Task 9. Find answers to the following questions. Use the key words in brackets

1) What do we know about William Shakespeare*? (baptized in 1564, by 1592 several of his plays were performed in London)

The reconstructed Globe theatre, London

2) What don’t we know about Shakespeare?

3) What do people like Shakespeare’s plays for? (human tragedy, wit, play upon words)

4) Did Shakespeare write down his plays himself? (There was no copyright.- авторское право)

5) When and due to whom were his plays published? (John Heminges and Henry Condell,)

6) Which of Shakespeare’s plays are mentioned in the film?

Task 10. Explain the meaning of the following expressions used by Shakespeare:

In a pickle, a laughing stock, a sorry sight, in stitches, bloody minded.

Task 11. Unscramble the names of some of Shakespeare’s plays and match them up with summaries of the plot:

1) TLAMHE, 2) SPETMET, 3) HMBCAET, 4) HELOTLO, 5) MEROO NDA LUJETI

6) GNIK ELRA

a) A Moorish general of Venice, has promoted Cassio as his lieutenant; Iago, who was hoping for the promotion himself, makes plots against both Cassio and the general to exact revenge. The general has secretly married Desdemona, the beautiful daughter of Venetian senator Brabantio, and Iago determines to use Desdemona as the means of his revenge. He tricks Cassio into getting drunk, then has Roderigo—a former suitor of Desdemona whom Iago has convinced to aid him with the hope of winning Desdemona back—pick a fight with Cassio that ends in Cassio's arrest. Then Iago has Cassio visit Desdemona, saying that an appeal to her might do well to convince the general to pardon him.

Portrait of 'La Malibran' in the Role

of Desdemona

This accomplished, Iago goes straightaway to the general so that he can lead him to where Desdemona and Cassio are talking. As Iago and the general view the scene, Iago plants seeds of doubt and jealousy in Othello's mind concerning Desdemona's fidelity. The scenario Iago suggests is that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. Later, fortune literally drops Desdemona's handkerchief into Iago's hand; he plants the handkerchief in Cassio's room, and then tells the general that he saw Cassio with it. When the general asks Desdemona about the handkerchief, she tells him that it was lost (which is the truth as she knows it). Iago manipulates a conversation with Cassio about another woman to make it appear to the general—who is eavesdropping—that Cassio is talking about Desdemona.

His smoldering rage now beginning to bubble over, Othello tells Iago to kill Cassio and then angrily confronts Desdemona. In spite of Desdemona's protests of innocence (backed up by Iago's wife, Emilia), Othello is now convinced of her infidelity with Cassio. Iago, meanwhile, has Roderigo attempt to murder Cassio; when Roderigo fails to do more than wound the soldier, Iago slays him so that Roderigo can't implicate him in the affair. Othello strangles Desdemona in her bed. http://www.bardweb.net/plays/index.html

b) The main character of the play is one of King Duncan's greatest war captains. Upon returning from a battle, the main character and Banquo encounter three witches. A prophecy is given to them: the main character is hailed as Thane (правитель) of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King; Banquo is hailed as the father of kings to come. With that, the witches evaporate into the mists. Both men nervously laugh off the prophecies until Duncan informs the main character that he is to assume the traitor Cawdor's title as a reward for his service to the king. When his wife is informed of the events, she determines to push her husband's resolve in the matter—she wants him to take his fate into his own hands and make himself king. If Duncan happens to be inconveniently in the way....

The main character at first is reluctant to do harm to Duncan. However, when Duncan makes arrangements to visit the castle, the opportunity presents itself too boldly to ignore. Pressed on by his wife, they plot Duncan's death. The Lady gets Duncan's attendants drunk; the main character will slip in with his dagger, kill the king, and plant the dagger on the drunken guards. The main character in a quiet moment alone, imagines he sees a bloody dagger appear in the air; upon hearing the tolling bells, he sets to work. Immediately he feels the guilt and shame of his act, as does his wife, who nonetheless finds the inner strength to return to Duncan's chamber to plant the dagger on the attendants when the main character refuses to go back in there. When the body is discovered, the main character immediately slays the attendants—he says out of rage and grief—in order to silence them. Malcolm and Donalbain, Duncan's sons, both flee Scotland (fearful for their own lives). To everyone else, it appears that the sons have been the chief conspirators, and the main character is crowned King of Scotland, thus fulfilling the witches' prophecy. Banquo, however, has suspicions of his own based on their encounter with the witches. Macbeth knows of Banquo's suspicions and the reasons for them; he is also wary of the second prophecy concerning Banquo's offspring. As he prepares for a celebratory banquet on his coronation, he hires assassins to get rid of Banquo and Fleance, his son. Banquo is murdered that night, but Fleance escapes into the darkness. As the main character sits down to the feast, the bloody ghost of Banquo silently torments him. The main character, once a man of greatness, transforms into a man whose conscience has fled him. Upon learning of Macduff's flight, the main character exacts revenge by having Macduff's entire household butchered. Macduff grieves, but joins up with Malcolm in England to raise an army against Macbeth. Macbeth is given another prophecy by the witches as he prepares for Malcolm's assault. His throne is safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane. As the English armies approach, the main character learns that many of his lords are deserting him, and that Lady Macbeth has died. On top of this, a messenger brings news that Malcolm's army is approaching under the cover of boughs, which they have cut from the trees of Birnam Wood. Resigned now to his fate, Macbeth grimly sets to battle.

