William shakespeare - Context

William Shakespeare (26th April 1564 - 23rd April 1604)

Facts about Shakespeare 

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon on 26th April 1546.He is considered the worlds most famous dramatists; writing over 38 plays and 154 sonnets. He most likely to have received a classical Latin education at the kings new school. Shakespeare worked as an actor, writer and co-owner of a drama company called, " The Lords chamberlain men" later known as the kings men. He was acquainted with Queen Elizabeth the first. His greatest plays consist of , Hamlet, King Lear , Othello, Macbeth and Romeo + Juliet. Shakespeare's popularity blossomed after the romantic period and Victorian period - receiving praise of the poets such as , Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Victor Hugo and Voltaire. In the introduction to the first Folio, Playwright Ben Johnson wrote a preface for him writing, (Shakespeare) is not of an age, but of all time. "Bardolatry", was a term created by George Barnard Shaw to describe anything Shakespearian during the Victorian period. 

By 1592, He received acclaim for a "jack of all trades"; he received the first literary criticism with playwright Robert Greene. Shakespeare acted in many of his plays. He was well acquainted with Queen Elizabeth. 

His plays are mainly categorised into three separate divisions;

Comedies: "much ado about nothing", " All's well ends well" 

Histories: "Henry V" , "Cleopatra"

Tragedies: "Macbeth" "Romeo and Juliet", "Othello"

Shakespeare's words

Iambic pentameter is a style of poetry that refers to the number of syllables in a line and the emphasis placed on the syllables. Shakespeare never invented this style, but he used it many times in his plays and sonnets. in poetry, two syllables together are called a foot, for example, ; The Dog in the line of poetry would be considered a foot. If in the line, "the" was unstressed but "Dog" was stressed its represented as "Da Dum", sort of flows like a heartbeat. The unstressed/stressed foot is considered to be an Iamb , which is where the term iambic Pentameter derives from. 

In poetry "meter" is referred to the pattern of syllables in a line; "Penta" means five, so five feet of iambs. in a line. For example, of Shakespeare; 

for SOFT | what LIGHT | through YON | der WIN | dow Breaks |

 da Dum  |       da Dum   |      da Dum      |    da Dum  |   da Dum  |  

I feel that now I have read the translation of my part as captain it has aided me in showing the truest performance I can do. I have gotten the gist that he is injured from the bloody broil that Macbeth succeeded in. He is giving an overview of the battle, how they couldn't tell who would win and who'd lose, as it was almost in plain sight that MacDonwald would win because of the size of his army and lady luck had been with him. but Macbeth had the upper hand, chopped his way through the army and eventually beheaded Macdonwald. 

I feel that the grittiest form of language should be most emphasised because you want to show the extent and give images to the audience that what they'd been through was a bloody battle. 

for this scene I am on the floor entirely, I should be gripping at my side to show that I'd been stabbed and attacked by the enemies. I should take my time with the delivery of the speech, to add emphasis on the fact that I'm wounded.