By using the similar comparisons to the section "The Stage is Set" in this blog and comparing them to Shakespeare's later plays called Hamlet, A Winters Tale, The Tempest, and Shakespeare's life in 1610; It will be proven that you can identify Shakespeare's personality and character from His later works the most, compared to the plays he first wrote. In 1610 Shakespeare was at the pinnacle of His artistic genius and fame in England. He had achieved more than he could ever dream he would. Shakespeare's final works were his greatest, He had developed over time a freer blank verse that allowed more artistic expression for the characters in his plays which was revolutionary and allowed more self expression for him. He learned how to make his figures of speech add to the natural flow of the play and build/present the theme, subject, and individual characters. From the differences between Shakespeare's first work and his last, we see a freedom from the regular conventions of his day, which depicts more self expression. We also see from comparing the genre, diction, and subjects from his earlier plays, that he maintained his natural inclination to conform his plays to the desires of popular audience. But in His later years He put more of His own unique creative intelligence into his work. However, the problem with reaching your pinnacle is that you can only go down from there. In 1610 Shakespeare was nearing retirement and His thoughts turned to his home of youth in Stratford where he began to spend a lot of time later in his life. All his thoughts were not on entertaining his popular audience, as they where when he first began to write. Shakespeare wanted self expression from inputting his likes, dislike, and values in his plays. Another distraction from focusing on writing for the desires of his popular audience was his desire to create his greatest work of art. The distractions from the minds of his popular audience allowed Shakespeare to make his greatest work but at the cost of him not being the most appealing play writer in England as he was before and eventual retirement. A quick Index for "The Closing Act"
1.1610
2. Genre
3. Style Changes
-Rhythm
-Blank verse
-Figures of Speech
4. Diction
5. Subject
1. 1610
The year 1610 is a completely different for Shakespeare than 1590. The reason 1610 is significant is because that is around the time He wrote his last few plays that we will be reviewing in contrast to Henry IV parts 1-3 which are The Tempest, Hamlet, and A Winters Tale. At this time Shakespeare had achieved everything that He ever desired. He enjoyed more wealth and fame than He could dream of and was given the prestigious title of a ‘gentleman” by the King which carried with it the right to carry a gun. He became the most sot after poet and playwright in England. Twenty of His then thirty plays that He wrote had been performed and loved for the most part. With the wealth and fame He had acquired He was able to provide extremely well for His family. He and His family lived in the second largest home in England and He invested his money in purchasing other homes in London too. He enjoyed being a co-owner of a newly built playhouse and had the new Kings royal patent. Shakespeare also continued acting in the plays that he wrote even though He made more than enough from writing plays. Yet He had written less plays that what later prove to be less popular in England the last 4 years. What appealed to His contemporary popular audience had changed once again and He had to change with them as he always did, yet he didn’t have the drive to learn to conform as He did when he was younger. Shakespeare's plays that he wrote earlier were still wildly famous and being preformed in the Kings court and other playhouses throughout England. However His new plays that He wrote were not as well received as His earlier ones when they were written and produced. The university educated rival poets were young and ambitious and had there target on Shakespeare's contemporary audience. Today's contemporary's see Shakespeare's final work as his greatest but Shakespeare's audience at that time didn't. (Bevington) Only a few years after He wrote His last few plays by himself He retired and moved from London to the city of his home of youth in Stratford. There He could be free from the pressures, politics and pain of the life of a entertainer and why not? He had everything he ever wanted. There in Stratford he would die four years after he moved home in 1616 and be buried there. By the end of his career, virtually every aspect of his early style had been transformed from one of formal and rhetorical regularity to one of vast flexibility and range. (Schoenbaum)2. Genre
is very first and very last of His work we can see the tip of the iceberg of Shakespeare shaking up the conventions of the style of his day for His own evolved poetic artistic expression. However, He could never fully get away from those conventions. In fact the pressures of Shakespeare's popular audience to conform to the new genre's were a cattiest to his greatest work and retirement.
