1.
Stratford-upon-Avon
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Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, on the River Avon,101 miles north west of London,22 miles south east of Birmingham, and 8 miles south west of Warwick. The estimated population in 2007 was 25,505, increasing to 27,445 at the 2011 Census, Stratford was originally inhabited by Anglo-Saxons and remained a village before lord of the manor, John of Coutances, set out plans to develop it into a town in 1196. In that same year, Stratford was granted a charter from King Richard I to hold a market in the town. As a result, Stratford experienced an increase in trade and commerce as well as urban expansion, the town is a popular tourist destination owing to its status as birthplace of English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, and receives approximately 2.5 million visitors a year. The Royal Shakespeare Company resides in Stratfords Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the street was a Roman road which connected Icknield Street in Alcester to the Fosse Way. The ford, which has used as a crossing since Roman times. A survey of 1251-52 uses the name Stratford for the first time to identify Old Stratford, the name was used after that time to describe the area specifically surrounding the Holy Trinity Church and the street of Old Town. The settlement which became known as Stratford was first inhabited by Anglo-Saxons following their 7th century invasion of what would become known as Warwickshire. The land was owned by the church of Worcester and it remained a village until the late 12th century when it was developed into a town by lord of the manor, John of Coutances. John laid out a new plan in 1196 based on a grid system to expand Stratford. Additionally, a charter was granted to Stratford by King Richard I in 1196 which allowed a market to be held in the town. These two charters, which formed the foundations of Stratfords transformation from a village to a town, johns plans to develop Stratford into a town meant Stratford became a place of work for tradesmen and merchants. By 1252 the town had approximately 240 burgages, as well as shops, stalls, Stratfords new workers established a guild known as the Guild of the Holy Cross for their business and religious requirements. Many of the towns earliest and most important buildings are located along what is known as Stratfords Historic Spine, the route of the Historic Spine begins at Shakespeares Birthplace in Henley Street. It continues through Henley Street to the top end of Bridge Street and into High Street where many Elizabethan buildings are located, the route carries on through Chapel Street where Nashs House and New Place are sited. The Historic Spine continues along Church Street where Guild buildings are located dating back to the 15th century, the route then finishes in Old Town, which includes Halls Croft and the Holy Trinity Church. During Stratfords early expansion into a town, the access across the River Avon into and out of the town was over a wooden bridge. In 1480, a new masonry bridge was built to replace it called Clopton Bridge
2.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
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It can also lay claim to be the oldest conservation society in Britain. Receiving no government funding or public subsidies, it is dependent upon the public for support, and relies on donations. For more than 200 years after the Bards death, his birthplace was occupied by the descendants of his widowed sister. Under the terms of Shakespeares will, the ownership of the property passed to his elder daughter, Susanna. Elizabeth died in 1670, bequeathing it to Thomas Hart, the descendant of Shakespeares sister, Joan, the Harts remained owners of the whole property until 1806, when it was sold to a butcher, Thomas Court. When it was put up for sale in 1846 on the death of Courts widow. To purchase the property for the Nation, the Shakespeare Birthday Committee was formed, incorporated by a private Act of Parliament, the Birthday Committee became the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. The headquarters of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is the Shakespeare Centre, the building currently recreates a picture of family life at the time of Shakespeare complete with period domestic furnishings, as well as John Shakespeares glove making workshop ready for work. Other exhibitions illustrate the changing occupancy and functions of the Birthplace, as a home, workshop, inn, butchers shop, literary shrine, Halls Croft Halls Croft is believed to be the house of Shakespeares daughter Susanna and her husband, Dr. John Hall, c. It now contains a collection of 16th and 17th century paintings and furniture, as well as an exhibition about Dr. Hall, the SBT are currently carrying out major conservation work on the house. The house is open to the public, Anne Hathaways Cottage Although called a cottage, the childhood home of Shakespeares wife Anne is, in fact, a spacious twelve-roomed farmhouse with several bedrooms. In Shakespeares day it was known as Newlands Farm, and remained in the Hathaway family for many generations and it was acquired by the Trust in 1892, and is open to public visitors as a museum. Shakespeares New Place Created on the site of Shakespeares family home in Stratford and it showcases artworks, contemporary landscaped and traditional gardens, as well as a major exhibition displayed in the restored and extended Grade I Listed Tudor Nash’s House next door. Palmers Farm together with Glebe Farm form the Shakespeare Countryside Museum, in 2000 it was discovered that it had belonged to the Arden family and was in fact the true childhood home of Shakespeares mother, Mary Arden, and the name Mary Ardens House was transferred to it. Harvard House Situated in High Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Harvard House was built by Thomas Rogers, grandfather of the benefactor of Harvard University, John Harvard, since 1995 it has housed the Museum of British Pewter. Other collections include items that represent the social and economic life of Stratford-upon-Avon, the Trusts Collections and Conservation Department is based in the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon. The Trust owns various extensive collections, Archaeology Roman and Anglo-Saxon artefacts from local sites including jewellery, weapons, also local fossils and prehistoric items. Art Works of art relating to Shakespeare and to the history of Stratford-upon-Avon, furniture and Furnishings Domestic items dating from the 15th to the 19th century, particularly furniture dating from the 16th and 17th centuries
5.
Timber framing
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Timber framing and post-and-beam construction are methods of building with heavy timbers rather than dimensional lumber such as 2x4s. Traditional timber framing is the method of creating structures using heavy squared-off and it is commonplace in wooden buildings from the 19th century and earlier. The method comes from making out of logs and tree trunks without modern high tech saws to cut lumber from the starting material stock. Since this building method has been used for thousands of years in parts of the world. These styles are categorized by the type of foundation, walls, how and where the beams intersect, the use of curved timbers. Three basic types of frames in English-speaking countries are the box frame, cruck frame. The distinction presented here is the load is carried by the exterior walls. Purlins are also in a timber frame. A cruck is a pair of crooked or curved timbers which form a bent or crossframe, more than 4,000 cruck frame buildings have been recorded in the UK. Several types of frames are used, more information follows in English style below. True cruck or full cruck, blades, straight or curved, base cruck, tops of the blades are truncated by the first transverse member such as by a tie beam. Raised cruck, blades land on masonry wall, and extend to the ridge, middle cruck, blades land on masonry wall, and are truncated by a collar. Upper cruck, blades land on a tie beam, very similar to knee rafters, jointed cruck, blades are made from pieces joined near eaves in a number of ways. See also, hammerbeam roof End cruck is not a style, aisled frames have one or more rows of interior posts. These interior posts typically carry more load than the posts in the exterior walls. This is the concept of the aisle in church buildings, sometimes called a hall church. However, a nave is often called an aisle, and three-aisled barns are common in the U. S. the Netherlands, aisled buildings are wider than the simpler box-framed or cruck-framed buildings, and typically have purlins supporting the rafters. In northern Germany, this construction is known as variations of a Ständerhaus, the frame is often left exposed on the exterior of the building
6.
Warwickshire
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Warwickshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton, the county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Commonly used abbreviations for the county are Warks or Warwicks, the county is divided into five districts of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon. The current county boundaries were set in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, the historic county boundaries also included Coventry and Solihull, as well as much of Birmingham. The northern tip of the county is only 3 miles from the Derbyshire border, an average-sized English county covering an area of almost 2,000 km2, it runs some 60 miles north to south. Equivalently it extends as far north as Shrewsbury in Shropshire and as far south as Banbury in north Oxfordshire, the majority of Warwickshires population live in the north and centre of the county. The market towns of northern and eastern Warwickshire were industrialised in the 19th century, and include Atherstone, Bedworth, Nuneaton, of these, Atherstone has retained most of its original character. Major industries included coal mining, textiles, engineering and cement production, of the northern and eastern towns, only Nuneaton and Rugby are well-known outside of Warwickshire. The south of the county is rural and sparsely populated. The only town in the south of Warwickshire is Shipston-on-Stour, the highest point in the county, at 261 m, is Ebrington Hill, again on the border with Gloucestershire, grid reference SP187426 at the countys southwest extremity. There are no cities in Warwickshire since both Coventry and Birmingham were incorporated into the West Midlands county in 1974 and are now metropolitan authorities in themselves, the largest towns in Warwickshire in 2011 were, Nuneaton, Rugby, Leamington Spa, Bedworth, Warwick, Stratford and Kenilworth. Much of western Warwickshire, including that area now forming part of Coventry, Solihull, thus the names of a number of places in the central-western part of Warwickshire end with the phrase -in-Arden, such as Henley-in-Arden, Hampton-in-Arden and Tanworth-in-Arden. The remaining area, not part of the forest, was called the Felden – from fielden, areas historically part of Warwickshire include Coventry, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington, and some of Birmingham including Aston and Edgbaston. These became part of the county of West Midlands following local government re-organisation in 1974. Some organisations, such as Warwickshire County Cricket Club, which is based in Edgbaston, in Birmingham, Coventry is effectively in the centre of the Warwickshire area, and still has strong ties with the county. Coventry and Warwickshire are sometimes treated as an area and share a single Chamber of Commerce. Coventry has been a part of Warwickshire for only some of its history, in 1451 Coventry was separated from Warwickshire and made a county corporate in its own right, called the County of the City of Coventry. In 1842 the county of Coventry was abolished and Coventry was remerged with Warwickshire, in recent times, there have been calls to formally re-introduce Coventry into Warwickshire, although nothing has yet come of this
7.
William Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
8.
Museum
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Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities, towns and even the countryside. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public, the goal of serving researchers is increasingly shifting to serving the general public. There are many types of museums, including art museums, natural history museums, science museums, war museums, the city with the largest number of museums is Mexico City with over 128 museums. According to The World Museum Community, there are more than 55,000 museums in 202 countries, the English museum comes from the Latin word, and is pluralized as museums. The first museum/library is considered to be the one of Plato in Athens, however, Pausanias gives another place called Museum, namely a small hill in Classical Athens opposite to the Akropolis. The hill was called Mouseion after Mousaious, a man who used to sing on the hill, the purpose of modern museums is to collect, preserve, interpret, and display items of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the education of the public. The purpose can also depend on ones point of view, to a family looking for entertainment on a Sunday afternoon, a trip to a local history museum or large city art museum could be a fun, and enlightening way to spend the day. To city leaders, a healthy museum community can be seen as a gauge of the health of a city. To a museum professional, a museum might be seen as a way to educate the public about the museums mission, Museums are, above all, storehouses of knowledge. In 1829, James Smithsons bequest, that would fund the Smithsonian Institution, stated he wanted to establish an institution for the increase, Museums of natural history in the late 19th century exemplified the Victorian desire for consumption and for order. Gathering all examples of classification of a field of knowledge for research. As American colleges grew in the 19th century, they developed their own natural history collections for the use of their students, while many large museums, such as the Smithsonian Institution, are still respected as research centers, research is no longer a main purpose of most museums. While there is a debate about the purposes of interpretation of a museums collection, there has been a consistent mission to protect. Much care, expertise, and expense is invested in efforts to retard decomposition in aging documents, artifacts, artworks. All museums display objects that are important to a culture, as historian Steven Conn writes, To see the thing itself, with ones own eyes and in a public place, surrounded by other people having some version of the same experience can be enchanting. Museum purposes vary from institution to institution, some favor education over conservation, or vice versa. For example, in the 1970s, the Canada Science and Technology Museum favored education over preservation of their objects and they displayed objects as well as their functions. One exhibit featured a printing press that a staff member used for visitors to create museum memorabilia
9.
