Write a note on the classification
of Shakespearean dram
Ans. The world of Shakespeare is
the most interesting literary world English literature. After the Greek and
Roman dramatists Shakespeare is thin greatest playwright who created a world of
imagination and insight that remains unique till today.
There is endless discussion
concerning the plays that are usually accepted as being Shakespeare. All the
manuscripts of his plays have perished Shakespeare himself printed none of the
texts. His plays appeared singly in quarto during his lifetime and they were all
unauthorized editions. In 1623 seven years after his death the first folio
edition was printed. It contains 36 plays and these are now universally
accepted as Shakespeare's. In the folio edition, the plays are not arranged
chronologically, nor are the dates of composition given. The dates of the
Quarto's are registered at Stationer’s
Hall, but these are the dates of printing. To a discussion of
Shakespearean drama, one of the fundamental tasks is the evidence about the
dates of publication of his dramas and the evidence can be divided into three
groups_
i)
Contemporary
references
ii)
ii)
Internal references
iii)
ii) The
literary evidence
In fact, the dates of Quarto's were
by far the most reliable evidence. If We examine his plays the construction of
the plots, the style, we find that his sentences are full of closely packed
ideas. There are changes of thought, but e style is rich in imagery. Most of
his plays have prose in the middle. His great plays amply illustrate his
literary genius. His plays like Love's Labor’s Lost, Julius Caesar, The
Winter's Tale, A Mid-Summer Night's Dream are some of his early place. These
plays are relatively ornamental.
Classification of Shakespeare's Plays:
Shakespeare's plays are classified
into different categories. These are the following:
(l) The Early Comedies : The
early comedies of Shakespeare were immature plays. In these immature plays the
plots are less original, the characters less finished, and the style lacks the
power of the mature Shakespeare. They are full of wit and wordplay, usually put
into the mouths of young gallants, but after the humor is puerile and the wit
degenerates into mere verbal quibbling. Of this type are The Comedy Of Errors,
Love 's Labor’s Lost and The TWO Gentlemen of Verona.
(2) The
English Histories: These plays show a. rapid maturing Of Shakespeare's
technique. He now begins to busy himself with developing character, such as
Richard Il or Prince Hal. He shows clearly the importance attached in his day
to the throne, and the contemporary desire for stable government. Figures like
Falstaff illustrate their increasing depth of characterization, and the
mingling of low life with Chronicle history is an important innovation. The
plays in this group, to which belong Richard Il, O’Henry IV, 2 Henry IV and Henry
V, contain much more blank verse than those of the earlier group.
(3) The Mature Comedies: Here is the fine
flower of Shakespeare's comic genius. The comic spirit manifests itself at many
levels—the sophisticated wit of Beatrice and Benedict or the clowning of
Dogberry and Verges in Much Ado about Nothing; the jovial good humor of Sir
Toby Belch in Twelfth Night; the lighter clowning of Lancelot Gobbo in The
Merchant of Venice; the Urbane worldly-wise humor of Touchstone in As You Like
lt. The plays are full of vitality, contain many truly comic situations and
reveal great warmth and humanity. In this group there is much prose.
(4) The Sombre Plays: In this group there
are, All's Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida.
Though comedies in the sense that they end 'happily', their tone is somber and
tragic. They reflect a cynical, disillusioned attitude to life and a fondness
for objectionable characters and situations. In them Shakespeare displays a
savage desire to expose the falsity of romance and to show the sordid reality
of life.
(5) The Great Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello,
Macbeth and King Lear are the climax of Shakespeare's art. In intensity of
emotion, depth of psychological insight and power of style they stand supreme.
(6) The Roman Plays: These are based on
North's translation of Plutarch's Lives, and though written at wide intervals,
are usually considered as a group. Julius Caeser, contemporary with the English
histories, shows the same concern with political security, and in its depth of
character study is approaching the great tragedies. Antony and Cleopatra and
Coriolanus follow the great tragic period, and Antony and Cleopatra in soaring
imagination and tragic power, is truly great, both of them show some relaxation
of tragic intensity.
(7) The Last plays : A mellowed maturity is
the chief feature of this group, which contains Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale
and The Tempest. The creative touch of the dramatist, making living men out of
figment, is abundantly in view; the style is notable and serenely adequate; and
with the ease of the master the author thoroughly subdues the meter to his
will. No more fitting conclusion—rich, ample and graciously dignified—could be
found to round off the work of our greatest literary genius than these plays of
reconciliation and forgiveness.
In fact Shakespeare was a born
genius and he is the world's greatest immortal poet and dramatist. In spite of
some difficulties drama reached its climax in the hand of Shakespeare during
the Elizabethan period.
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