The Tempest is one of the best examples of the idea that, Shakespeare adjusted the conventions of popular genre of that day. The play The Tempist, appeals to so many different aspects of different genre's that doesn't fit in any one genre of his time. The play draws heavily on the traditions of the romance, a fictitious narrative set far away from ordinary life. Romances were typically based around themes such as the supernatural, wandering, exploration and discovery. They were often set in coastal regions, and typically featured exotic, fantastical locations and themes of transgression and redemption, loss and retrieval, exile and reunion. However “There are jokes, songs” and a happy ending that are common to the tragicomedy genre. The play has festive courtly entertainment of the Masque genre as well. It is a mixture of so many different genres that contemporary scholars have grouped this play with a few other plays written by Shakespeare that draw heavily on romance but include aspects of other genres, their own genre called “Shakespeare Romance”. A Winters Tale is another one of the three last works completely written by Shakespeare being used as an example in this blog, is also categorized with Shakespearean Romance because it has many parts of a Romance but also has aspects of other genres. From the study of history plays genre we see Shakespeare strictly conforming to the popular styles of his day. From the analysis of final three plays that He wrote we see a freedom from strictly adhering to the conventions (but not stepping away either) of that day and more artistic expression. Shakespeare evolved the style's of His day to give more freedom for the development of His characters and allow more dramatic art. But as we will see in the next paragraph He never really turned his back on the conventions, simply adjusted them to fit His own imagination. (Bevington)
Shakespeare wrote many “History’s” until Henry V in 1599. He did not write another history play by himself again. After the History plays Shakespeare would go on to write heart wrenching Tragedies, gut busting Comedies, and lastly heart throbbing Romances but not without influence. In 1608 the popular audience had become “disenchanted with the drama. The Winters Tale and The Tempest show the distinct influence of the dramaturgy of the private theater.” (Bevington) The genre that appealed to Shakespeare's popular audience changed for the third time in his life in 1610 so as always, He had to as well. The new appeal of His popular audience was to the “Tragicomedy and Pastoral Romance”. The new genres “demanded a kind of studied and but informal artifice”. Shakespeare would have to study hard to artfully contrivance the new appeal. The new type of plays “compel in the artistic world”. He could not rely on His experiences as a youth and trips to the pub as he once did in his earlier plays. The Tragicomedy and Pastoral Romance are concerned more about the artistic expression of the human experience within a society and not as much with the individual. It could have been the pressures from the new genre or that Shakespeare knew He was nearing retirement but He began to think back more upon His childhood as will be shown later in the section "subject" of this blog. Shakespeare was known as a “skinflint” and introverted as is shown later in the blog. The combination of the influences forced Shakespeare to artistically express himself in his new plays.Shakespeare used the appeal to the new genre's as an opportunity to express where he had been as a youth as will be shown later in this blog under "subject" and last to say goodbye to the theater shown in the "conclusion" of this blog. Today as mentioned before His last works are considered to be his greatest however audiences of his time didn't share that same view. Critic’s and audiences gave the play's bad reviews, the great Bard had lost his touch and been defeated.(Bevington)
Shakespeare “did much to establish the new genres” but He did not or could not make the adjustment to appeal to his contemporary audiences as he once did. Shakespeare’s earlier plays were still wildly famous and being acted out all over England including the Kings personal theater. Shakespeare's inability to appeal to His contemporary's caused Him to “slowly disengaged himself (from the acting scene), spending more time in Stratford”. Shakespeare wrote three plays with the idea of the new genres in mind. But the new age of the theater belonged to others and eventually Shakespeare become “Apostrophized”. Shakespeare's undisputed popularity was over; as a result of the change of the popular genre.
3. Style Changes
Shakespeare’s writing style in His early work was heavily influenced by what was popular in His day as was shown in the section “style” under the heading “The Stage Is Set”. In Shakespeare's later work He adapted the traditional styles to His own purposes create more natural poetry, that was enjoyed throughout his career and became part of the bases for his legacy. (Clemons)
-Rhythm
-Rhythm
One example is how once Shakespeare mastered traditional blank verse, He began to interrupt and vary its flow. This technique releases the new power and flexibility of the poetry in plays. Shakespeare uses the technique in the play Hamlet to convey the turmoil in Hamlet's mind for the reader. (Wright) In the video below, the reader emphasizes the turmoil in the style. While you watch the video read along with the text below it and watch for what Shakespeare does to very the flow that creates the feeling from adjusting the Rhythm. Also compare the video of the reading and flow of the play Henry IV from Shakespeares early plays.
Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting
That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly—
And prais'd be rashness for it—let us know
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well
From reading along and comparing the video from Shakespeare's earlier plays to His later one, you can recognize the starts, stops, and pauses that allow the reader to actually feel Hamlets turbulent state of mind. Shakespeare used punctuation to adjust the rhythm to create distinctive speech patterns. The distinctive speech patterns establishes more depth in his characters and is a big part of His artistic genius. Shakespeare's ability to constantly improve came from his skills as an actor that will be shown later in "why we read." Either way in His late years He learned how to free himself from the strict conventions of his time to allow himself more artistic expression in the characters in his play and eventually himself. This freer verse tells us much about His ever evolving and improving character. (Wright)
- Feminine Line Endings and Non-stopped Blank Verse
- Feminine Line Endings and Non-stopped Blank Verse
Perhaps the best way to recognize the evolution of Shakespeare’s style and progression to freer versus is by looking at His use of feminine line endings and non-stopped blank verse in his plays. The term “feminine line endings” is the “addition of an unaccented syllable at the end of a line.” A non-stopped blank verse is a verse that “runs on past the end of the line with non-stop punctuation.” In the play The Tempest we can easily identify these two principles. As you read the stanza below notice how its one sentence. The long sentence is a perfect example of non-stop blank verse.
Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
And ye that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm'd
The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
The pine and cedar: graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
By my so potent art. But this rough magic
I here abjure, and, when I have required
Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I'll drown my book.
By comparing the two examples it is easy to identify that the effect of the use of feminine line endings and non-stopped blank verse have in the plays. The difference is that you get more of a conversation without the ridged form. The conversation yields itself to the development of the character, plot and over all flow of the play. In the play above Prospero is stating one of the most moving plays of all time but he doesn't come across pompous or glory hungry but that he is deep in thought and convicted to the final outcome. The verse structure lends itself to an overall architectonic design. (Bevington) The gradual increase of use of the non-stopped blank verse and Feminine line ending is specifically used by scholars to show the steady course of progression of Shakespeare from His early plays to later plays (among other things) because they can be quantified to demonstrate the development. (Wright) Henry VI had 10.4% run on sentences compared to other lines where The Tempest had 41.5% run on sentences. The use of feminine line endings goes from none in his first plays to 100 in The Tempest. (Bevington)
-Figures Of Speech
As shown in in the earlier in the blog under “The Stage is Set” section “Style” it was depicted how Shakespeare uses figures of speech for decoration and amplification for entertainment. Over time Shakespeare gradually learned to use the figures to present the theme, subject, and individual character. He increasingly used his metaphors and images to the needs of the drama itself as opposed to simply just including a simile. (Wright) Prospero in the play The Tempest, is perhaps the best example of this idea in regards to the topic of this blog. Shakespeare uses the figure of Prospero and his magic to present the theme of Renaissance humanism and to say His last good byes.
The play frequently draws links between Prospero’s “art” and theatrical illusions. Prospero is a magician with mystical magical powers. Prospero uses his powers to control the drama and events that occur to the other characters wandering on the island in the play, Prospero continually calls his manipulation of the play using his magical powers, his art. So Prospero’s “art” is him controlling the play with his powers. A play writers art is controlling the drama and events by using your power of writing. Shakespeare was a very famous playwright, thus a very evident connection between Shakespeare and Prospero. Throughout the play it seems that it (the play) is concerned with its own nature as a play. The ship wreak was a “spectacle” that Ariel “preformed”, Sebastian “cast” in a “troop to act”, Prospero tells Miranda that are their property is now over and refers to the protagonists as “actors”, and in the same act it says “all the world is a stage”. All these lines draw a connection between the action of the play and acting and Shakespeare’s passion was for entertaining using his ability to write plays and act. The Tempest was Shakespeare last play that he wrote by himself. In the final act Prospero is forced to relinquish his art in order to rejoin the world he has been driven from. We know very little about Shakespeare because “as an actor you know not to give away your secrets.” (Greenblott) Its as if Shakespeare is saying that he will have to let go of his power and skills as an actor and playwright to rejoin or reconnect with the world. The Highest act of his magician Prospero is to give up his magical powers and return to the place from which he came. We enjoy Prospero’s final Goodbye in the last stanza of the play in the Epilogue.
Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free.
Because of the close comparison of Shakespeare to Prospero and because this was Shakespeare's last play he wrote himself scholars identify this stanza as Shakespeare’s last good bye. The Encyclopedia Britannica says that
“The Tempest seems to have been intended as Shakespeare's farewell to the theater. It contains moving passages of reflection on what his powers as artist have been able to accomplish, and valedictory themes of closure. As a comedy, it demonstrates perfectly the way that Shakespeare was able to combine precise artistic construction (the play chooses on this farewell occasion to observe the Classical unities of time, place, and action) with his special flair for stories that transcend the merely human and physical: The Tempest is peopled with spirits, monsters, and drolleries. This, it seems, is Shakespeare's summation of his art as comic dramatist.”
