According to the Bill Bryson biography “Shakespeare”, in Elizabethan times,

paper/parchment was expensive. This meant Shakespeare would never write his plays with no

titles or divisions into acts, scenes etc.

However, Gustav Freytag is known for his analysis of the structure of ancient Greek and

Shakespearean drama. According to Freytag, a drama is divided into five parts, or acts: Hence why all of Shakespeare’s plays are divided into

five acts.

Act 1, Scene 1: DUKE ORSINO's palace.Act 1, Scene 2: The sea-coast.Act 1, Scene 3: OLIVIA'S house.Act 1, Scene 4: DUKE ORSINO's palace.Act 1, Scene 5: OLIVIA'S house.Act 2, Scene 1: The sea-coast.Act 2, Scene 2: A street.Act 2, Scene 3: OLIVIA's house.Act 2, Scene 4: DUKE ORSINO's palace.Act 2, Scene 5: OLIVIA's garden.Act 3, Scene 1: OLIVIA's garden.Act 3, Scene 2: OLIVIA's house.Act 3, Scene 3: A street.Act 3, Scene 4: OLIVIA's garden.Act 4, Scene 1: Before OLIVIA's house.Act 4, Scene 2: OLIVIA's house.Act 4, Scene 3: OLIVIA's garden.Act 5, Scene 1: Before OLIVIA's house.

Act 1, Scene 1: A desert place.Act 1, Scene 2: A camp near Forres.Act 1, Scene 3: A heath near Forres.Act 1, Scene 4: Forres. The palace.Act 1, Scene 5: Inverness. Macbeth's castle.Act 1, Scene 6: Before Macbeth's castle.Act 1, Scene 7: Macbeth's castle.Act 2, Scene 1: Court of Macbeth's castle.Act 2, Scene 2: The same.Act 2, Scene 3: The same.Act 2, Scene 4: Outside Macbeth's castle.Act 3, Scene 1: Forres. The palace.Act 3, Scene 2: The palace.Act 3, Scene 3: A park near the palace.Act 3, Scene 4: The same. Hall in the palace.Act 3, Scene 5: A Heath.Act 3, Scene 6: Forres. The palace.Act 4, Scene 1: A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron.Act 4, Scene 2: Fife. Macduff's castle.Act 4, Scene 3: England. Before the King's palace.Act 5, Scene 1: Dunsinane. Ante-room in the castle.Act 5, Scene 2: The country near Dunsinane.Act 5, Scene 3: Dunsinane. A room in the castle.Act 5, Scene 4: Country near Birnam wood.Act 5, Scene 5: Dunsinane. Within the castle.Act 5, Scene 6: Dunsinane. Before the castle.Act 5, Scene 7: Another part of the field.Act 5, Scene 8: Another part of the field.

Act 1, Scene 1: Orchard of Oliver's house.Act 1, Scene 2: Lawn before the Duke's palace.Act 1, Scene 3: A room in the palace.Act 2, Scene 1: The Forest of Arden.Act 2, Scene 2: A room in the palace.Act 2, Scene 3: Before OLIVER'S house.Act 2, Scene 4: The Forest of Arden.Act 2, Scene 5: The Forest.Act 2, Scene 6: The forest.Act 2, Scene 7: The forest.Act 3, Scene 1: A room in the palace.Act 3, Scene 2: The forest.Act 3, Scene 3: The forest.Act 3, Scene 4: The forest.Act 3, Scene 5: Another part of the forest.Act 4, Scene 1: The forest.Act 4, Scene 2: The forest.Act 4, Scene 3: The forest.Act 5, Scene 1: The forest.Act 5, Scene 2: The forest.Act 5, Scene 3: The forest.Act 5, Scene 4: The forest.

Act 1, Scene 1: Venice. A street.Act 1, Scene 2: Another street.Act 1, Scene 3: A council-chamber.Act 2, Scene 1: A Sea-port in Cyprus. An open place near the quay.Act 2, Scene 2: A street.Act 2, Scene 3: A hall in the castle.Act 3, Scene 1: Before the castle.Act 3, Scene 2: A room in the castle.Act 3, Scene 3: The garden of the castle.Act 3, Scene 4: Before the castle.Act 4, Scene 1: Cyprus. Before the castle.Act 4, Scene 2: A room in the castle.Act 4, Scene 3: Another room In the castle.Act 5, Scene 1: Cyprus. A street.Act 5, Scene 2: A bedchamber in the castle: DESDEMONA in bed asleep;

In the exposition, the background information that is needed to properly understand the story is provided. Such information

includes the protagonist, the antagonist, the basic conflict, the setting, and so forth.

The exposition ends with the inciting moment, which is the single incident in the story’s action without which there would be no story. The inciting moment sets the remainder of the story in

motion beginning with the second act, the rising action.

Eg. In Twelth Night, setting introduced straight away, then main characters introduced – Viola, Orsino, Olivia, followed by the

small background - Orsino’s love for Olivia, Olivia’s dead brother and Viola’s family.

During rising action, the basic conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist’s attempt to reach their goal. Secondary conflicts can include adversaries of lesser importance than the story’s antagonist, who may work with the antagonist or separately, by and

for themselves.