Mecca
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Mecca or Makkah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also capital of the Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km inland from Jeddah in a valley at a height of 277 m above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although more than triple this number every year during the hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islams holiest site, Mecca was long ruled by Muhammads descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, during this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj, as a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. The Saudi government adopted Makkah as the spelling in the 1980s. The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah or Makkatu l-Mukarramah, which means Mecca the Honored, the ancient or early name for the site of Mecca is Bakkah. An Arabic language word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure, the form Bakkah is used for the name Mecca in the Quran in 3,96, while the form Mecca is used in 48,24. In South Arabic, the language in use in the portion of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad. Other references to Mecca in the Quran call it Umm al-Qurā, another name of Mecca is Tihamah. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah, yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was an arabized Hebrew word. One of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah, Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor appointed by the Saudi government. As of May 2015, the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar, Mecca is the capital of the Makkah Region, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from 2000 until his death in 2007, on 16 May 2007, prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud was appointed as the new governor. The early history of Mecca is still disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 AD, ruling cities such as Hegra, even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 AD in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca
10.
Wattle and daub
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Wattle and daub has been used for at least 6,000 years and is still an important construction material in many parts of the world. Many historic buildings include wattle and daub construction, and the technique is becoming popular again in developed areas as a low-impact sustainable building technique. The wattle is made by weaving thin branches or slats between upright stakes, the wattle may be made as loose panels, slotted between timber framing to make infill panels, or it may be made in place to form the whole of a wall. Daub is usually created from a mixture of ingredients from three categories, binders, aggregates and reinforcement. Binders hold the mix together and can include clay, lime, chalk dust, aggregates give the mix its bulk and dimensional stability through materials such as earth, sand, crushed chalk and crushed stone. Reinforcement is provided by straw, hair, hay or other fibrous materials, the daub may be mixed by hand, or by treading – either by humans or livestock. It is then applied to the wattle and allowed to dry, in some regions this building method has itself been overtaken by drywall construction using plasterboard sheets. The wattle and daub technique was used already in the Neolithic period and it was common for houses of a Linear pottery and Rössen cultures of Central Europe, but is also found in Western Asia as well as in North America and South America. In Africa it is common in the architecture of houses such as those of the Ashanti people. Its usage dates back at least 6000 years, there are suggestions that construction techniques such as lath and plaster and even cob may have evolved from wattle and daub. Fragments from prehistoric wattle and daub buildings have found in Africa, Europe, Mesoamerica. A review of English architecture especially reveals that the sophistication of this craft is dependent on the styles of timber frame housing. As discussed earlier, there were two choices for wattle and daub paneling, square paneling and close-studded paneling. Close-studding panels create a more narrow space between the timbers, anywhere from 7 to 16 inches. For this style of panel, weaving is too difficult, so the wattles run horizontally and are known as ledgers, the ledgers are sprung into each upright timber through a system of augered holes on one side and short chiseled grooves along the other. The holes are drilled at an angle towards the outer face of each stud. This allows room for upright hazels to be tied to ledgers from the inside of the building, the horizontal ledgers are placed every two to three feet with whole hazel rods positioned upright top to bottom and lashed to the ledgers. These hazel rods are generally tied a finger widths apart with 6-8 rods each with a 16-inch width, gaps allow key formation for drying
11.
Arden, Warwickshire
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Arden is an area, located mainly in Warwickshire, England, and also part of Staffordshire and Worcestershire traditionally regarded as extending from the River Avon to the River Tame. It was once wooded, giving rise to the name Forest of Arden. It does not seem that the area was subject to forest law however, believed to be derived from a Brythonic word ardu- high, by extension highland, the area was formerly thickly forested and known as the Forest of Arden. The most important and largest settlement in the forest was the town Henley-in-Arden, an ancient mark stone known as Coughton Cross is still present at the south western corner of the forest, at the junction of Icknield Street and the salt track. It is located at the end of the frontage of Coughton Court and is owned by the National Trust. According to local tradition, travellers prayed here for passage through the forest. From around 1162, until the suppression of the order in 1312, the property then passed to the Knights Hospitaller, who held it until the Reformation during the 16th century. Robert Catesby, leader of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, was a native of Lapworth and it is believed that many local families had resisted the Reformation and retained Catholic sympathies, possibly including the family of Shakespeare, whose paternal ancestors were from Temple Balsall. Mary Arden, mother of William Shakespeare, was a member, towns in the area include Hampton-in-Arden, Henley-in-Arden, and Tanworth-in-Arden. The Countryside Commission considered creating a new national forest in the area in 1989, a national forest has been established in the northern midlands however. Publisher Felix Dennis planted substantial areas of woodland in the area, known as the Heart of England Forest,3000 acres have been planted in Spernall, Dorsington and Honeybourne. Hampton-in-Arden Henley-in-Arden Tanworth-in-Arden Arden family Shapiro, James,1599, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare. Landowners and their Estates in the Forest of Arden in the Fifteenth Century, about the Forest About Mary Arden
12.
Wilmcote
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Wilmcote is a village, and since 2004 a separate civil parish, in the English county of Warwickshire, about 3 miles north of Stratford-upon-Avon. Prior to 2004, it was part of the parish as Aston Cantlow. It has a church, a school, a village hall, a village club, one small hotel, a shop. Visitors are attracted to Mary Ardens Farm, the home of Shakespeares mother, Wilmcote, listed as Wilmecote in the Domesday Book, is part of the lands of Osbern son of Richard, whose father was Richard FitzScrob, builder of Richards Castle. The entry reads, In Pathlow Hundred, also from Osbern, Urso hold 3 hides in Wilmcote. In lordship 2,2 slaves,2 villagers and 2 smallholders with 2 ploughs, the value was 30s, now 60s. Leofwin Doda held it freely before 1066, in 1228 William de Wilmecote was claiming the advowson of the chapel here against the Archdeacon of Gloucester. Palmer and Gibbs held jointly until 1575, when a partition was made, the descent of Palmers portion is not known, but Gibbss, which included Mary Ardens house, remained in the family until another George Gibbs sold it to Matthew Walford of Claverdon in 1704. Walfords son and heir, also Matthew, married Elizabeth Jones and died in 1729, whatever manorial rights may have attached to this property had by now disappeared. Today the area has many small disused quarries, mostly filled in, a larger quarry, which has not been filled in, is now a nature reserve. There are remains of lime kilns, built to turn the limestone into cement, Wilmcote stone splits well into sheets and was used for paving as well as for building. It was used for paving the floors in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament when these were rebuilt in the nineteenth century, the last of the quarries closed in the early twentieth century, but they have left a great legacy for the village. There are several rows of former workers cottages, built in Wilmcote stone. The quarries were among the reasons why the canal and railway were routed through Wilmcote, the first Wilmcote railway station opened in 1860, on a site alongside the canal wharves, it was replaced by the present station when the line was doubled in 1908. Wilmcote is part of the Aston Cantlow ward of Stratford on Avon District Council, nationally it is part of Stratford on Avon constituency, whose member of parliament following the 2010 election is Nadhim Zahawi of the Conservative Party. There was a chapel at Wilmcote, first mentioned in 1228 when the advowson was in dispute between William de Wilmcote, and the Archdeacon of Gloucester. In the 14th century the advowson was held with the manor of Little Wilmcote, the chaplains were instituted and inducted by the vicars of Stratford. The modern church of St. Andrew, built in 1841, is a monument to the influence of the Oxford Movement in the parish
13.
William James Linton
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William James Linton was an English-born American wood-engraver, landscape painter, political reformer and author of memoirs, novels, poetry and non-fiction. Born in Mile End, east London, his family moved to Stratford, the young Linton was educated at Chigwell Grammar School, an early 17th-century foundation attended by many sons of the Essex and City of London middle classes. Aged 15, Linton was apprenticed to the wood-engraver George Wilmot Bonner and his earliest known work is to be found in John Martin and Richard Westalls Pictorial Illustrations of the Bible. He worked from 1834 to 1836 with William Henry Powis, another pupil of Bonner, Linton then worked for two years for the firm of John Thompson. The firm was immediately employed on the Illustrated London News, just then projected, for years he had concerned himself with the social and European political problems of the time, and was now actively engaged in the republican propaganda. In 1844 he took a prominent part in exposing the violation by the English post office of Mazzinis correspondence and this led to a friendship with the Italian revolutionist, and Linton threw himself with ardor into European politics. He carried the first congratulatory address of English workmen to the French Provisional Government in 1848 and he edited a twopenny weekly paper, The Cause of the People, published in the Isle of Man, and he wrote political verses for the Dublin Nation, signed Spartacus. The same year he wrote a series of articles propounding the views of Mazzini in The Red Republican, most of the paper, which never paid its way and was abandoned in 1855, was written by himself. In 1852 he also printed for private circulation an anonymous volume of poems entitled The Plaint of Freedom, after the failure of his paper he returned to his proper work of wood-engraving. In 1857 his wife died, and in the year he married Eliza Lynn. In 1864 he retired to Brantwood, his remaining in London. In 1867, pressed by financial difficulties, Linton decided to try his fortune in America and he separated from his wife, with whom, however, he remained in touch. With his children he settled at Appledore, Hamden, Connecticut and he died at Hamden on 29 December 1897. Linton was a gifted man, who, in the words of his wife, if he had not bitten the Dead Sea apple of impracticable politics. As an engraver on wood he reached the highest point of execution in his own line and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. WILLIAM JAMES LINTON. Dictionary of National Biography,1901 supplement, London, Smith, Elder & Co. W. J. Linton, Memories, F. G. Kitton, article on Eliza Lynn Linton in English Illustrated Magazine, G. S. Layard, Life of Mrs Lynn Linton. Works by William James Linton at Project Gutenberg Works by or about William James Linton at Internet Archive Archival material relating to William James Linton, W. J. Linton at www. gerald-massey. org. uk William James Linton Archive at the Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation - online inventory
14.
Edward Duncan
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Edward Duncan was an English master painter, known for his watercolours of coastal views and shipping. He was a member of the Royal Society of Watercolours and received Royal patronage from Queen Victoria, Edward Duncan was the son of Thomas Duncan and Peggy née Watson. He was born on 21 October 1803 at St Pancras in London and he was apprenticed to Robert Havell, the principal aquatint engraver of Audubons Birds of America. Duncan was thus afforded frequent opportunities of studying the works of Havells brother and these developed his taste for drawing and the use of colour. After tutelage under the Havell Brothers in London, Duncan started his own engraving studio, in 1826, a project to engrave maritime scenes, after paintings by William John Huggins are said to have sparked Duncans interest in marine subjects. In about 1835 Duncan married Huggins daughter Berthia, the couple had six sons and one daughter, Bertha. One of the sons was Walter Duncan, also a painter, the influences of both Havell and Huggins undoubtedly led to Duncans long and successful career as one of Britains foremost marine watercolorists. Edward Duncan was a painstaking artist with his preferred media, in addition to his early training as an engraver, he was skilled in oils, lithography and etching. Duncans drawings comprise a range of subjects but his best known works depict coastal scenes with shipping. Duncan also specialised in landscapes of the counties, often populated with animals. In the face of the vogue for painting with body-colours, Duncan relied almost entirely on transparent colours and his works include, • The Shipwreck. • Oyster Dredgers — Swansea Bay, • Landing Fish on the Sands at Whitby. • Fishing Boats making for the Harbour of Boulogne — early morning, * Spithead from the Isle of Wight. Between 1865 and his death in 1882 he spent almost every painting in the Gower Peninsula, near Swansea. He died in Hampstead, London, on 11 April 1882, a sale of his works at Christies in 1885 took three days, and a sale of 1887 lists nearly 2,000 of his sketches and paintings. F. L. Emanuel, Edward Duncan R. W. S, the fleet sailing from Spithead,11 March 1854 at the Royal Collection. Departure of HMS Neptune for the Baltic Sea,16 March 1854 at the Royal Collection, Edward Duncan at the V&A. Carting seaweed on the coast of Guernsey. Edward Duncan at the V&A. Whitby, Edward Duncan at Manchester Art Gallery
15.