As is mentioned earlier in this section it is also argued that the theme of the play is “Renaissance humanism.” Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval scholastic education, emphasising practical, pre-professional, and -scientific studies. (Kalleorfnd) Prospero was closely related to his art as shown above, which art came from his power. Prospero’s power came from reading books. In act 3 scene 2 Caliban acknowledges Prospero’s power from books, "First to possess his books; for without them He's but a sot, as I am, nor hath not.” The education or scholasticism focused on preparing men to be doctors, lawyers or professional theologians, and was taught from approved textbooks in logic, so books were a big focus for the movement. Scholasticism was a big part of the Renaissance Humanism which also a departure from Christian monastic schools. Magic was a controversial subject in Shakespeare’s day because it was linked to occult studies. Because of the close comparison of Shakespeare to Prospero and Prospero’s close relation to Renaissance humanism, among other reasons, some believe that the Renaissance humanism was a major part of the theme of the play. (Chiu) From the examples above we can see that Shakespeare used Prospero as a metaphor (himself) that assumes an organic function (Renaissance Humanism) in relation to the entire play.
The example above is also a great example of how we can learn Shakespeare from his later work. However it is also important to be cautious with study’s in regards to imagery as is mentioned in the introduction, conclusion and text book. However “the images are impossible to quantify, but no less significant in any study of the evolution of Shakespeare’s art.” (Spurgeon) It is dully important to mention that “The study of imagery can, apart from helping to understand the meaning of the play, give some insight into the poet's mind, because it shows what ideas come to his mind when in need of poetic expression, thus giving some clues as to his background, his upbringing, his social position, and so on.” (Spurgeon) What the imagery tells us is that as Shakespeare got older He thought more of his early life, retirement, artistic, and self expression and less about what appeals to his popular audience. By comparing it to the earlier plays it also shows His personality of freedom from having to succeed to support his family and appeal to the beauty of poetic art. It also shows the character of His mindset of figuring out peoples minds and what appeals to them and writing it as is shown later in the blog.
4. Diction
Shakespeare began and ended His career trying to appeal to the popular audience but towards the end He cared more about the expression of that art. Over the course of eleven years as a play write Shakespeare constantly was learning His audience and what they liked. Naturally the diction in His plays represented what appealed to them as well as His genius twist on conventions. As mentioned beforehand in the section “Genre” under “The Closing Act", in 1610 Shakespeare had a more sophisticated popular audience interested more in the artistic forms of expression of society and Tragicomedy, Pastoral Romance, and Modern English. But it can also be contrasty seen that "Shakespeare never really shook his middle-class roots, He never showed signs of boredom at the small talk, trivial pursuits, and foolish games of ordinary people"(Greenblatt) and including what appealed to both the wealthy and poor in His plays shows that. Previously in this post it was established that Shakespeare did try to appeal to popular conventions of his day. The genre's that appealed in His later years had fairly strict conventions. Tragicomedy’s are serious plays with a happy ending or enough jokes to keep the mood light. (Encyclopedia Britannica)In a Winter’s Tale the first three acts are a tragedy and the last two have enough jokes to make it a comedy. An example of light mood from joking is the "buffoonish" son of the Shepherd, the clown that makes his entrance midway through the play and remains a main character. Another example is the joking of the "roguish" peddler Autolycus, his greatest joke being "how good deeds are against his nature" in act IV.
Pastoral Romance is a combination of the genre's pastoral and romance. The Pastoral genre that surrounds the a shepherds life, idealized manner for urban audiences. We see aspects of the pastoral Romance in A Winters Tale too. From the start of the play the word Shepperd is used. There is even a character called a Shepherd who's son is the village idiot in the play but the Shepherds life is idealized through the beautiful descriptions of His life in the play and how it fits in society.
The genre's of that time appealed to "more educated" popular audiences but Shakespeare still included middle class life in His play's through the character Autolycus. Autolycus,a main character and lower class man, roams the countryside taking to people and con's every person that he can. Shakespeare depicts Autolycus as a likable person with his singing and dancing even with his lying and cheating. While yes its true that the play is designed for a better educated and more artistically inclined audience, it is also clear that from the character Autolycus, (among others) that Shakespeare also expressed His "middle class roots" in the play regardless of his audience from the small talk, trivial pursuits and foolish games of His middle class main charters. "Diversity in Shakespeare's plays is one aspect of his genius" and Shakespeare use of middle class is the depiction of diversity and is the twist Shakspeare put on the play. Another Twist Shakespeare uses in regards to the diction is the creation of new words.
