THEME’S IN SHAKESPEARE

William Shakespeare (Stratford 1564-1616), English dramatist and poet,

is considered one of the most important playwrights of all time.

Of his works we have received about 38 plays, 154 sonnets and a number of other poems.

He is considered one of the few writers capable of excelling in both tragedies and comedies.

He was one of the few playwrights of his time able to combine the popular taste with a complex characterization, poetic and refined a considerable psychological depth.

There are several themes within the Shakespeare’s works, and the main ones are:

A particularly important theme in Shakespeare’s works is love, which can be found quite in any of Shakespearean plays.

Particularly, Romeo and Juliet are two of the most famous lovers in history. The two lovers come from warring families, but their love overcomes their families' hatred. Their whirlwind romance, however, ends in tragedy when each thinks the other is dead and chooses to commit suicide rather than live alone. Romeo and Juliet never doubt the power of love. Some people interpret the play as a cautionary tale on the dangers of young love. Others argue that Romeo and Juliet's love develops throughout the play from a giddy flirtation to something deeper, and that the play charts the path of a relationship from infatuation to real love.

The contrasts between children and parents were frequent in Shakespeare. Juliet is a daughter who has to suffer her father’s verbal violence and an imposed marriage. To escape she eventually has to die.

In King Lear, instead, the daughter openly defies her father’s authority, refusing to acknowledge her love for him at his command. The tragic conflict is heightened by the fact that Cordelia sincerely loves her father.

The theme of love be found in Love’s Labour’s Lost, too. In it love is the great synthesizer of humanity. Most of the characters think they can only do these jobs well if they cut out the rest of life.