New Place
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New Place was William Shakespeares final place of residence in Stratford-upon-Avon. Though the house no longer exists, the land is owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the house stood on the corner of Chapel Street and Chapel Lane, and was apparently the second largest dwelling in the town. It was built in 1483 by Sir Hugh Clopton, a wealthy London mercer, built of timber and brick it had ten fireplaces, five handsome gables, and grounds large enough to incorporate two barns and an orchard. In 1496 Sir Hugh Clopton left New Place in his will to his great-nephew William Clopton I, in his will William Clopton I granted his wife, Rose a life interest in the property, with the reversion after her death to his son, William Clopton II. In November 1543 the latter leased it for forty years to a surgeon, Thomas Bentley, who left his wife, Anne, Anne remarried, however, and after she became the wife of Richard Charnock, William Clopton II retook possession of New Place. By his wife Elizabeth Grey, the daughter of Sir Edward Grey of Enville, Staffordshire, William Clopton II had a son, William Clopton III, to whom he left New Place by will in 1560. In 1567 Bott sold New Place to William Underhill I, an Inner Temple lawyer and clerk of assizes at Warwick, at his death in 1570, Underhill left New Place to his son, William Underhill II, who in 1597 sold it to William Shakespeare for £60. He died two months later, and it emerged that he had been poisoned by his eldest son and heir, according to some sources, Fulke Underhill died in May 1598 while still a minor and before the fact that he had murdered his father was discovered. According to other sources, however, Fulke Underhill was hanged in 1599 for his fathers murder and attainted for felony, whereby his property, including New Place, was forfeit to the crown. When Fulkes younger brother, Hercules Underhill, came of age in 1602, his fathers former properties were regranted to him, after Elizabeth died, the house was returned to the Clopton family. In 1702 John Clopton radically altered, or rebuilt, the original New Place – contemporary illustrations suggest the latter, in 1756 then-owner Reverend Francis Gastrell, having become tired of visitors, attacked and destroyed a mulberry tree in the garden said to have been planted by Shakespeare. In retaliation, the townsfolk destroyed New Places windows, Gastrell applied for local permission to extend the garden. His application was rejected and his tax was increased, so Gastrell retaliated by demolishing the house in 1759 and this greatly outraged the inhabitants and Gastrell was eventually forced to leave town. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust acquired New Place and Nashs House in 1876, today the site of New Place is accessible through a museum that resides in Nashs House, the house next door. Excavations in the grounds of Nashs House were carried out during 2010,2011 and 2012 by Birmingham Archaeology, archaeologists from Time Team visited the dig during 2011 and a special programme on the subject, Searching for Shakespeares House, was transmitted on 11 March 2012. BBC One National Treasures broadcast a programme from the site in August 2011. Findings from the excavation indicated the presence of a Tudor structure but were inconclusive as to the plan of Shakespeares original house. The pipe fragments, however, could have belonged to any number of other persons besides the famous playwright, the Visitation of the County of Warwick in the year 1619
16.
Susanna Hall
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Susanna Hall was the oldest child of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and the older sister of Judith Quiney and Hamnet Shakespeare. She married John Hall, a physician, in 1607. They had one daughter, named Elizabeth, in 1608, Elizabeth married Thomas Nash, son of Anthony Nash on 22 April,1626 at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon. Susanna was baptised in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon on Trinity Sunday, Shakespeares wife Anne was already pregnant with Susanna when the couple were married. The name Susanna derives from the story of Susanna and the elders in the Book of Daniel and suggests purity and spotlessness, and had associations that appealed to the Puritans. It first appeared in Stratford parish registers in 1574, so the name was rather novel. As such it may have been an assertion of virtue for a child born perilously close to the side of marriage as the historian Peter Ackroyd put it. She was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon along with her siblings, twins Hamnet. Two extant signatures exist, so we know she was able to sign her name, Susanna married John Hall, a respected physician, on 5 June 1607 in Holy Trinity Church. She was 24, he was about 32, some slight evidence indicates that Shakespeare settled a substantial dowry on Susanna of 105 acres of his land in Old Stratford he had bought in 1602, probably retaining a life interest in it. John Halls Select Observations, case studies of his patients, was published in 1657,22 years after his death. The earliest case, a one, dates from 1611. Their one child, Elizabeth was baptised on 21 February 1608 in Holy Trinity Church, the couple had no other children, and Elizabeth was the only grandchild Shakespeare knew, as Judiths children were born after his death. In June 1613, a man named John Lane, Jr.23, accused Susanna of adultery with a Rafe Smith, a 35-year-old haberdasher, on 15 July the Halls brought suit for slander against Lane in the Consistory court at Worcester. Robert Whatcott, who three years later witnessed Shakespeares will, testified for the Halls, but Lane failed to appear, Lane was found guilty of slander and excommunicated. In 1619 Lane was found guilty of slander again, this time for attacks on the vicar and he was also named in court as a persistent drunkard. In case no sons were born or they died, the estate would go to her daughter Elizabeth Hall and her male heirs, to Judith and her male heirs. He also named the Halls as executors of the will, and she was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford next to her parents
17.
Elizabeth Barnard
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Elizabeth, Lady Barnard was the granddaughter of the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. Despite two marriages, she had no children, and was his last surviving descendant, Elizabeth was closely associated with the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. Both her husbands were dedicated supporters of Charles I, Elizabeth Hall was born to Susanna Shakespeare and Doctor John Hall. She was baptised in the Holy Trinity Church of Stratford-upon-Avon, England and she was the only grandchild William Shakespeare ever knew, because her three cousins were born after his death in 1616. In 1626, Elizabeth Hall married Thomas Nash, who was a member of the Manor, Nash is known to have been an ardent Royalist, a supporter of Charles I and indeed a donor to the kings cause to the tune of £100. In July 1643 the queen Henrietta Maria stayed with the Nashes at New Place, Thomas made his will on 25 August 1642, in which he left his house in Chapel Street and two meadows to Elizabeth. However, he left the bulk of his fortune to his cousin, on 4 April 1647, Thomas died, leaving Elizabeth a widow. On 5 June 1649, eighteen months after her husbands death, Elizabeth married John Barnard of Abington, Barnard was a widower with several children. It is not known how they met, since he did not live near Stratford, like Nash, he had been a strong supporter of the Royalists in the Civil War. Five weeks after the marriage, Elizabeths mother Susanna died, as a result, Elizabeth inherited the Shakespeare family property. The couple moved to Stratford, to live in New Place, as a staunch Royalist, Barnards social position improved dramatically after the Restoration in 1660. He became the MP for Huntingdon in 1660 and was made a baronet in 1661 and they left Stratford to move into the Barnard family home in Abington. In February 1662, Judith Quiney died in Stratford-upon-Avon, making Elizabeth Barnard the last descendant of William Shakespeare and she wrote her will on 29 January 1669, which did not give much to her husband, Sir John Barnard. Elizabeth died at Abington, Northamptonshire on 17 February 1670, there is a memorial plaque in the Church of Saint Peter & Paul, Abington, where she is buried. The family home of Sir John and Lady Barnard is now a museum, Abington Park Museum, William Shakespeare Shakespeares life Shakespeares Granddaughter and the Bagleys of Dudley Shakespeares Family
18.
Isaac Watts
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Isaac Watts was an English Christian minister, hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular writer, his work was part of evangelization. He was recognized as the Father of English Hymnody, credited with some 750 hymns, many of his hymns remain in use today and have been translated into numerous languages. Born in Southampton, England, in 1674, Watts was brought up in the home of a committed religious Nonconformist, his father, at King Edward VI School, Watts had a classical education, learning Latin, Greek and Hebrew. From an early age, Watts displayed a propensity for rhyme and he went to the Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690. Much of the remainder of his life centred around that village, following his education, Watts was called as pastor of a large independent chapel in London, where he helped train preachers, despite his poor health. Taking work as a tutor, Watts lived with the Nonconformist Hartopp family at Fleetwood House. Through them he became acquainted with their neighbours, Sir Thomas Abney. Invited for a week to Hertfordshire, Watts eventually lived for a total of 36 years in the Abney household, most of the time at Abney House, their second residence. On the death of Sir Thomas Abney in 1722, the widow Lady Mary and her last unmarried daughter, Elizabeth and she invited Watts to continue with their household. He lived at Abney Hall until his death in 1748, Watts particularly enjoyed the grounds at Abney Park, which Lady Mary planted with two elm walks leading down to an island heronry in the Hackney Brook. Watts often sought inspiration there for the books and hymns he wrote. Watts died in Stoke Newington in 1748, and was buried in Bunhill Fields and he left an extensive legacy of hymns, treatises, educational works and essays. His work was influential amongst Nonconformist independents and religious revivalists of the 18th century, such as Philip Doddridge, Sacred music scholar Stephen Marini describes the ways in which Watts contributed to English hymnody. Notably, Watts led by including new poetry for original songs of Christian experience to be used in worship, the older tradition was based on the poetry of the Bible, notably the Psalms. Watts introduction of extra-Biblical poetry opened up a new era of Protestant hymnody as other poets followed in his path, Watts also introduced a new way of rendering the Psalms in verse for church services. The Psalms were originally written in Biblical Hebrew within Judaism, in early Christendom, they were affirmed in the Biblical canon as part of the Old Testament. Watts proposed that the translations of the Psalms as sung by Protestant Christians should give them a specifically Christian perspective
19.
Charles Dickens
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Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the worlds best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era and his works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity, born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors prison. Dickenss literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers, within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the publication of narrative fiction. The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audiences reaction, and he modified his plot. For example, when his wifes chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities and his plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the poor chipped in hapennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up. Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age and his 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also adapted, and, like many of his novels. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London, Dickens has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of depth, loose writing. The term Dickensian is used to something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, at 1 Mile End Terrace, Landport in Portsea Island and his father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and was temporarily stationed in the district. He asked Christopher Huffam, rigger to His Majestys Navy, gentleman, Huffam is thought to be the inspiration for Paul Dombey, the owner of a shipping company in Dickenss eponymous Dombey and Son. In January 1815 John Dickens was called back to London, when Charles was four, they relocated to Sheerness, and thence to Chatham, Kent, where he spent his formative years until the age of 11. His early life seems to have been idyllic, though he himself a very small. Charles spent time outdoors but also read voraciously, including the novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding, as well as Robinson Crusoe
20.