Occurring to the Oxford English Dictionary Shakespeare created over 200 new words. Among Shakespeare's greatest contributions to the English Language must be the Introduction of new vocabulary and phrases which enriched the language making it more colorful and expressive. When Shakespeare began to write his play's the English Language was rapidly absorbing words from other languages due to war, exploration, diplomacy, and colonization. Shakespeare didn't invent Neologizing or newly coining words or phrases but he did have a big part to play in it.
5. Subject
Perhaps the Bards personality is most evident from looking at the subject of His later work. In Shakespeare’s play’s there many different subject topics according to the many different depths of His play. Threw the subject of His plays you can see that He included more than ever, self and artistic expression as well as to appeal to popular audiences as was shown in the subject heading “genre” and “diction”.
One great example of Shakespeare’s self-expression is in the play Hamlet. In Greenblatts book, He draws a very close connection between Shakespeare’s life and feeling and the character Hamlet in His play called Hamlet. In the quote below Greenblatt makes the connection between the name of the play and the name of his deceased son.
Even if the decision to do Hamlet had come
to Shakespeare from strictly commercial considerations, the coincidence
of the names may well have re-opened a deep wound,
a wound that had never properly healed. If the tragedy swelled
up from Shakespeare’s own life—if it can be traced back to the
death of Hamlet—something must have made the playwright tormented sense that something is missing
In the quote above, Greenblatt is saying that the link of the name of his dead child stirred up an old wound to the imagined of his father, among other things. Greenblatt argued that it was the change in the language and ceremony of burial rites instituted by the Protestant Reformation that could have caused Shakespeare’s emotional investment in the materials of Hamlet. He depicts for us the scene of Shakespeare attending the burial of his son
Shakespeare undoubtedly returned to Stratford in 1596 for his
son’s funeral. The minister, as the regulations required, would
have met the corpse at the entry to the churchyard and accompanied
it to the grave. Shakespeare must have stood there and
listened to the words of the prescribed Protestant burial service.
While the earth was thrown onto the body—perhaps by the father
himself, perhaps by friends—the minister intoned the words:
“Fore as much as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy
to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed,
we therefore commit his body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes
to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed,
we therefore commit his body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes
to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection
to eternal life.”
Did Shakespeare find this simple, eloquent service adequate,’’ Greenblatt asks, “or was he tormented with a sense that something was missing? ‘What ceremony else?’ cries Laertes by the grave of his sister Ophelia; ‘What ceremony else?’ Ophelia’s funeral rites have been curtailed because she is suspected of the sin of suicide, and Laertes is both shallow and rash. But the question he repeatedly asks echoes throughout Hamlet, and it articulates a concern that extends beyond the boundaries of the play. Greenblatt goes on to give two and a half pages of specific information about the difference between Protestant and Catholic ideas about the status of the dead, and how those differences affected the ceremony of burial, before returning to the scene He has imagined for us, of Shakespeare at the grave of his son. This is one of many strong bases for Greenblatt’s argument that Hamlet is Shakespeare’s self-expression. Greenblatt’s book makes many other claims that is mentioned in this blog and many on the same basis yet why is it that he is so quoted in a blog that seeks for the truth? Because it is an amazing success: a multi-week bestseller, receiving cascades of rave reviews in all the right places and for other reasons shown in the conclusion. Greenblatt has decided the X marks the spot of the wound he has postulated in Shakespeare’s psyche, and to come up with a very real argument about the relationship between life and art in Hamlet. Greenblatt draws a very close connection between the subject of morning death in the play Hamlet and the life of Shakespeare. The Father of Psychoanalytical criticism also drew many comparisons from Shakespeare’s life to the character Hamlet. Freud said once that “Hamlet probably expresses the core of Shakespeare’s philosophy and outlook on life as no other work of his does."
