Forbidden Love In Shakespeare's Love By William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the village of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, was from a family of yeomen, and he gained many prestigious positions in the community. Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, was from an ancient family of landed gentry. The whole family was Anglican. Shakespeare's first exposure to the theatre probably occurred when he was young. The first written reference to Shakespeare's existence in London can be traced in1592, when Shakespeare was in his late twenties. With his two patrons, the Earl of South Hampton and Earl of Pembroke, Shakespeare established himself rapidly in the theatre, both as an actor and an author. With his popularity on the rise both as

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, for example, with its forbidden love, threatens to fall into a dark chasm of unhappiness for the characters but survives that danger amidst hilarity and joy, while Romeo and Juliet with the same theme of forbidden love seems to be developing towards a joyful conclusion but suddenly and unexpectedly falls into the deepest darkness. Much Ado About Nothing teeters on the brink of darkness but then comes out of it and proceeds towards a felicitous climax. When it comes to the two main divisions, ‘comedy’ and ‘tragedy’, there is a broad range of dramatic types in each and, whatever those two terms may mean, none of the plays fits comfortably into either of them. The Merchant of Venice, for example, traditionally a comedy, features Shylock, a tragic figure in every way, while the comic elements are only there to frame and heighten the tragic feeling. On the other hand, one of the ‘great’ tragic plays, Antony and Cleopatra, shows the ultimate genius of a mind that doesn’t respect classification boxes in that it produces a real tragic feeling from a completely comic structure. (Unknown, No Sweat Shakespeare,

There are the histories, tragedies, comedies, and tragicomedies. But among the most popular are the comedies, which are full of laughter, irony, satire, and wordplay. Comedies usually treat subjects lightly, meaning they don't treat seriously even such things as loves which are normally treated seriously. Shakespeare's comedies often use puns, metaphors, and insults to provoke "thoughtful laughter." The action is often strained by artificiality, especially elaborate and contrived endings. In his comedies disguises and mistaken identities are commonly seen. The plot is given utmost importance in Shakespeare's comedies. They are often very convoluted, twisted and confusing, and extremely hard to follow. Another characteristic of Shakespearean comedy is the themes of love and friendship, played within a courtly society. Songs often sung by a jester or a fool parallel the events of the plot. Also, foil and stock characters are often inserted into the plot. Love provides the main ingredient for the plot. If the lovers are unmarried when the play opens, they either have not met or there is some obstacle in the way of their love. Examples of the obstacles these lovers go through are familiar to every reader of Shakespeare: the slanderous tongues which nearly wreck love in Much Ado About Nothing; the father insistent upon his daughter marrying his choice, as in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; or the expulsion of the rightful Duke's