Walter Scott
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Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet. Many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature, famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Old Mortality, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor. A prominent member of the Tory establishment in Edinburgh, Scott was an member of the Highland Society. He survived a bout of polio in 1773 that left him lame. To cure his lameness he was sent in 1773 to live in the rural Scottish Borders at his grandparents farm at Sandyknowe, adjacent to the ruin of Smailholm Tower. Here he was taught to read by his aunt Jenny, and learned from her the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends that characterised much of his work. In January 1775 he returned to Edinburgh, and that went with his aunt Jenny to take spa treatment at Bath in England. In the winter of 1776 he went back to Sandyknowe, with another attempt at a cure at Prestonpans during the following summer. In 1778, Scott returned to Edinburgh for private education to him for school. In October 1779 he began at the Royal High School of Edinburgh and he was now well able to walk and explore the city and the surrounding countryside. His reading included chivalric romances, poems, history and travel books and he was given private tuition by James Mitchell in arithmetic and writing, and learned from him the history of the Church of Scotland with emphasis on the Covenanters. Scott began studying classics at the University of Edinburgh in November 1783, at the age of 12, in March 1786 he began an apprenticeship in his fathers office to become a Writer to the Signet. While at the university Scott had become a friend of Adam Ferguson, Scott met the blind poet Thomas Blacklock, who lent him books and introduced him to James Macphersons Ossian cycle of poems. During the winter of 1786–87 the 15-year-old Scott saw Robert Burns at one of these salons, for what was to be their only meeting. When Burns noticed a print illustrating the poem The Justice of the Peace and asked who had written the poem, only Scott knew that it was by John Langhorne, and was thanked by Burns. When it was decided that he would become a lawyer, he returned to the university to study law, first taking classes in Moral Philosophy, after completing his studies in law, he became a lawyer in Edinburgh. As a lawyers clerk he made his first visit to the Scottish Highlands directing an eviction and he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1792. He had an unsuccessful love suit with Williamina Belsches of Fettercairn, as a boy, youth and young man, Scott was fascinated by the oral traditions of the Scottish Borders
21.
Thomas Carlyle
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Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher. Considered one of the most important social commentators of his time, a respected historian, his 1837 book The French Revolution, A History was the inspiration for Charles Dickens 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities, and remains popular today. Carlyles 1836 Sartor Resartus is a philosophical novel. A great polemicist, Carlyle coined the term the dismal science for economics and he also wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, and his Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question remains controversial. Once a Christian, Carlyle lost his faith while attending the University of Edinburgh, in mathematics, he is known for the Carlyle circle, a method used in quadratic equations and for developing ruler-and-compass constructions of regular polygons. Carlyle was born in Ecclefechan in Dumfriesshire and his parents determinedly afforded him an education at Annan Academy, Annan, where he was bullied and tormented so much that he left after three years. His father was a member of the Burgher secession church, in early life, his familys strong Calvinist beliefs powerfully influenced the young man. After attending the University of Edinburgh, Carlyle became a teacher, first in Annan and then in Kirkcaldy. His prose style, famously cranky and occasionally savage, helped cement an air of irascibility, Carlyles thinking became heavily influenced by German idealism, in particular the work of Johann Gottlieb Fichte. He established himself as an expert on German literature in a series of essays for Frasers Magazine and he also wrote a Life of Schiller. In 1826, Thomas Carlyle married fellow intellectual Jane Baillie Welsh, in 1827, he applied for the Chair of Moral Philosophy at St Andrews University but was not appointed. A residence provided by Janes estate was a house on Craigenputtock and he often wrote about his life at Craigenputtock – in particular, It is certain that for living and thinking in I have never since found in the world a place so favourable. Here Carlyle wrote some of his most distinguished essays, and began a friendship with the American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. In 1831, the Carlyles moved to London, settling initially in lodgings at 4 Ampton Street, in 1834, they moved to 5 Cheyne Row, Chelsea, which has since been preserved as a museum to Carlyles memory. He became known as the Sage of Chelsea, and a member of a circle which included the essayists Leigh Hunt. Here Carlyle wrote The French Revolution, A History, a study concentrating both on the oppression of the poor of France and on the horrors of the mob unleashed. By 1821, Carlyle abandoned the clergy as a career and focused on making a life as a writer and his first fiction was Cruthers and Jonson, one of several abortive attempts at writing a novel. Following his work on a translation of Goethes Wilhelm Meisters Apprenticeship, he came to distrust the form of the realistic novel and so worked on developing a new form of fiction
22.
Lord Byron
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George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, FRS, commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet, peer, politician, and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among his best-known works are the narrative poems, Don Juan and Childe Harolds Pilgrimage. Byron is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential and he travelled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years with the struggling poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in his life, Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire. He died in 1824 at the age of 36 from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi, ethel Colburn Mayne states that George Gordon Byron was born on 22 January 1788 in a house on 24 Holles Street in London. However, Robert Charles Dallas in his Recollections states that Byron was born in Dover and he was the son of Captain John Mad Jack Byron and his second wife, the former Catherine Gordon, a descendant of Cardinal Beaton and heiress of the Gight estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Byrons father had seduced the married Marchioness of Carmarthen and, after she divorced her husband. His treatment of her was described as brutal and vicious, in order to claim his second wifes estate in Scotland, Byrons father took the additional surname Gordon, becoming John Byron Gordon, and he was occasionally styled John Byron Gordon of Gight. Byron himself used this surname for a time and was registered at school in Aberdeen as George Byron Gordon, at the age of 10, he inherited the English Barony of Byron of Rochdale, becoming Lord Byron, and eventually dropped the double surname. Byrons paternal grandparents were Vice-Admiral the Hon. John Foulweather Jack Byron, vice Admiral John Byron had circumnavigated the globe, and was the younger brother of the 5th Baron Byron, known as the Wicked Lord. He was christened, at St Marylebone Parish Church, George Gordon Byron after his maternal grandfather George Gordon of Gight, a descendant of James I of Scotland, Mad Jack Byron married his second wife for the same reason that he married his first, her fortune. In a move to avoid his creditors, Catherine accompanied her husband to France in 1786. He was born on 22 January in lodgings at Holles Street in London, Catherine moved back to Aberdeenshire in 1790, where Byron spent his childhood. His father soon joined them in their lodgings in Queen Street, Catherine regularly experienced mood swings and bouts of melancholy, which could be partly explained by her husbands continuing to borrow money from her. As a result, she fell even further into debt to support his demands and it was one of these importunate loans that allowed him to travel to Valenciennes, France, where he died in 1791. When Byrons great-uncle, the wicked Lord Byron, died on 21 May 1798, described as a woman without judgment or self-command, Catherine either spoiled and indulged her son or vexed him with her capricious stubbornness. Her drinking disgusted him, and he often mocked her for being short and corpulent and she once retaliated and, in a fit of temper, referred to him as a lame brat. Langley-Moore questions the Galt claim that she over-indulged in alcohol, upon the death of Byrons mother-in-law Judith Noel, the Hon
23.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
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Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victorias reign and remains one of the most popular British poets. Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, such as Break, Break, Break, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Tears, Idle Tears, Tennyson also wrote some notable blank verse including Idylls of the King, Ulysses, and Tithonus. During his career, Tennyson attempted drama, but his plays enjoyed little success and he is the ninth most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England and he was born into a middle-class line of Tennysons, but also had a noble and royal ancestry. His father, George Clayton Tennyson, was rector of Somersby, also rector of Benniworth and Bag Enderby, and vicar of Grimsby. Rev. George Clayton Tennyson raised a family and was a man of superior abilities and varied attainments, who tried his hand with fair success in architecture, painting, music. He was comfortably well off for a clergyman and his shrewd money management enabled the family to spend summers at Mablethorpe. Alfred Tennysons mother, Elizabeth Fytche, was the daughter of Stephen Fytche, vicar of St. James Church, Louth and rector of Withcall, Tennysons father carefully attended to the education and training of his children. Tennyson and two of his brothers were writing poetry in their teens and a collection of poems by all three was published locally when Alfred was only 17. One of those brothers, Charles Tennyson Turner, later married Louisa Sellwood, the sister of Alfreds future wife. Another of Tennysons brothers, Edward Tennyson, was institutionalised at a private asylum, Tennyson was a student of Louth Grammar School for four years and then attended Scaitcliffe School, Englefield Green and King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1827, where he joined a society called the Cambridge Apostles. A portrait of Tennyson by George Frederic Watts is in Trinitys collection, at Cambridge, Tennyson met Arthur Henry Hallam and William Henry Brookfield, who became his closest friends. His first publication was a collection of his rhymes and those of his elder brother Charles entitled Poems by Two Brothers. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellors Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his first pieces, reportedly, it was thought to be no slight honour for a young man of twenty to win the chancellors gold medal. He published his first solo collection of poems, Poems Chiefly Lyrical in 1830, claribel and Mariana, which later took their place among Tennysons most celebrated poems, were included in this volume. Although decried by critics as overly sentimental, his verse soon proved popular and brought Tennyson to the attention of well-known writers of the day. In the spring of 1831, Tennysons father died, requiring him to leave Cambridge before taking his degree and he returned to the rectory, where he was permitted to live for another six years and shared responsibility for his widowed mother and the family
24.
John Keats
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John Keats was an English Romantic poet. He had a significant influence on a range of poets. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keatss work was the most significant literary experience of his life, the poetry of Keats is characterised by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. This is typical of poets, as they aimed to accentuate extreme emotion through the emphasis of natural imagery. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular, John Keats was born in Moorgate, London, on 31 October 1795 to Thomas Keats and his wife, born Frances Jennings. There is no evidence of his exact birthplace. Although Keats and his family seem to have marked his birthday on 29 October and he was the eldest of four surviving children, his younger siblings were George, Thomas, and Frances Mary Fanny who eventually married Spanish author Valentín Llanos Gutiérrez. Another son was lost in infancy and his father first worked as a hostler at the stables attached to the Swan and Hoop Inn, an establishment he later managed, and where the growing family lived for some years. Keats believed that he was born at the inn, a birthplace of humble origins, the Globe pub now occupies the site, a few yards from the modern-day Moorgate station. He was baptised at St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate, and sent to a dame school as a child. His parents were unable to afford Eton or Harrow, so in the summer of 1803, he was sent to board at John Clarkes school in Enfield, the small school had a liberal outlook and a progressive curriculum more modern than the larger, more prestigious schools. In the family atmosphere at Clarkes, Keats developed an interest in classics and history, the headmasters son, Charles Cowden Clarke, also became an important mentor and friend, introducing Keats to Renaissance literature, including Tasso, Spenser, and Chapmans translations. The young Keats was described by his friend Edward Holmes as a character, always in extremes, given to indolence. However, at 13 he began focusing his energy on reading and study, in April 1804, when Keats was eight, his father died. The cause of death was a fracture, suffered when he fell from his horse while returning from a visit to Keats. Frances remarried two months later, but left her new husband soon afterwards, and the four went to live with their grandmother, Alice Jennings. In March 1810 when Keats was 14, his mother died of tuberculosis and she appointed two guardians, Richard Abbey and John Sandell, to take care of them. That autumn, Keats left Clarkes school to apprentice with Thomas Hammond, a surgeon and apothecary who was a neighbour, Keats lodged in the attic above the surgery at 7 Church Street until 1813
25.
