It is a too short piece to write about Shakespeare. Shakespeare is the brightest star of English literature. He is the Bard on Avon because he was born in a village which was located on the bank of the river Avon. He was a poet dramatist. He had written 39 plays and 154 Sonnets.
Shakespeare wrote most of his plays between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and Histories. His tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth etc. He wrote tragicomedies also like The winter’s Tale and the Tempest.
The fame of Shakespeare is remarkable .Ben Jonson said-Shakespeare was not of an age but for all time. More remarkable is his insight. Prof David Daichess said-Shakespeare had the profound knowledge of the human heart. At that time there was ho discipline of psychology. But Shakespeare was a natural psychologist. He had penetrated into the minds of his characters. Human behaviour is so complex that it escapes our understanding. But Shakespeare understood it. This is the uniqueness of the Bard on Avon. He is the most quotable of authors. Some of his lines are given below-
1. To be or not to be, this is the question.(Hamlet)
2. 2. Every third thought shall be my grave. (Tempest)
3. 3. The syntax is the syntax of thought, rather than of language. (Tempest)
4. Life is a tale
Told by an idiot
Full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing (Macbeth)
5. Brevity is the soul of wisdom.
6. Mine honour is my life (king John)
7. Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well. (hamlet)
Shakespeare was a dramatic genius. He dramatised stories from sources such as Plutarch and Holinshed. But his presentation was his own. His intuition and imagination made ..him great. We got splendid and accurate picture of human society from him. Even a hermit in the forest will get a clear picture of human society.
Many call him a romantic writer. His free play of imagination made him so. His play ‘As you like it’ is a brilliant example of this. What is the meaning of this title? The meaning is-what is wisdom and what is folly, it is never decided, you may have it As you like it.In the play- A Midsummer’s Night dream-Somewhere he said-I can write a play within ten words. We do not know whether he wrote such play or not. But he was capable. Mathew Arnold rightly said
Others abide by our question
Thou are free.
(we can question other writers, but we cannot question you)
The intuition of Shakespeare was outstanding. One example will suffice to it.
Once a man was going through the forest. On the way he was caught by Dacoits. They said, give all the things you have, otherwise we will Kill You. The man said – I have nothing, I have only my fortune. If you can, take it. We can imagine the intuition of Shakespeare. He was a genius. Before the discipline of psychology came he was a psychologist. Before romanticism came, He was a romantic. And what not.
The only thing he was lacking is the moral purpose. Dr. Johnson said-Shakespeare seems to write without any moral purpose. Johnson is right. Shakespeare wrote about human society as it is. He did not bother to correct the society. We should not forget that Nobody is infallible. Everybody has his/her limitations.
But Shakespeare is Shakespeare. In the sea of English literature, he was the highest tide. If we want to surpass it we have to change the moon and the sea and even the earth.
(The views expressed are the writer’s own.)
Radhakanta Seth is a Former Income tax officer in Sambalpur. He is a Freelance writer and his articles have been published in some Oriya dailies like Sambad, Samaj, Dharitri and English dailies like The Telegraph and in a sociological journal ‘Folklore’ published from Kolkata.