William Shakespeare: Life, Plays, and Sonnets

William Shakespeare Biography

• Occupation: Poet, playwright.
• Birth: April 23, 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom.
• Social Status: Not born into a family of nobility, left university.
• Education: King's New School.
• Main Works: Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, The Tempest.
• Death: Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom, April 23, 1616. A mystery unknown.

Hamlet Plot Summary

• Rising Action: The ghost appears to Hamlet and tells Hamlet to revenge his murder; Hamlet feigns madness to his intentions; Hamlet stages the mousetrap play; Hamlet passes up the opportunity to kill Claudius while he is praying.
• Climax: When Hamlet stabs Polonius through the arras, he commits himself to overtly violent action and brings himself into unavoidable conflict with the king. Another possible climax comes at the end of Act IV, scene iv, when Hamlet resolves to commit himself fully to violent revenge.
• Falling Action: Hamlet is sent to England to be killed; Hamlet returns to Denmark and confronts Laertes at Ophelia’s funeral; the fencing match; the deaths of the royal family.

Othello Plot Summary

• Rising Action: Everything that transpires up until the plan starts to unfold and the Moor strangles Desdemona.
• Climax: The Moor strangles Desdemona and confronts her on her supposed "cuckoldry."
• Falling Action: Everything that happens after Desdemona finally dies.

Romeo and Juliet Plot Summary

• Rising Action: Romeo needs to secretly marry Juliet fearing that a Capulet and a Montague would never be allowed to marry.
• Climax: Juliet pretends to be dead, and Romeo does not know it and commits suicide.
• Falling Action: The action begins to fall after Juliet commits suicide after finding Romeo dead. It continues as both families find their children dead.

King Lear Plot Summary

• Rising Action: The play comes back to Gloucester and his sons Edmund and Edgar. Edmund becomes angry at the way everyone seems to criticize his not being Gloucester's "real" son and takes his anger out on Edgar, who is Gloucester's legitimate son.
• Climax: King Lear meets Edgar who is at this time disguised as a mad poor man. At this point King Lear is showing signs of insanity.
• Falling Action: Edgar answers all of Albany's questions and tells him that Gloucester died of joy when he found out that the person helping him all along was his son.

Sonnet Definition and Terms

A simple poem written in a certain format.

• It has 14 lines which can be broken down into 4 sections called Quatrains.
• Iambic Pentameter: A poetic meter with 10 beats per line.
• Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds.
• Alliteration: The repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of multiple words.