William Thackeray
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William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He is known for his works, particularly Vanity Fair. Thackeray, a child, was born in Calcutta, British India. His mother, Anne Becher, was the daughter of Harriet Becher and John Harman Becher. Richmond died in 1815, which caused Anne to send her son to England in 1816, the ship on which he travelled made a short stopover at St. Helena, where the imprisoned Napoleon was pointed out to him. Once in England he was educated at schools in Southampton and Chiswick, and then at Charterhouse School, Thackeray disliked Charterhouse, and parodied it in his fiction as Slaughterhouse. Nevertheless, Thackeray was honoured in the Charterhouse Chapel with a monument after his death, Thackeray then travelled for some time on the continent, visiting Paris and Weimar, where he met Goethe. He returned to England and began to study law at the Middle Temple and he also lost a good part of his fortune in the collapse of two Indian banks. The Thackerays had three children, all girls, Anne Isabella, Jane and Harriet Marian, who married Sir Leslie Stephen, editor, Thackeray now began writing for his life, as he put it, turning to journalism in an effort to support his young family. Between 1837 and 1840 he also reviewed books for The Times and he was also a regular contributor to The Morning Chronicle and The Foreign Quarterly Review. Later, through his connection to the illustrator John Leech, he began writing for the newly created magazine Punch, in which he published The Snob Papers and this work popularised the modern meaning of the word snob. Thackeray was a regular contributor to Punch between 1843 and 1854. Tragedy struck in Thackerays personal life as his wife, Isabella, succumbed to depression after the birth of their third child, in 1840. Finding that he could get no work done at home, he spent more and more time away until September 1840, struck by guilt, he set out with his wife to Ireland. During the crossing she threw herself from a water-closet into the sea and they fled back home after a four-week battle with her mother. From November 1840 to February 1842 Isabella was in and out of professional care and she eventually deteriorated into a permanent state of detachment from reality. Isabella outlived her husband by 30 years, in the end being cared for by a family named Thompson in Leigh-on-Sea at Southend until her death in 1894, after his wifes illness Thackeray became a de facto widower, never establishing another permanent relationship. He did pursue other women, however, in particular Mrs Jane Brookfield, in 1851 Mr Brookfield barred Thackeray from further visits to or correspondence with Jane. Baxter, an American twenty years Thackerays junior whom he met during a tour in New York City in 1852
26.
The Gentleman's Magazine
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The Gentlemans Magazine was founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922 and it was the first to use the term magazine for a periodical. Samuel Johnsons first regular employment as a writer was with The Gentlemans Magazine, the original complete title was The Gentlemans Magazine, or, Traders monthly intelligencer. Caves innovation was to create a monthly digest of news and commentary on any topic the educated public might be interested in and it carried original content from a stable of regular contributors, as well as extensive quotations and extracts from other periodicals and books. Cave, who edited The Gentlemans Magazine under the pen name Sylvanus Urban, was the first to use the magazine for a periodical. Contributions to the magazine took the form of letters, addressed to Mr. Urban. The iconic illustration of St. Johns Gate on the front of each issue depicted Caves home, in effect, before the founding of The Gentlemans Magazine, there were specialized journals, but no such wide-ranging publications. Samuel Johnsons first regular employment as a writer was with The Gentlemans Magazine, during a time when parliamentary reporting was banned, Johnson regularly contributed parliamentary reports as Debates of the Senate of Magna Lilliputia. Though they reflected the positions of the participants, the words of the debates were mostly Johnsons own, the name Columbia, a poetic name for America coined by Johnson, first appears in a 1738 weekly publication of the debates of the British Parliament in the magazine. A skilled businessman, Edward Cave developed a distribution system for The Gentlemans Magazine. It was read throughout the English-speaking world and continued to flourish through the 18th century and it went into decline towards the end of the 19th century and finally ceased general publication in September 1907. However, issues consisting of four each were printed in very small editions between late 1907 and 1922 in order to keep the title formally in print. This 75-volume index gives the name and an abbreviated reference to the date, event. This index covers the years 1731–1850, the index is available at the Family History Library as FHL book 942 B2g Index and is also available on microfilm or microfiche. An abstract of the contents of The Gentleman’s Magazine from 1731 to 1868 was published by George L. Gomme in 1891. He describes it as excerpts from the publications containing local history and information, topographical details. Gommes work has been digitized and indexed by Ancestry. com and is available online to Ancestry subscribers or at subscribing libraries, a four-volume set of indexes was compiled by Samuel Ayscough with some assistance or later editing by John Nichols and by Gabriel Richard. Covering 1731–1786, and volume 4 contains an Index of Names of Persons covering 1731–1818, the indexes are by surname only and are available online for free through Google Books, Ayscough, Samuel, Nichols, John
27.
P. T. Barnum
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Phineas Taylor P. T. Barnum was an American politician, showman, and businessman remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Barnum is widely, but erroneously, credited with coining the phrase Theres a sucker born every minute, born in Bethel, Connecticut, Barnum became a small-business owner in his early twenties, and founded a weekly newspaper, before moving to New York City in 1834. Barnum used the museum as a platform to promote hoaxes and human curiosities such as the Feejee mermaid, in 1850 he promoted the American tour of singer Jenny Lind, paying her an unprecedented $1,000 a night for 150 nights. After economic reversals due to bad investments in the 1850s, and years of litigation and public humiliation, he used a lecture tour, mostly as a temperance speaker and his museum added Americas first aquarium and expanded the wax-figure department. While in New York, he converted to Universalism and was a member of the Church of the Divine Paternity, Barnum served two terms in the Connecticut legislature in 1865 as a Republican for Fairfield. It may tenant the body of a Chinaman, a Turk, elected in 1875 as Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, he worked to improve the water supply, bring gas lighting to streets, and enforce liquor and prostitution laws. Barnum was instrumental in starting Bridgeport Hospital, founded in 1878, the circus business was the source of much of his enduring fame. He established P. T. Barnums Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome, a circus, menagerie and museum of freaks. Barnum died in his sleep at home in 1891, and was buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut, the son of inn keeper, tailor and store-keeper Philo Barnum and second wife Irene Taylor. He was the great grandson of Thomas Barnum, the English immigrant ancestor of the Barnum family in North America. His maternal grandfather Phineas Taylor was a Whig, legislator, landowner, justice of the peace, and lottery schemer, Barnum was adept at arithmetic but hated physical work. He started as a store-keeper, and he learned haggling and using deception to make a sale and he was involved with the first lottery mania in the United States. At the age of 19, he married Charity Hallett, the young husband had several businesses, a general store, a book auctioning trade, real estate speculation, and a statewide lottery network. He became active in politics and advocated against blue laws promulgated by Calvinists who sought to restrict gambling. Barnum started a paper in 1829, The Herald of Freedom, in Danbury. His editorials against church elders led to libel suits and a prosecution which resulted in imprisonment for two months, but he became a champion of the movement upon his release. In 1834, when lotteries were banned in Connecticut, cutting off his income, Barnum sold his store. Joice Heth died in 1836, no more than 80 years old, Barnum improved the attraction, renamed Barnums American Museum, upgrading the building and adding exhibits, and it became a popular showplace
28.
Levi Fox
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Dr. Levi Fox OBE, DL, MA, FSA, FRHistS, FRSL, was the son of a Leicestershire smallholder. He became Archivist for the city of Coventry and then Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and was a conservationist, local historian, and author. After attending Ashby-de-la-Zouch Grammar School where he became head boy, Fox was a Bryce research student in Oriel College, Oxford and he then spent some time doing research at the University of Manchester before being appointed the first city archivist for Coventry. Declared unfit for war service, Fox was appointed Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1945, the SBT can lay claim to be the oldest conservation society in Britain. The SBT is entirely dependent on its income from visitors to the Shakespeare properties and investments, Fox worked tirelessly to further the cause of Shakespeare, served as secretary and deputy Chairman of the International Shakespeare Committee, and produced numerous books and articles. Also in 1964, he was awarded a doctorate from The George Washington University. The plaque was carved by Paul Vincze with letters by Richard James Kindersley, in retirement from the age of 75 years, as Director Emeritus of the Trust Fox continued to take great interest in its affairs. He was enthusiastic about such changes as the transition from the feel of the SBTs historic houses into more accurately exhibited. He was particularly pleased to discover in 2000 that Glebe Farm, Fox held the position of Deputy Keeper of the Records of Stratford-Upon-Avon, and from 1949–91 he was a trustee of Harvard House, home to the mother of the founder of Harvard University. Fox and his wife Jane, whom he married in 1938, had three children and he possessed entrepreneurial, organisational and communication skills and academic abilities. For example, on the night of 14 November 1940, when a German air raid destroyed much of Coventry, Fox died 3 September 2006 at the age of 92 years. Public Sculpture of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull, the death is announced of former SBT Director
29.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
30.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
31.
Shakespeare's plays
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The plays written by English poet, playwright, and actor William Shakespeare have the reputation of being among the greatest in the English language and in Western literature. Many of his plays appeared in print as a series of quartos, but approximately half of them remained unpublished until 1738, the traditional division of his plays into tragedies, comedies and histories follows the categories used in the First Folio. Previously, the most common forms of popular English theatre were the Tudor morality plays and these plays, celebrating piety generally, use personified moral attributes to urge or instruct the protagonist to choose the virtuous life over Evil. The characters and plot situations are largely symbolic rather than realistic, as a child, Shakespeare would likely have seen this type of play. The other strand of tradition was classical aesthetic theory. This theory was derived ultimately from Aristotle, in Renaissance England, however, at the universities, plays were staged in a more academic form as Roman closet dramas. These plays, usually performed in Latin, adhered to classical ideas of unity and decorum, Shakespeare would have learned this theory at grammar school, where Plautus and especially Terence were key parts of the curriculum and were taught in editions with lengthy theoretical introductions. Archaeological excavations on the foundations of the Rose and the Globe in the twentieth century showed that all London English Renaissance theatres were built around similar general plans. Despite individual differences, the theatres were three stories high, and built around an open space at the centre. The upper level behind the stage could be used as a balcony, as in Romeo and Juliet, or as a position for a character to harangue a crowd, as in Julius Caesar. Usually built of timber, lath and plaster and with thatched roofs, the theatres were vulnerable to fire. When the Globe burned down in June 1613, it was rebuilt with a tile roof, a different model was developed with the Blackfriars Theatre, which came into regular use on a long term basis in 1599. The Blackfriars was small in comparison to the theatres, and roofed rather than open to the sky. For Shakespeare as he began to write, both traditions were alive, they were, moreover, filtered through the recent success of the University Wits on the London stage. By the late 16th century, the popularity of morality and academic plays waned as the English Renaissance took hold and their plays blended the old morality drama with classical theory to produce a new secular form. The new drama combined the rhetorical complexity of the play with the bawdy energy of the moralities. However, it was ambiguous and complex in its meanings. Shakespeares Elizabethan tragedies demonstrate his independence from classical models
32.
