Shakespeare

 

Unfortunately, I haven't read enough of The Lemon Tree to write a detailed blog on it. Therefore, I will discuss about what we had learned in English 1A. In English class we are going to read Romeo and Juliet. In order to understand the book, we had to research a little about certain topics that are present in the book. For example, I was assigned to research about the Elizabethan Era. We will also talk a lot about Shakespeare and his writing style. Most of this blog will talk about the Elizabethan Era, but I will also discuss a little on other topics.

The Elizabethan Era

In the Elizabethan Era there were two major areas that differ from today which include the politics/ social order and technologies and scientific discoveries. The Elizabethan Era lasted from 1558-1603. This period of time was also known as the Golden Age of England. During this time, the queen was regarded as God's representation on Earth and the ranks were formed to show God's blessing to each rank. In the Elizabethan Era, everybody was distributed into classes, also known as a hierarchy. The order was the monarch being the highest authority, the nobility, the gentry, the merchants, the yeomanry, and finally the laborers were last in the order. The Parliament used the rankings to regulate clothing, or what each rank wore. Therefore, the clothing worn by people told their social class. There was a law called the Sumptuary Laws that limited food, beverages, furniture, jewelry, and clothing to the people. The law also dictated what color and type of clothing each rank worn, in order to identify their social class.

Another important part of the Elizabethan Era was the scientific discoveries and the inventions. Many scientific discoveries were made in the Elizabethan Era. One was by Andreas Vesalius, who is known as the founder of modern anatomy. He dissected a human body and wrote a book on it. He also gave a detailed description of the central nervous system, which is now known as "pons Varolii". In 1580, the first person sailed around the world in three years. His name was Sir Francis Drake. Galileo Galilee invented many things including the thermoscope, hydrostatic balance, and a telescope that he began work on in 1602. Many other inventions included the graphite pencil, the modern calculator, time bomb, and the wind-powered sawmill. Lots of new discoveries and inventions were discovered in the Elizabethan Era, which currently shapes our society.

Shakespeare

Shakespeare was a great playwright, who constructed many plays including some of his famous ones, which are Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. Shakespeare was an influential playwright. Some of his influences include his timeless themes, romance, and his creation of flawed character that people could relate to. Shakespeare is well known for his tragedy. His most famous tragedies are King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Othello. Also the main character that he created was likable, despite his devilish characteristics. Shakespeare had tragedies that was centered around one character who experiences tragedy. Finally, he emphasizes on death in the plots of his plays. 

I think that Shakespeare is an amazing playwright, but he only problem with his writing is the language. If we understood that language a lot better I think that we would easily admire it. Many people say that it is very boring and that it is very hard to understand. As I stated before, his language is unlike modern English; therefore, it makes his writing harder to understand and love. I read A Midsummer Night's Dream in 8th grade. I agree that it is very hard, but I got the hang of it after a while. I think that exposure to this type of writing can help us a lot in English. I look forward to reading Romeo and Juliet and hopefully it is easy to understand. 

Click for a link of Shakespeare's works.