... and to create vivid dramatic situations in which to explore human motivations and behavior. His mastery of poetic language and of the techniques of drama enabled him to combine these multiple viewpoints, human motives, and actions to produce a uniquely compelling theatrical experience. sidebar GREAT WORKS OF ... of Scotland, who took England's throne as James I after Elizabeth's death in 1603. During this period England saw an outpouring of poetry and drama, led by Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and Christopher Marlowe, that remains unsurpassed in English literary history (see English Lite...

• Word Count: 7010
• Approx Pages: 28

... classic form for a Shakespearean tragedy. Act I constitutes the exposition of the play, where the audience is introduced to the time and place of the drama, to the major characters, and to the situation that will be developed in the plot. The conflict is developed through the rising action found in Acts ... in such a few days. The play is also unified in place. Although the opening chapter takes place in Venice, the real setting for the drama is Cyprus, and all the action of the play takes place on that small island within a few locations. The play is also unified by characters ... killi...

• Word Count: 4125
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: High School

Taming of the Shrew Gender Roles in The Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare's play, The Taming of the Shrew has always been an important play for those who study gender and its depiction early literature. Its heroine, Katherine, is such a strong willed and overpowering character in the beginning of the play, and when Shakespeare wrote, that was not as ... weapon and she made good use of it. The shrew's role has been described by M. C. Bradbook as " the oldest and indeed the only native comic role for women- in English drama (Wayne, Refashioning the Shrew, 161). "Yet as a literary charact...

• Word Count: 2530
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School