Shakespearean tragedy
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Tragedy is the designation given to most tragedies written by playwright William Shakespeare. Shakespeares romances were written late in his career and published originally as either tragedy or comedy and they share some elements of tragedy featuring a high status central character but end happily like Shakespearean comedies. Several hundred years after Shakespeares death, scholar F. S, boas also coined a fifth category, the problem play, for plays that dont fit neatly into a single classification because of their subject matter, setting, or ending. The classifications of certain Shakespeare plays are still debated among scholars, below is the list of Shakespeares plays listed as tragedies in the First Folio, along with a date range in which each particular play is believed to have been written. Shakespeare, as was customary for other playwrights in his day, used history, other plays, in Elizabethan England there were no copyright or protections against plagiarism, so characters, plots, and even whole phrases of poetry were considered common property. The majority of Shakespeares tragedies are based on figures, with the exception of Romeo & Juliet and Othello. The story of Lear appears in Geoffrey of Monmouths Historia regium Britanniae c. 1135, tragedies from these eras traced their philosophical essence back to Senecan tragedy, grounded in noble who have a tragic flaw or commit a grave error which leads to their reversal of fortune. Revenge tragedy was also of increasing popularity in this age, Shakespeares Hamlet is one example of this, plays of this age were also decidedly secular, in contrast to the religious morality plays which by this time were outlawed by Elizabeth I. One marked difference between English renaissance tragedies and the classics that inspired them, was the use and popularity of violence and murder on stage
33.
Antony and Cleopatra
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Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was performed first circa 1607 at the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre by the Kings Men and its first appearance in print was in the Folio of 1623. The major antagonist is Octavius Caesar, one of Antonys fellow triumvirs of the Second Triumvirate, many consider Shakespeares Cleopatra, whom Antony describes as having infinite variety, as one of the most complex and fully developed female characters in the playwrights body of work. She is frequently vain and histrionic enough to provoke an audience almost to scorn, at the time, Shakespeare invests her. These contradictory features have led to famously divided critical responses and it is difficult to classify Antony and Cleopatra as belonging to a single genre. It can be described as a play, as a tragedy, as a comedy, as a romance, and according to some critics, e. g. McCarter. All one can say with certainty is that it is a Roman play, even a sequel to another of Shakespeares tragedies, Julius Caesar. Mark Antony – one of the triumvirs of the Roman Republic, along with Octavius and Lepidus – has neglected his duties after being beguiled by Egypts Queen. He ignores Romes domestic problems, including the fact that his third wife Fulvia rebelled against Octavius, Octavius calls Antony back to Rome from Alexandria to help him fight against Sextus Pompey, Menecrates, and Menas, three notorious pirates of the Mediterranean. At Alexandria, Cleopatra begs Antony not to go, and though he repeatedly affirms his deep love for her. The triumvirs meet in Rome, where Antony and Octavius put to rest, for now, Octavius general, Agrippa, suggests that Antony should marry Octaviuss sister, Octavia, in order to cement the friendly bond between the two men. Antonys lieutenant Enobarbus, though, knows that Octavia can never satisfy him after Cleopatra, a soothsayer warns Antony that he is sure to lose if he ever tries to fight Octavius. In Egypt, Cleopatra learns of Antonys marriage to Octavia and takes revenge upon the messenger that brings her the news. She grows content only when her courtiers assure her that Octavia is homely, short, low-browed, round-faced, before battle, the triumvirs parley with Sextus Pompey, and offer him a truce. He can retain Sicily and Sardinia, but he must help them rid the sea of pirates and they engage in a drunken celebration on Sextus galley, though the austere Octavius leaves early and sober from the party. Menas suggests to Sextus that he kill the three triumvirs and make himself ruler of the Roman Republic, but he refuses, finding it dishonourable, after Antony departs Rome for Athens, Octavius and Lepidus break their truce with Sextus and war against him. This is unapproved by Antony, and he is furious, Antony returns to Alexandria and crowns Cleopatra and himself as rulers of Egypt and the eastern third of the Roman Republic. He accuses Octavius of not giving him his share of Sextus lands, and is angry that Lepidus
34.
Coriolanus
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Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus, the tragedy is numbered as one of the last two tragedies written by Shakespeare, along with Antony and Cleopatra. Coriolanus is the given to a Roman general after his more than adequate military success against various uprisings challenging the government of Rome. Following this success, Coriolanus becomes active in politics and seeks political leadership and his temperament is unsuited for popular leadership and he is quickly deposed, whereupon he aligns himself to set matters straight according to his own will. The alliances he forges to accomplish his own will result in his ultimate downfall, the play opens in Rome shortly after the expulsion of the Tarquin kings. There are riots in progress, after stores of grain were withheld from ordinary citizens, the rioters are particularly angry at Caius Marcius, a brilliant Roman general whom they blame for the grain being taken away. The rioters encounter a patrician named Menenius Agrippa, as well as Caius Marcius himself, Menenius tries to calm the rioters, while Marcius is openly contemptuous, and says that the plebeians were not worthy of the grain because of their lack of military service. Two of the tribunes of Rome, Brutus and Sicinius, privately denounce Marcius and he leaves Rome after news arrives that a Volscian army is in the field. The commander of the Volscian army, Tullus Aufidius, has fought Marcius on several occasions, the Roman army is commanded by Cominius, with Marcius as his deputy. While Cominius takes his soldiers to meet Aufidius army, Marcius leads a rally against the Volscian city of Corioli, the siege of Corioli is initially unsuccessful, but Marcius is able to force open the gates of the city, and the Romans conquer it. Even though he is exhausted from the fighting, Marcius marches quickly to join Cominius, Marcius and Aufidius meet in single combat, which only ends when Aufidius own soldiers drag him away from the battle. In recognition of his courage, Cominius gives Caius Marcius the agnomen, or official nickname. When they return to Rome, Coriolanuss mother Volumnia encourages her son to run for consul, Coriolanus is hesitant to do this, but he bows to his mothers wishes. He effortlessly wins the support of the Roman Senate, and seems at first to have won over the commoners as well, however, Brutus and Sicinius scheme to undo Coriolanus and whip up another riot in opposition to his becoming consul. Faced with this opposition, Coriolanus flies into a rage and rails against the concept of popular rule and he compares allowing plebeians to have power over the patricians to allowing crows to peck the eagles. The two tribunes condemn Coriolanus as a traitor for his words, and order him to be banished, Coriolanus retorts that it is he who banishes Rome from his presence. After being exiled from Rome, Coriolanus seeks out Aufidius in the Volscian capital of Antium, moved by his plight and honoured to fight alongside the great general, Aufidius and his superiors embrace Coriolanus, and allow him to lead a new assault on Rome. Rome, in its panic, tries desperately to persuade Coriolanus to halt his crusade for vengeance, finally, Volumnia is sent to meet her son, along with Coriolanuss wife Virgilia and child, and a chaste gentlewoman Valeria
35.
Hamlet
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet, is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare at an uncertain date between 1599 and 1602. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatises the revenge Prince Hamlet is called to wreak upon his uncle, Claudius, by the ghost of Hamlets father, Claudius had murdered his own brother and seized the throne, also marrying his deceased brothers widow. It has inspired many other writers—from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Charles Dickens to James Joyce and he almost certainly wrote his version of the title role for his fellow actor, Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeares time. In the 400 years since its inception, the role has been performed by highly acclaimed actors in each successive century. Three different early versions of the play are extant, the First Quarto, the Second Quarto, each version includes lines and entire scenes missing from the others. The plays structure and depth of characterisation have inspired much critical scrutiny, the protagonist of Hamlet is Prince Hamlet of Denmark, son of the recently deceased King Hamlet, and nephew of King Claudius, his fathers brother and successor. Claudius hastily married King Hamlets widow, Gertrude, Hamlets mother, Denmark has a long-standing feud with neighboring Norway, which culminated when King Hamlet slew King Fortinbras of Norway in a battle years ago. Although Denmark defeated Norway, and the Norwegian throne fell to King Fortinbrass infirm brother, Denmark fears that an invasion led by the dead Norwegian kings son, Prince Fortinbras, is imminent. On a cold night on the ramparts of Elsinore, the Danish royal castle and they vow to tell Prince Hamlet what they have witnessed. As the court gathers the next day, while King Claudius and Queen Gertrude discuss affairs of state with their elderly adviser Polonius, after the court exits, Hamlet despairs of his fathers death and his mothers hasty remarriage. Learning of the ghost from Horatio, Hamlet resolves to see it himself, as Poloniuss son Laertes prepares to depart for a visit to France, Polonius gives him contradictory advice that culminates in the ironic maxim to thine own self be true. Poloniuss daughter, Ophelia, admits her interest in Hamlet, and that night on the rampart, the ghost appears to Hamlet, telling the prince that he was murdered by Claudius and demanding that Hamlet avenge him. Hamlet agrees and the ghost vanishes, the prince confides to Horatio and the sentries that from now on he plans to put an antic disposition on and forces them to swear to keep his plans for revenge secret. Privately, however, he remains uncertain of the ghosts reliability, soon thereafter, Ophelia rushes to her father, telling him that Hamlet arrived at her door the prior night half-undressed and behaving crazily. Polonius blames love for Hamlets madness and resolves to inform Claudius, as he enters to do so, the king and queen finish welcoming Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two student acquaintances of Hamlet, to Elsinore. The royal couple has requested that the students investigate the cause of Hamlets mood, additional news requires that Polonius wait to be heard, messengers from Norway inform Claudius that the King of Norway has rebuked Prince Fortinbras for attempting to re-fight his fathers battles. The forces that Fortinbras conscripted to march against Denmark will instead be sent against Poland, Polonius tells Claudius and Gertrude his theory regarding Hamlets behavior, and speaks to Hamlet in a hall of the castle to try to uncover more information. Hamlet feigns madness but subtly insults Polonius all the while, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive, Hamlet greets his friends warmly, but quickly discerns that they are spies
36.
Julius Caesar (play)
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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It is one of plays written by Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history. The play opens with the commoners of Rome celebrating Caesars triumphant return from defeating Pompeys sons at the battle of Munda, two tribunes, Flavius and Marrullus, discover the commoners celebrating, insult them for their change in loyalty from Pompey to Caesar, and break up the crowd. There are some made by the commoners, who insult them back. They also plan on removing all decorations from Caesars statues and ending any other festivities, in the next scene, during Caesars parade on the feast of Lupercal, a soothsayer warns Caesar to Beware the ides of March, a warning he disregards. The action then turns to the discussion between Brutus and Cassius, in this conversation, Cassius attempts to influence Brutus opinions into believing Caesar should be killed, preparing to have Brutus join his conspiracy to kill Caesar. They then hear from Casca that Mark Antony has offered Caesar the crown of Rome three times and that each time Caesar refused it, fainting after the last refusal. He compares Caesar to A serpents egg/ which hatchd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, / and kill him in the shell. Caesars assassination is one of the most famous scenes of the play, occurring in Act 3, scene 1. After ignoring the soothsayer, as well as his wifes own premonitions, the conspirators create a superficial motive for coming close enough to assassinate Caesar by means of a petition brought by Metellus Cimber, pleading on behalf of his banished brother. As Caesar, predictably, rejects the petition, Casca grazes Caesar in the back of his neck, at this point, Shakespeare makes Caesar utter the famous line Et tu, Brute. Shakespeare has him add, Then fall, Caesar, suggesting that such treachery destroyed Caesars will to live, the conspirators make clear that they committed this act for Rome, not for their own purposes, and do not attempt to flee the scene. After Caesar is killed, Brutus delivers an oration defending his actions, and for the moment, Antony, even as he states his intentions against it, rouses the mob to drive the conspirators from Rome. Amid the violence, an innocent poet, Cinna, is confused with the conspirator Lucius Cinna and is taken by the mob and that night, Caesars ghost appears to Brutus with a warning of defeat. At the battle, Cassius and Brutus, knowing that they will both die, smile their last smiles to each other and hold hands. During the battle, Cassius has his servant Pindarus kill him after hearing of the capture of his best friend, after Titinius, who was not really captured, sees Cassiuss corpse, he commits suicide. However, Brutus wins that stage of the battle—but his victory is not conclusive, with a heavy heart, Brutus battles again the next day. He loses and commits suicide by running on his own sword, there is then a small hint at the friction between Mark Antony and Octavius which characterizes another of Shakespeares Roman plays, Antony and Cleopatra. The main source of the play is Thomas Norths translation of Plutarchs Lives, Shakespeare makes Caesars triumph take place on the day of Lupercalia instead of six months earlier
37.