As is mentioned in the subject topic of “style” in this blog but many critics’ including Encyclopedia Britannica have drawn many close comparisons from The Tempest and the life of Shakespeare. While we used the comparison of The Tempest to show that Shakespeare wrote himself into the play using the type of popular style. You can also see the character of the Bard from the facts previously mentioned under “style”. As mentioned before the presentation of magic was a controversial topic of that time. Shakespeare wrote in His plays important topics to Him such as Renaissance humanism, and writing Himself in His play (Prospero). From the three examples of Shakespeare, writing in subjects that appealed to Him and express His own self-expression we know that while he was concerned about his success, He was also concerned about his own self-expression.
In my own personal study of Shakespeare I to have seen Shakespeare personal self-expression from His play Romeo & Juliet. The example from my blog post is not one of the three plays that were intended to be compared so it will not be mentioned in any detail in this post.
One important fact in regards to the subject that Shakspeare uses in Greenblatt book is that The Tempest wasn’t completely Shakespeare’s self-expression. Greenblatt states that "attempting to establish himself now not as a popular playwright but as a cultivated poet, someone who could gracefully conjure up the mythological world to which his university-educated rival poets claimed virtually exclusive access." Greenblatt points out the “conjure” of magic was also a way for Shakespeare to see himself with “university educated poets.” Shakespeare sot for scholarly artistic expression as well as self expression.
Another important thing to point out is that the play A Winters Tale was one of Shakespeare’s last plays and has a lot of symbolism to Shakespeare's life. What is interesting about this play in regards to the personality of Shakespeare, is not the subjects that He included but the subjects that He didn’t take out. Shakespeare borrowed the play A Winters Tale from Robert Greene’s play Pandesto: The Triumph of Time written. According to the text book "Shakespeare changes the names, reverses the two kingdoms of Sicilia and Bohemia, and alters the unhappy ending that afflicts King Pandesto and Queen Bellaria of Bohemia (Leontes and Hermione). Otherwise, the narrative outline remains intact." (Bevington) What is unique about the relationship between Greene and Shakespeare's version is that Shakespeare didn't change it as much as He normally did with His other sources for his plays. The changes in A Winters Tale "uncharacteristically slight." According to the text book "Shakespeare changes the names, reverses the two kingdoms of Sicilia and Bohemia, and alters the unhappy ending that afflicts King Pandesto and Queen Bellaria of Bohemia (Leontes and Hermione) otherwise, the narrative outline remains intact. When Shakespeare “borrowed” a text, He normally changed it to embody his own unique style and the “Jacobean fascination with dark complexities of sexual jealousy, betrayal, and social conflict.” (Bevington) While it is true that the Romantic Pastoral genre was making its way back at this time, it is also true that Shakespeare didn’t change much in this play. What was it that Shakespeare liked so much about this play that he didn’t change it at all? One idea in the book "The Shakespeare Apocrypha" by C.F. Tucker Brooke is that “at the end of His career Shakespeare felt a renewed interest in the dramatic contexts of his youth.” As mentioned previously, Shakespeare was spending a lot of time going back and forth between His home of His youth in Startford and His home in London so His childhood days would have had to have been on His mind a lot. The fact that the one major change from Shakespeare’s play to the original play is a more emotional king also shows that the play felt like home to Him. Shakespeare was raised primarily by His mother later in life. Shakespeare must have attributed a closer sense of leadership with the more emotional type of leadership of women, generally speaking. Shakespeare died not many years after this play was written. Just as all people do, Shakespeare’s thoughts must have been on his early life towards the end. Simply stated, from the subjects of the pastoral romance that Shakespeare included from the play Pendesto: The Triumph of Tim that he used as a source for his play A Winters Tale, It can be concluded that Shakespeare was thinking more and more about His childhood days in Stratford as he got older.
From looking at the subjects of Shakespeare's later plays it is clear that Shakespeare did try to appeal to his popular audience. The popular genre's of that time had specific subject topic's such as romance, shepherds, fields, and comedy just to name a few. Previously in this blog it was shown how He did appeal to all those subjects in His last plays. In His last plays He also tried to appeal to the politics of that time.Upon closer review of the play Hamlet, we can see Shakspeare's appeal to politics of his time.
When the play Hamlet was written there was a great deal of political turmoil. In the book “The Masks of Hamlet” by Marvin Rosenberg he identifies that throughout the play, characters draw explicit connections between the moral legitimacy of a ruler and the health of the nation. The dead King Hamlet is portrayed as a strong, forthright ruler under whose guard the state was in good health, while Claudius, a wicked politician, has corrupted and compromised Denmark to satisfy his own appetites. While Shakespeare had a great deal of self expression in His later plays, He also tried to appeal to the powers at be.
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