is what brought him prosperity throughout his lifetime, and what brings us to tears and laughter in the modern world. The life of Shakespeare is of great importance to English literature because of his many contributions including poetry, stories, and plays. However, many people do not know that he also owned a business. “William Shakespeare was a professional actor, a businessman, and a playwright. Today, nearly four hundred years after his death his plays are still performed” (Greenhill and Wignall 4).
From the fisheries of the east to the harsh snow of the north, not all Canadians have the same lifestyles and needs.
Scene 1 of Act 4 is certainly one of the most visually impacting and intriguing scenes of the entire play. This strong effect is attained by the sequential presentation of mysterious images and a close reference to evil throughout the whole scene. On stage, the visual (the actions and apparitions) and audible (the speech and sound effects as the thunder) factors engulf the entire scene in an atmosphere of wickedness.
Evidence of Shakespeare Not Writing His Plays How would the world react if they found out the famous William Shakespeare did not write his plays? If the conspiracy that Shakespeare was not the actual author of his words was revealed to be true, the world would be devastated. The issue is that Shakespeare might not have written his plays. Prior knowledge of this matter is that there are no records of Shakespeare ever going to school. Other knowledge is that he did not travel enough to describe his settings.
Shakespeare’s, Richard III depicts the unscrupulous rise to power and ensuing short reign of Richard III of England. Through all of his plays, Richard is becoming known as the perfect villain for the way he raises to power. We know that Richard is obviously a villain by the way he single-handedly orchestrates all of the chaos and violence throughout the course of the play. However, Richard III makes the readers reevaluate the meaning of what a hero really is. As malevolent as he is, there is no question that he is the play’s protagonist. He is motivated by self-interest and the play’s plot is ultimately developed around his battle to become the king and remain in power over the people. The reader’s get in depth looks at his character and they almost develop a false sense of sympathy for the jealousy and pain that he had endured, while blatantly disregarding the fact that he is a murderer. On the other hand, he can be viewed in some aspects as the hero of the play. As crazy as this may be, Richard shares some noble qualities that heroes have. During his rise to power, he displayed perseverance and courage in a way that was never thought possible.
William Shakespeare often examines the personal transformation of characters in his works. His frequent illustrations of changing players most likely suggests that he is a true believer in the idea of people being able to emotionally grow. Moreso, the author essentially endorses the thought of developing humanity as a living being. Parallel to King Richard in Richard II, he illustrates many characters throughout his works whom undergo similar personal growth. Oftentimes these personal changes occur when a character suffers great loss in life. In this particular play these changes give the readers a chance to develop a bit of fondness in the once ignorant king. Most readers would normally accept positive changes within the mind and soul of characters. In Richard II, Shakespeare depicts the personal stages of King Richard. Ultimately, Richard is illustrated as one who finally embraces humanity, and, in turn, affects the readers’ final response to the ever-changed king in a positive way.
William Shakespeare’s plays have shown some of the most intriguing and insightful acting practices from past to present. The performances of his plays have influenced many actors and companies to abide by the guidelines that were put in place so many years ago. Shakespearean plays are in a sense in a category of their own as they have evolved with the changing times, while staying in similar forms.
One of William Shakespeare’s earliest plays, Romeo and Juliet (c. 1594) is a well-known tragedy about the relationship of two “star-crossed” (1.P.6) lovers whose families have been quarreling for many years. Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet, fall deeply in love after meeting at a ball held in the Capulet’s house. Shakespeare was still gaining an audience when he wrote Romeo and Juliet, so he used many well-known styles and techniques in order to give the audience what they wanted. As G.B. Harrison explains, Shakespeare shows the best and the worst characteristics of his early, immature style in Romeo and Juliet.