King Lear
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King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. The Tragedy of King Lear, a more theatrical revision, was included in the 1623 First Folio, Modern editors usually conflate the two, though some insist that each version has its own individual integrity that should be preserved. The tragedy is particularly noted for its probing observations on the nature of human suffering, george Bernard Shaw wrote, No man will ever write a better tragedy than Lear. The eldest, Goneril, speaks first, declaring her love for her father in fulsome terms, moved by her flattery Lear proceeds to grant to Goneril her share as soon as she has finished her declaration, before Regan and Cordelia have a chance to speak. He then awards to Regan her share as soon as she has spoken, in his anger he disinherits Cordelia and divides her share between Regan and Goneril. Kent objects to Lears unfair treatment of Cordelia, enraged by Kents protests, Lear then summons the Duke of Burgundy and the King of France, who have both proposed marriage to Cordelia. Learning that Cordelia has been disinherited, the Duke of Burgundy withdraws his suit, the King of France is shocked by Lears decision because up until this time Lear has only praised and favored Cordelia. Meanwhile, Gloucester has introduced his illegitimate son Edmund to Kent, Lear announces he will live alternately with Goneril and Regan, and their husbands. He reserves to himself a retinue of one hundred knights, to be supported by his daughters, Goneril and Regan speak privately, revealing that their declarations of love were fake, and that they view Lear as a foolish old man. Edmund resents his illegitimate status, and plots to dispose of his older brother Edgar. He tricks their father Gloucester with a letter, making him think Edgar plans to usurp the estate. Kent returns from exile in disguise under the name of Caius, Lear and Caius quarrel with Oswald, Gonerils steward. Lear discovers that now that Goneril has power, she no longer respects him and she orders him to behave better and reduces his retinue. Enraged, Lear departs for Regans home, Edmund learns from Curan, a courtier, that there is likely to be war between Albany and Cornwall, and that Regan and Cornwall are to arrive at Gloucesters house that evening. Taking advantage of the arrival of the duke and Regan, Edmund fakes an attack by Edgar and he disinherits Edgar and proclaims him an outlaw. Bearing Lears message to Regan, Caius meets Oswald again at Gloucesters home, quarrels with him again, when Lear arrives, he objects to the mistreatment of his messenger, but Regan is as dismissive of her father as Goneril was. Goneril arrives and supports Regans argument against him, Lear yields completely to his rage. He rushes out into a storm to rant against his ungrateful daughters, Kent later follows to protect him
38.
Macbeth
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Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I and it was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is his shortest tragedy. A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland, consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia, forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness, the events of the tragedy are usually associated with the execution of Henry Garnet for complicity in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. In the backstage world of theatre, some believe that the play is cursed, over the course of many centuries, the play has attracted some of the most renowned actors to the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It has been adapted to film, television, opera, novels, comics, the play opens amidst thunder and lightning, and the Three Witches decide that their next meeting shall be with Macbeth. Macbeth, the Kings kinsman, is praised for his bravery, in the following scene, Macbeth and Banquo discuss the weather and their victory. As they wander onto a heath, the Three Witches enter, though Banquo challenges them first, they address Macbeth, hailing him as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and that he shall be King hereafter. Macbeth appears to be stunned to silence, when Banquo asks of his own fortunes, the witches respond paradoxically, saying that he will be less than Macbeth, yet happier, less successful, yet more. He will father a line of kings though he himself will not be one, while the two men wonder at these pronouncements, the witches vanish, and another thane, Ross, arrives and informs Macbeth of his newly bestowed title, Thane of Cawdor. The first prophecy is fulfilled, and Macbeth, previously skeptical. King Duncan welcomes and praises Macbeth and Banquo, and declares that he spend the night at Macbeths castle at Inverness. Macbeth sends a message ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husbands uncertainty and wishes him to murder Duncan in order to obtain kingship. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husbands objections by challenging his manhood and he and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncans two chamberlains drunk so that they will black out, the next morning they will blame the chamberlains for the murder. They will be defenseless as they remember nothing. While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and he is so shaken that Lady Macbeth has to take charge
39.
Othello
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Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603. It is based on the story Un Capitano Moro by Cinthio, Roderigo is upset because he loves Desdemona and had asked her father for her hand in marriage. Iago hates Othello for promoting a younger man named Cassio above him, whom Iago considers less capable a soldier than himself, Iago convinces Roderigo to wake Brabantio and tell him about his daughters elopement. Meanwhile, Iago sneaks away to find Othello and warns him that Brabantio is coming for him. Brabantio, provoked by Roderigo, is enraged and will not rest until he has beheaded Othello, but he finds Othellos residence full of the Duke of Venices guards, who prevent violence. News has arrived in Venice that the Turks are going to attack Cyprus, Brabantio has no option but to accompany Othello to the Dukes residence, where he accuses Othello of seducing Desdemona by witchcraft. Othello defends himself before the Duke of Venice, Brabantios kinsmen Lodovico and Gratiano, Othello explains that Desdemona became enamoured of him for the sad and compelling stories he told of his life before Venice, not because of any witchcraft. Iago, still in the room, takes note of Brabantios remark, the party arrives in Cyprus to find that a storm has destroyed the Turkish fleet. Othello orders a celebration and leaves to consummate his marriage with Desdemona. In his absence, Iago gets Cassio drunk, and then persuades Roderigo to draw Cassio into a fight, Montano tries to calm an angry and drunk Cassio down, but end up fighting one another. Montano is injured in the fight, Othello reenters and questions the men as to what happened. Othello blames Cassio for the disturbance and strips him of his rank, Iago persuades Cassio to importune Desdemona to convince her husband to reinstate Cassio. Iago now persuades Othello to be suspicious of Cassio and Desdemona, when Desdemona drops a handkerchief, Emilia finds it, and gives it to her husband Iago, at his request, unaware of what he plans to do with it. Othello reenters and vows with Iago for the death of Desdemona and Cassio, after which he makes Iago his lieutenant. Act III, scene iii, is considered to be the point of the play as it is the scene in which Iago successfully sows the seeds of doubt in Othellos mind. Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassios lodgings, then tells Othello to watch Cassios reactions while Iago questions him. Iago goads Cassio on to talk about his affair with Bianca, a local courtesan, later, Bianca accuses Cassio of giving her a second-hand gift which he had received from another lover. Othello sees this, and Iago convinces him that Cassio received the handkerchief from Desdemona, enraged and hurt, Othello resolves to kill his wife and asks Iago to kill Cassio
40.
Romeo and Juliet
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Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeares most popular plays during his lifetime and along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays, today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. The plot is based on an Italian tale translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562, Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. The text of the first quarto version was of quality, however. Shakespeares use of his dramatic structure has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops, Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play. Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical, during the English Restoration, it was revived and heavily revised by William Davenant. David Garricks 18th-century version also modified several scenes, removing material then considered indecent, Performances in the 19th century, including Charlotte Cushmans, restored the original text and focused on greater realism. John Gielguds 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeares text and used Elizabethan costumes, the play, set in Verona, Italy, begins with a street brawl between Montague and Capulet servants who, like their masters, are sworn enemies. Prince Escalus of Verona intervenes and declares that further breach of the peace will be punishable by death, later, Count Paris talks to Capulet about marrying his daughter Juliet, but Capulet asks Paris to wait another two years and invites him to attend a planned Capulet ball. Lady Capulet and Juliets nurse try to persuade Juliet to accept Pariss courtship, meanwhile, Benvolio talks with his cousin Romeo, Montagues son, about Romeos recent depression. Benvolio discovers that it stems from unrequited infatuation for a girl named Rosaline, one of Capulets nieces, persuaded by Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo attends the ball at the Capulet house in hopes of meeting Rosaline. However, Romeo instead meets and falls in love with Juliet, Juliets cousin, Tybalt, is enraged at Romeo for sneaking into the ball but is only stopped from killing Romeo by Juliets father, who does not wish to shed blood in his house. Romeo makes himself known to her and they agree to be married, with the help of Friar Laurence, who hopes to reconcile the two families through their childrens union, they are secretly married the next day. Tybalt, meanwhile, still incensed that Romeo had sneaked into the Capulet ball, Romeo, now considering Tybalt his kinsman, refuses to fight. Mercutio is offended by Tybalts insolence, as well as Romeos vile submission, Mercutio is fatally wounded when Romeo attempts to break up the fight
41.
Timon of Athens
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Timon of Athens is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the First Folio and probably written in collaboration with another author, most likely Thomas Middleton, in about 1605–1606. It is about the fortunes of an Athenian named Timon, the central character is a well beloved citizen of Athens who through tremendous generosity spends his entire fortunes on corrupt hangers-on only interested in getting the next payout. The earliest known production of the play was in 1674, when Thomas Shadwell wrote an adaptation under the title The History of Timon of Athens, multiple other adaptations followed over the next century, by writers such as Thomas Hull, James Love and Richard Cumberland. The straight Shakespearean text was at Smock Alley in Dublin in 1761, Timon of Athens was originally grouped with the tragedies, but some scholars name it one of the problem plays. In the beginning, Timon is a wealthy and generous Athenian gentleman and he hosts a large banquet, attended by nearly all the main characters. Timon gives away money wastefully, and everyone wants to him to get more, except for Apemantus. He accepts art from Poet and Painter, and a jewel from the Jeweller, Timons servant, Lucilius, has been wooing the daughter of an old Athenian. The man is angry, but Timon pays him three talents in exchange for the couple being allowed to marry, because the happiness of his servant is worth the price, Timon is told that his friend, Ventidius, is in debtors prison. He sends money to pay Ventidiuss debt, and Ventidius is released, Timon gives a speech on the value of friendship. The guests are entertained by a masque, followed by dancing, as the party winds down, Timon continues to give things away to his friends, his horses, and other possessions. The act is divided arbitrarily into two scenes but the experimental and/or unfinished nature of the play is reflected in that it does not naturally break into a five-act structure. Now Timon has given all his wealth. Shadowing Timon is another guest at the banquet, the cynical philosopher Apemantus and he was the only guest not angling for money or possessions from Timon. Along with a Fool, he attacks Timons creditors when they show up to make their demands for immediate payment, Timon cannot pay, and sends out his servants to make requests for help from those friends he considers closest. Timons servants are turned down, one by one, by Timons false friends, elsewhere, one of Alcibiadess junior officers has reached an even further point of rage, killing a man in hot blood. Alcibiades pleads with the Senate for mercy, arguing that a crime of passion should not carry as severe a sentence as premeditated murder, the senators disagree, and, when Alcibiades persists, banish him forever. He vows revenge, with the support of his troops, the act finishes with Timon discussing with his servants the revenge he will carry out at his next banquet. Timon hosts a party, intended only for those he feels have betrayed him
42.
