1. ELEMENTS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS

2. Shakespearean Comedy Characteristics *8* Humor (not the defining characteristic) Conflict between two opposite social groups (ex. Rulers and subjects, older and younger, wealthy and poor) Tend to begin in Court in turmoil Turmoil often arises over a crisis of marriage (so and so refuses to wed, the laws of society refuse to let two people marry, etc) Characters often flee to a far off location or forest Often forced to wear disguises Social order is thrown in an upheaval (servants end up ruling their masters, women are mistaken for men) Final act often ends in a marriage and celebration

3. Elements of Shakespearean Histories -Not historically accurate-Shakespeare was not attempting to render a historically accurate picture of the past. -Plays present all kinds of characters- Characters from lowly beggars to the monarchy, some in the same scenes together. -Dramatize the Hundred Year War between France and England.

4. Elements of the Shakespearean Tragedy (7) Tragic Hero: a person of high rank whose fate affects the destiny of his country, city, or family. The hero is always an extraordinary and admirable man. He is usually good and noble, but when evil, he has equal traits such as strength, courage or ambition.

5. Elements of the Shakespearean Tragedy (7) The hero has a character flaw, which, with the help of other circumstances, leads the hero to calamity and death—a contrast to the hero’s prior happiness and glory. A dual conflict generates the play’s action. There is an external conflict (war) and an internal conflict (Macbeth’s ambition and later his guilty conscience).

6. Elements of the Shakespearean Tragedy (7) Good always triumphs in the end. Although the hero has pulled down the world around him, there is someone who restores order at the end of the tragedy. Tragedies contain the supernatural, such as witches and ghosts. Tragedies contain characters who experience abnormal psychological states, such as Macbeth’s visions.