Everyone believes they know of great poets but no one can compare to William Shakespeare. We all have a moment in our life where we may feel emotional and poetic, well that was Shakespeares everyday life. Throughout time we have had many amazing poets, but Shakespeare is arguably the best poet of all time. He was a normal man of his time and went through the black plague, in Europe during his early life, which would kill many families, but luckily his family survived. From his transition of going through a hard early life to his depressing downfall and then a successful adult life Shakespeare has written over 100 plays and sonnets. Even though many people enjoy his plays and sonnets there are critics who have created many controversies of believing that Shakespeare hasn't written any of his plays and that he has rewritten old plays from other people. Even with all of these false accusations, Shakespeare's legacy is still around.
William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 and died of unknown causes at the age of 52 on his birthday on April 23, 1616. The education Shakespeare received included learning to speak and write in Latin. At that time, Shakespeare would have been expected to translate Latin to English and English to Latin. He also studied the works of classical authors and dramatists such as Ovid, Plautus, Horace, Virgil, Cicero, and Seneca. When Shakespeare was 14, he left school and not much is known of his life until he was 18 when he married Anne Hatheway, who was 26 and already several months pregnant. Shakespeare was away in London for long periods of time, until he retired. When he retired he remained in Stratford until his death. He was buried at Holy Trinity Church. Shakespeare is best known for being a dramatist who wrote numerous plays for entertainment. To this day, many different kinds of theatre companies put on Shakespeare plays, from small amateur groups to large professional companies. Shakespeare's contribution to the arts also includes many film and television productions of his plays, his plots, characters, and poetry.
William Shakespeare was born in Statfordon-Avon, England in April 1564. The son of John Shakespeare a Glover and his mother Mary Arden who came of wealthy framing family. William Shakespeare was the eldest of three sons there were also four daughters, only one of his sisters out lived William.
William Shakespeare (April 1564-April 1616) was born in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England. His father was a leather merchant, who had managed to enter the middle class by marrying Mary Arden, from a respectable family. As a child, Shakespeare received a good education, following courses in history, language, Latin, and rhetoric. On November 28, 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in haste, while she was already pregnant for several months. Since then we lose track of Shakespeare for almost ten years. We do not know what he did during this period, but we know that he left Stratford to reach London (probably around 1587).His wife also gave birth to several children: Susanna, in May 1583; as well as twins, Hamnet and Judith, in February 1585 (nevertheless, Hamnet died young, in August 1596.).Shakespeare, then actor and playwright, reappeared in 1592, sharply criticized by the English pamphleteer Robert Greene, for his play Henry VI.
Shakespeare, born April 23, 1964 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. William attended Kings New School in Stratford England. William is still today a most memorable person by the words he wrote himself "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day." At the age of eighteen William married Twenty six year old Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582. Soon after their marriage William and Anne had a baby girl named Susanna Shakespeare. Two years after Susanna was born, Anne gave birth to a girl, Judith and a twin boy, Hamnet. Hamnet later died at age eleven from unknown causes, as his sisters Judith and Susanna lived until death of old age at seventy seven and Susanna at sixty six. Sadly after the birth of the twins, history was lost for seven years. People call these years the “lost years.”
The impeccable style and craft of Shakespeare’s writing has always been looked upon with great respect, and it continues to serve as an inspiration to writers and thinkers today even as it did when it was being first performed in London. Shakespeare’s modern audience, however, is far less diverse than the one for which he originally wrote. Due to the antiquity of his language, Shakespeare’s modern readership consists mostly of students and intellectuals, whereas in Shakespeare’s own time, his plays were performed in playhouses packed with everyone from royalty to peasants. Because of this, Shakespeare was forced to write on many different levels, the most sophisticated of which appealed to his more elite audience members, while the more straightforward and often more crude of which appealed to his less educated viewers, and the most universal of which still appeals to us.
As one of the most famous writers in literary history, William Shakespeare has imprinted his influence in all corners of the world. His works are taught in numerous school and are a method of introducing young students to classic literature. Today, academia has fueled Shakespeare into fame and allowed his works to be taught as a standard. Rarely is there an individual who has not heard of Shakespeare and who cannot recall a number of his plays. Though was his fame founded on the integrity of his work, or was it based on a hype and because he is the William Shakespeare. Who was the man responsible for leading the world of academia and literature, and why is he still relevant today?