(In Twelfth Night, increasing complications resulting from love, and mistaken identity. Viola is in love with Orsino

yet he thinks she is a man and Olivia is in love with Viola as she also thinks Viola is a man)

The third act is that of the climax, or turning point, which marks a change, for the better or the worse, in the

protagonist’s affairs. If the story is a comedy, things will have gone badly for the protagonist up to this point; now, the tide, so to speak, will turn, and things will begin to go well for him or her. If the story is a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs

will ensue, with things going from good to bad for the protagonist.

The climax of Twelfth Night occurs, according to the first definition, when Olivia claims to love Cesario (Olivia). According to the second definition, the climax occurs in the final act when twins Viola and Sebastian establish their true identities.  

Often these two are expressed similarly. During the falling action, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the

protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense,

during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt.

The comedy ends with a dénouement (a conclusion) in which the protagonist is better off than at the story’s outset. The tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is

worse off than at the beginning of the narrative.

In twelfth Night, Viola prepares to marry Orsino; Malvolio is freed and vows revenge;

everyone else goes off to celebrate

•All's Well That Ends Well•As You Like It

•The Comedy of Errors •Love's Labour's Lost •Measure for Measure

•The Merchant of Venice •The Merry Wives of Windsor •A Midsummer Night's Dream

•Much Ado about Nothing•Pericles, Prince of Tyre

•The Taming of the Shrew•The Tempest

•Twelfth Night (What You Will)•The Two Gentlemen of Verona

•Two Noble Kinsman•The Winters Tale

•King John•Richard II

•Henry IV, Part 1•Henry IV, Part 2

•Henry V•Henry VI, Part 1•Henry VI, Part 2•Henry VI, Part 3

•Richard III•Henry VIII

•Romeo and Juliet•Coriolanus

•Titus Andronicus •Timon of Athens

•Julius Caesar•Macbeth•Hamlet

•Troilus and Cresida•King Lear•Othello

•Antony and Cleopatra•Cymbeline

• Shakespeare’s Sonnets• Venus and Adonis

• The Rape of Lucrece• The Passionate Pilgrim

• The Phoenix and the Turtle• A Lovers Complaint

•Arden of Faversham•The Birth of Merlin

•Locrine•The London Prodigal

•The Puritan•The Second Maidens Tragedy

•Sir John Oldcastle•Thomas Lord Cromwell

•A Yorkshire Tragedy•Edward III

•Sir Thomas More

A great comedy of Shakespeare’s, As You Like It is a play that centers around love and life. Orlando, son of a friend of a banished duke falls in love with the

gorgeous Rosalind. The heroine Rosalind, after being banished from court by her uncle takes off to the Forest Of Arden under the guise of Ganymede. Throughout the play new friends are made, and

families are reunited. At the end, everything is set right. Rosalind and Orlando get together. Rosalind’s

father changes his ways and resumes ruling.

Othello is one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. The story revolves around the protagonist Othello, a highly

esteemed general. When Othello promotes Michael Cassio to the position of personal lieutenant, Iago his ambitious

friend gets jealous. Iago begins an evil and malicious campaign against Othello. When Othello elopes with his

lover Desdemona Iago begins fiendish plots against them. What follows is a deadly web of deceit and lies spun

cautiously together that results in the dramatic death of all the characters.

This play tracks the life of Macbeth – Thane of Cawdor. The play has several underlying messages or themes, the most prominent one being fate and ambition. In the course of the drama, Macbeth

is confronted by three witches, who make several predictions about the future, including one that states Macbeth will become

king. When the witches other prophecies come true Macbeth suspects that he may indeed become king. Overcome by ambition and greed Macbeth embarks on a dangerous path and decides to

murder Duncan in order to become king. Seconding his ever motion is his wife Lady Macbeth. As the story unfolds the murder eventually results in disastrous consequences for both Macbeth

and his wife

Some Popular Quotations

• All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one

man in his time plays many parts – As You Like It. • To be, or not to be: that is the question – Hamlet

• Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. – Julius Caesar

• If music be the food of love, play on – Twelfth Night • Out, damned spot; out, I say – Macbeth

• Be not afraid of greatness: Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon

them – Twelfth Night

Shakespeare created a large number of words and phrases that are still commonly used today. Prior to

and during Shakespeare's time, the grammar and rules of English were not fixed. Shakespeare however contributed significantly to standardise English language – the way we know it today. He also introduced several new grammar and poetry

structures.

Words coined by Shakespeare

• Advertising• assassination

• bedazzled• consanguineous

• dishearten • enmesh• eventful• eyesore

• Lack luster• moonbeam

• outbreak• quarrelsome

Shakespeare and Imagery

Shakespeare introduced to the world of literature a new and unexplored element

of poetic expression. He chose to use imagery to focus on stock metaphors, such as the “coral lips” of Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew. Over time, however, Shakespeare refined his technique to produce more complex and meaningful images that help reinforce

his plots, characters, and themes. Imagery was Shakespeare’s trademark style and was used frequently to describe and create a

mood.