c) Prince of Denmark, has multiple woes. The ghost of his father haunts Elsinore; his uncle, Claudius, has married Queen Gertrude, his mother, and assumed the throne; and Fortinbras of Norway threatens Denmark with an invading army. When he meets the ghost, his dead father reveals that Claudius poisoned him—and the ghost demands that he exact revenge. In order to carry this out, he feigns madness; as part of his insanity, he scorns the affections of Ophelia, daughter of Polonius, to whom he had made romantic overtures. Polonius grows concerned over the apparent insanity that has beset the prince and reveals it to the King and Queen. Meanwhile, the prince struggles to convince himself that Claudius is the murderer of his father, and in an attempt to "catch the king's conscience," he convinces a traveling troupe of actors to perform a play in which the action closely resembles the events related to him by the ghost.

Ophelia by British artist Sir John Everett Millais*

While, judging the reaction of Claudius, he is convinced of the new king's guilt, he can't bring himself to slay him outright. Instead, he rebukes Gertrude with the news that she is sleeping with the killer of her husband. Unfortunately, Polonius—who is hidden behind a tapestry in the Queen's chamber, eavesdropping—panics and cries for help; the prince stabs him, thinking it is Claudius. Of course, when this news is given to Claudius, the King sends the prince to England. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two childhood friends, are to accompany him. The trick is that the prince will bear a letter to the King of England in which Claudius asks England to sentence him to death. In the midst of these events, Ophelia loses her own sanity; she is driven to madness and drowns herself in a river. Laertes, her brother, returns to Elsinore from his studies and vows his vengeance for what the prince has done to his family. Laertes and the prince confront one another. Laertes challenges the prince to a duel. This is all part of Claudius's plot; instead of dull blades, Laertes will select a sharp one. In addition, Laertes is to poison the tip of his blade so that a wound will kill the prince. And, just in case the previous measures are not enough, Claudius will keep a poisoned chalice (кубок) from which the prince will drink. The plan goes awry from the beginning; Laertes is unable to wound the prince during the first pass. Between rounds, Gertrude raises a toast to the prince with the poisoned chalice. Then, in the heat of the duel, Laertes manages to wound the prince but loses the poisoned rapier to him, and Laertes himself is poisoned as well. Gertrude swoons to her death; Laertes falls and reveals the plot against the prince, telling him he has "not a half-hour's life" in him. Enraged, the prince stabs Claudius with the poisoned foil, then makes him drink from the chalice that slew Gertrude. This done, he collapses and dies in Horatio's arms as Fortinbras enters the castle. Fortinbras is left to rule Denmark, as the entire royal family is dead, and he bids his men give the prince and the rest a proper funeral. http://www.bardweb.net/plays/index.html

d) The aging King of Britain, determines to split his domain evenly between his three daughters: Goneril, Regan, and the young Cordelia. Goneril, when asked, gushes her protestations of love for her father; Regan follows with even more flattery. Cordelia, however, is sincere in her love of the king, and she simply says she loves him the way a daughter should love her father. The king is put off by this lack of pomp and disinherits her, although the King of France says that he would be proud to marry her. When one of his lords, Kent, tries to reason with him, the king banishes him from the kingdom.

Lear is soon to find out how much love Goneril and Regan actually have for him. Both daughters treat him miserably when he stays with them, and the king is transformed from a powerful man to an impotent old man with only Kent (who has disguised himself and disobeyed the king's decree of banishment) and a Fool to accompany him. In the middle of the play, the king is driven mad by his grief at seeing the true nature of his daughters. On a lonely heath, he rages at a storm. Then they go to Dover to meet Cordelia and the French king, who has landed an army in England to come to the king's aid.