Titus Andronicus
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Titus Andronicus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. The play is set during the days of the Roman Empire and tells the fictional story of Titus, a general in the Roman army. The play begins shortly after the death of the Roman emperor, Titus subsequently arrives to much fanfare, bearing with him as prisoners the Queen of the Goths, her three sons, and Aaron the Moor. Despite Tamoras desperate pleas, Titus sacrifices her eldest son, Alarbus, distraught, Tamora and her two surviving sons vow to obtain revenge on Titus and his family. Meanwhile, Titus refuses the offer of the throne, arguing that he is not fit to rule and instead supporting the claim of Saturninus, Saturninus tells Titus that for his first act as emperor, he will marry Tituss daughter Lavinia. Titus agrees, although Lavinia is already betrothed to Saturninuss brother, Bassianus, Tituss sons tell Titus that Bassianus is in the right under Roman law, but Titus refuses to listen, accusing them all of treason. A scuffle breaks out, during which Titus kills his own son, Saturninus then denounces the Andronici family for their effrontery and shocks Titus by marrying Tamora. Putting into motion her plan for revenge, Tamora advises Saturninus to pardon Bassianus and the Andronici family, during a royal hunt the following day, Aaron persuades Demetrius and Chiron to kill Bassianus, so they may rape Lavinia. They do so, throwing Bassianuss body into a pit and dragging Lavinia deep into the forest before violently raping her, to keep her from revealing what has happened, they cut out her tongue and cut off her hands. Meanwhile, Aaron writes a letter, which frames Tituss sons Martius and Quintus for the murder of Bassianus. Horrified at the death of his brother, Saturninus arrests Martius and Quintus, and sentences them to death. Some time later, Marcus discovers the mutilated Lavinia and takes her to her father, who is shocked at the accusations levelled at his sons. Aaron then visits Titus and falsely tells him that Saturninus will spare Martius and Quintus if either Titus, Marcus or, Tituss remaining son, Lucius, cuts off one of their hands and sends it to him. Titus has Aaron cut off his hand and sends it to the emperor but, in return. Desperate for revenge, Titus orders Lucius to flee Rome and raise an army among their former enemy, later, Lavinia writes the names of her attackers in the dirt, using a stick held with her mouth and between her mutilated arms. Meanwhile, Tamora secretly gives birth to a child, fathered by Aaron. Aaron kills the nurse to keep the race a secret. Thereafter, Lucius, marching on Rome with an army, captures Aaron, in order to save the baby, Aaron reveals the entire revenge plot to Lucius
43.
Troilus and Cressida
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Troilus and Cressida is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeares problem plays, the play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus and Cressida. The work has in recent years stimulated exceptionally lively critical debate and this is tragedy of a special sort—the tragedy the basis of which is the impossibility of conventional tragedy. Troilus and Cressida is set during the years of the Trojan War. Essentially, two plots are followed in the play, in one, Troilus, a Trojan prince, woos Cressida, another Trojan. They have sex, professing their love, before Cressida is exchanged for a Trojan prisoner of war. As he attempts to visit her in the Greek camp, Troilus glimpses Diomedes flirting with his beloved Cressida, while this plot gives the play its name, it accounts for only a small part of the plays run time. The majority of the play revolves around the leaders of the Greek and Trojan forces, Agamemnon, Ajax is originally chosen as this combatant, but makes peace with Hector before they are able to fight. Achilles is prompted to return to only after his dear friend and possible lover. A series of skirmishes conclude the play, during which Achilles catches Hector and has the Myrmidons kill him, the conquest of Troy is left unfinished, as the Trojans learn of the death of their hero. The story was a one for dramatists in the early 17th century. Thomas Heywoods two-part play The Iron Age also depicts the Trojan war and the story of Troilus and Cressida, but it is not certain whether his or Shakespeares play was written first. In addition, Thomas Dekker and Henry Chettle wrote a play called Troilus and Cressida at around the time as Shakespeare. The play is believed to have written around 1602, shortly after the completion of Hamlet. It was published in quarto in two editions, both in 1609. No publication followed, however, until 1609, the stationers Richard Bonian,1609, and later that year issued the first quarto, but in two states. Some commentators have attempted to reconcile these contradictory claims by arguing that the play was composed originally around 1600–02, but heavily revised shortly before its 1609 printing. The play is noteworthy for its bitter and caustic nature, similar to the works that Shakespeare was writing in the 1605–08 period, King Lear, Coriolanus, in this view, the original version of the play was a more positive romantic comedy of the type Shakespeare wrote ca
44.
All's Well That Ends Well
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Alls Well That Ends Well is a play by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have written between 1604 and 1605, and was originally published in the First Folio in 1623. Helena, the ward of a French countess, is in love with the countess son Bertram. Bertram goes to Paris to replace his father as attendant to the ailing King of France. Helena, the daughter of a deceased doctor, follows Bertram. The King is sceptical, and she guarantees the cure with her life, if he dies, she will be put to death, the King is cured and Helena chooses Bertram, who rejects her, owing to her poverty and low status. The King forces him to marry her, but after the ceremony Bertram immediately goes to war in Italy without so much as a goodbye kiss and he says that he will only marry her after she has borne his child and wears his family ring. In Italy, Bertram is a warrior and also a successful seducer of local virgins. Helena follows him to Italy, befriends Diana, a virgin with whom Bertram is infatuated, Diana obtains Bertram’s ring in exchange for one of Helena’s. In this way Helena, without Bertram’s knowledge, consummates their marriage, Helena returns to the Spanish countess, who is horrified at what her son has done, and claims Helena as her child in Bertram’s place. Helena fakes her death, and Bertram, thinking he is free of her and he tries to marry a local lord’s daughter, but Diana shows up and breaks up the engagement. Helena appears and explains the ring swap, announcing that she has fulfilled Bertram’s challenge, Bertram, impressed by all she has done to win him, there is a subplot about Parolles, a disloyal associate of Bertram’s. A recurring theme throughout the play is the similarity between love and war – conquering/seducing/betraying/outmaneuvering, Bertrams father has recently died and Bertram is to be the Kings ward and attendant. Parolles, a military man and parasite on Bertram, trades wits with Helena, as they liken amorous love. Helena nearly admits her love of Bertram to Parolles before he leaves for Paris with Bertram, alone again, Helena convinces herself to strive for Bertram despite the odds, mentioning the Kings illness alongside her decision. In Paris, the King and noble lords discuss the Tuscan wars, Bertram, Parolles and Lafew arrive, and the King praises Bertrams father as more truly honorable, humble and egalitarian than the lords of his day or Bertrams. He welcomes Bertram as he would his own son, in Rousillon, the Clown asks permission to marry which he and the Countess debate. The Steward explains to the Countess that he has overheard Helena lamenting her love for Bertram despite their social difference, the Countess, with sympathy and seeing Helena as her own daughter, coaxes a confession out of her
45.
As You Like It
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As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio,1623. The plays first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility. As You Like It follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncles court, accompanied by her cousin Celia to find safety and, eventually, love, in the Forest of Arden. In the forest, they encounter a variety of memorable characters, Jaques provides a sharp contrast to the other characters in the play, always observing and disputing the hardships of life in the country. Historically, critical response has varied, with critics finding the work of lesser quality than other Shakespearean works. The play remains a favourite among audiences and has adapted for radio, film. The play is set in a duchy in France, but most of the takes place in a location called the Forest of Arden. Frederick has usurped the Duchy and exiled his brother, Duke Senior. Duke Seniors daughter, Rosalind, has permitted to remain at court because she is the closest friend and cousin of Fredericks only child. Orlando, a gentleman of the kingdom who at first sight has fallen in love with Rosalind, is forced to flee his home after being persecuted by his older brother, Oliver. Frederick becomes angry and banishes Rosalind from court, Celia and Rosalind decide to flee together accompanied by the court fool, Touchstone, with Rosalind disguised as a young man and Celia disguised as a poor lady. Ganymede and Aliena do not immediately encounter the Duke and his companions, instead, they meet Corin, an impoverished tenant, and offer to buy his masters crude cottage. Orlando and his servant Adam, meanwhile, find the Duke and his men and are living with them. Rosalind, also in love with Orlando, meets him as Ganymede, Ganymede says that he will take Rosalinds place and that he and Orlando can act out their relationship. The shepherdess, Phoebe, with whom Silvius is in love, has fallen in love with Ganymede, Touchstone, meanwhile, has fallen in love with the dull-witted shepherdess, Audrey, and tries to woo her, but eventually is forced to be married first. William, another shepherd, attempts to marry Audrey as well, but is stopped by Touchstone, finally, Silvius, Phoebe, Ganymede, and Orlando are brought together in an argument with each other over who will get whom. Ganymede says he will solve the problem, having Orlando promise to marry Rosalind, Orlando sees Oliver in the forest and rescues him from a lioness, causing Oliver to repent for mistreating Orlando. Oliver meets Aliena and falls in love with her, and they agree to marry, Jaques, ever melancholic, declines their invitation to return to the court preferring to stay in the forest and to adopt a religious life as well
46.
The Comedy of Errors
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The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeares early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns. The Comedy of Errors is one of two of Shakespeares plays to observe the Unity of Time. It has been adapted for opera, stage, screen and musical theatre numerous times worldwide, the Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, because the law forbids merchants from Syracuse to enter Ephesus, elderly Syracusian trader Egeon faces execution when he is discovered in the city. He can only escape by paying a fine of a thousand marks and he tells his sad story to Solinus, Duke of Ephesus. In his youth, Egeon married and had twin sons, on the same day, a poor woman without a job also gave birth to twin boys, and he purchased these as slaves to his sons. Soon afterwards, the made a sea voyage, and was hit by a tempest. Egeon lashed himself to the main-mast with one son and one slave, while his wife was rescued by one boat, Egeon never again saw his wife, or the children with her. Recently, his son Antipholus of Syracuse, now grown, and his son’s slave Dromio of Syracuse, when Antipholus of Syracuse did not return, Egeon set out in search of him. The Duke is moved by this story, and grants Egeon one day to pay his fine and that same day, Antipholus of Syracuse arrives in Ephesus, searching for his brother. He sends Dromio of Syracuse to deposit money at The Centaur. He is confounded when the identical Dromio of Ephesus appears almost immediately, denying any knowledge of the money and asking him home to dinner, Antipholus, thinking his servant is making insubordinate jokes, beats Dromio of Ephesus. Dromio of Ephesus returns to his mistress, Adriana, saying that her husband refused to back to his house. Adriana, concerned that her husbands eye is straying, takes this news as confirmation of her suspicions, suddenly, Adriana rushes up to Antipholus of Syracuse and begs him not to leave her. The Syracusans cannot but attribute these events to witchcraft, remarking that Ephesus is known as a warren for witches. Antipholus and Dromio go off with this woman, the one to eat dinner. Antipholus of Ephesus returns home for dinner and is enraged to find that he is refused entry to his own house by Dromio of Syracuse
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