Edgar (still disguised) does not yet reveal himself but leads his father toward Dover. In the meantime, Albany, husband of Goneril, has voiced his displeasure at the treatment of the king and Gloucester. With Regan becoming a widow, and Goneril seeing her husband as a coward, both women turn their attentions to Edmund as a prospective love interest. While this intrigue is going on, the English and French armies meet on the battlefield; the English win the day. When Lear and Cordelia are taken captive, Edmund gives an order that they be hanged, unbeknownst to Albany.

Edgar encounters Edmund, and the two duel, with Edgar giving Edmund a mortal wound. Word also comes that Regan and Goneril are dead; Goneril poisoned Regan to win Edmund from her, then killed herself upon Edmund's defeat. Knowing he is about to die, Edmund repents and reveals his plots—including the impending deaths of Lear and Cordelia. His repentance will go for naught. Lear enters, bearing Cordelia's body. Overcome by his sorrow, Lear collapses and dies beside his lone loving daughter. Gloucester is dead as well, having been reconciled at the last with Edgar. Kent and Edgar depart, leaving Albany to rule Britain.. http://www.bardweb.net/plays/index.html

e) Verona is home to two feuding noble houses, the Montagues and the Capulets. In response to the constant brawling between members of these families, the Prince of Verona has issued an edict that will impose a death sentence on anyone caught dueling. Against this backdrop, young heir of the house of Montague has recently been infatuated with Rosaline, a niece of Capulet. Rosaline is quickly forgotten, however, when he and his friends disguise themselves and slip into a masque ball at Capulet's house. During the festivities, the young man catches his first glimpse of Juliet, Capulet's daughter. In one of Shakespeare's most memorable scenes, the young man steals into the garden and professes his love to Juliet, who stands above on her balcony. The two young lovers, with the aid of Friar Laurence, make plans to be married in secret.

Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, later discovers that the young Monague has attended the ball, and he sets out to teach him a lesson at the point of his sword. The young man is challenged by Tybalt, but tries to avoid a duel between them since he is now married to Juliet (making Tybalt a kinsman). Mercutio, Romeo's best friend, takes up Tybalt's challenge and is killed in the ensuing fight. Enraged, the young man slays Tybalt in turn. As a result of this bloodshed, the Prince proclaims that hero is to be banished from Verona for his actions. The Capulets, meanwhile, press for Juliet to marry Paris, a cousin to the Prince. Juliet, relying

again on Friar Laurence, devises a desperate plan to avoid her parent's wishes. She obtains a drug that will make her seem dead for forty-two hours; while she is in this state, Friar Laurence will send word to the hero of the situation so that he can rescue her from her tomb. Unfortunately, fate will not be so kind; the

letter from Friar Laurence is delayed. The hero instead hears second-hand news that Juliet has died. Grief-stricken, he purchases poison and hastens to Juliet's tomb to die at her side. Meanwhile, Friar Laurence has discovered to his horror that his letter did not arrive, and he means to take Juliet away until he can set things aright. At the tomb, the hero encounters Paris, who mourns for Juliet. He slays Paris, then enters

the tomb and downs his poison. As Friar Laurence comes upon the scene, Juliet awakens only to find the lifeless body of her beloved man laying beside her. Juliet takes the dagger from the young man's belt and

plunges it into her heart. Upon this scene, the Prince arrives—along with the Montague and Capulet parents—demanding to know what has happened. Friar Laurence relates to all the tragic tale of the secret marriage and their senseless suicides. The Montagues and Capulets, when faced with the terrible price that their feud has exacted, vow to put an end to the enmity between their two houses.

http://www.bardweb.net/plays/index.html

f) Prospero, a sorcerer and the rightful Duke of Milan, dwells on an enchanted isle with his daughter, Miranda. Twelve years earlier, the duke's brother, Antonio, and Alonso, the King of Naples, conspired to usurp his throne. They set Prospero and Miranda adrift in a boat, and they eventually found themselves marooned on the island. Prospero is served on his island by Ariel, a spirit who he freed from a tree with magic, and Caliban, son of the witch Sycorax. When magic reveals that a ship bearing his old enemies is sailing near the island, Prospero summons a storm to wreck their ship. The survivors make it to shore in scattered groups. Among these is Ferdinand, the son of Alonso. He is lulled to Prospero's abode by the singing of Ariel; there he meets Miranda, who is enthralled with the young prince. http://www.bardweb.net/plays/index.html

Task 12. Discuss what Russian writers and poets helped to form Russian national identity?

Task 13. Try to remember and name any famous translators of Shakespeare into Russian?