Shakespeare Plays

Rousillon, France
Florence

Bertram, Count of Rousillo; a royal ward
Helena, a physicians daughter
King of France; Parolles

Helena loves Bertram, who leaves to attend the King. Helena goes to Paris to try to cure the King's fistula, which has resisted all cures. If she fails, she will be executed; if she succeds, she will marry any courtier, She succeeds, but Bertram spurns her unless she can obtain his ring, which she does throu a ruse.

Helena: 'Tis but the shadow of a wife you see, the name, and not the thing.

Based on tale of Bocaccio's Decameron

Egypt

Mark Antony
Cleopatra
Octavius Caesar
Enobarbus, Antony's Lieutenant
Charmian and Iras, Cleopatra's servants

Antony and Cleopatra's love affair and Roman civil war ending with Antony's defeat at Actium. Antony commits suicide and Cleapatra commits suicide with an asp.

Enobarbus: Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety
Antony: I am dying, Egypt
Cleopatra: My salad days, when I was green in judgment, cold in blood, to say as I said then!

The forest of Arden, in France

Oliver and Orlando, brother and rivals
Duke Frederick
Rosalind, his niece
Jacques, a jester

Sibling rivalry- Oliver vs. Oralndo, Duke frederick vs. his brother Duke Senior. Orlando is in exile as is Rosalind disguised as "Ganymede". All rivals are reconciled. Orlando and Rosalinfd Marry

Jaques: 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, his acts being seven ages.

Film directed by Kenneth Branagh

Ephesus

Aegon, a merchant
His twin sons both named Antipholus
Their twin servants both named Dromio

Mistaken identities among both sets of twins as Aegon tries to reunite his family separated by a storm at sea. One set from Ephesus and the other from Syracuse.

Dromio of Syracuse: Every why hath a wherefore

Derived from roman comedies by Plautus
Musical: The Boys From Syracuse
Shortest play

Rome

Caius Marcius Coriolanus, a roman soldier
Volumnia, his mother
Tullus Aufidius, leader of the Volsci
Sicinus and Brutus, two tribumes

Bracve but modest Marcius, called Coriolanus for his victory over the Volsci at Corioli, ccannot bring himself to campaigne for votes in the election for Consul; Sicinius and Brutus use this to turn the people against him. Coriolanus allies himself with Tullus. Their march on rome is halted by pleas from Volumnia. He allows himself to be killed in a conspiracy lead by Tullus who recognizes his nobility after his death.

From Plutarch's Lives

Ancient Britain and Rome

Cymbeline, King of Britain
His Queen
Imogen, his daughter
Cloten, the Queen's son
Posthumus, secrety married to Imogene

Cymbeline's wife plots against Imogen. Cymbeline banishes Posthumus who plots to kill Imogen. The Qeen instigates a Roman invasion of Britain which the brothers and Posthumus defeat. The Queen dies and all are reconciled.

Based on tale by Geoffrey of Monmouth about Cunobelinus

Elsinore Castle, Denmark

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Queen Gertrude, his mother
King Claudius, his uncle
Polonius, counselor to the king
Laertes and Ophelia, Polonius' son and daughter
Horatio, Hamlet's friend
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, vourtiers

Hamlet is visited by his father's ghost and learns Claudius murdered his father. Hamlet stages a play, "The Mousetrap". Hamlet kills polonius. Laertes plots to kill Hamlet during a fencing duel. Ophelia goes mad. Laertes and Hamlet kill each other. Hamlet kills Claudius. Gertrude poisons herself. Hamlet wills his kingdon to Fortinbras, Prince of Norway

Hamlet: Frailty thy name is woman
Polonius: To thine own self be true
Marcellus: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
Polonius: Brevity is the soul of wit
Queen Gertrude: The lady doth protest toomuch
Horatio: Goodnight sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest

Oscars by Laurence Olivier best actor and best picture

Britain

Henry IV (Bolingbroke)
Prince Hal (HenryV)
Falstaff
Owen Glendower, a rebel
Henry Percy (Hotspur)
Mistress Quickly- Hostess of the Eastcheap Inn

Henry V deposes RichardII. Hall leads a riotous life with Falstaff at the Boar's Head Tavern. Hal kills the rebellious Hotspur in battle, suceeds to the throne and dismisses Falstaff.

Falstaff: Banish plump Jack, and banissh all the world
Falstaff: We have heard the chimes at midnight
Falstaff: The better part of valor is discretion.

Movie: Orson Welles' "The Chimes at Midnight"

England and France, early 15th century

Henry V
the Dauphin of France
Charles VI of France
Montjoy, a french herald
Princess Katherine, daughter of Charles

Henry claims the throne of France and th Duphin insults him provoking a war. Henry wins the siege of Harfleur. Henry wins at Agincourt against a more numerous french army. Henry successfully woos Katherine. Falstaff dies.

Henry V: Once more into the breach
Henry V: This day is called the feast of Crispian . . .
Henry V: We few, we happy few, we band of brothers . . .

Movie: Kenneth Branagh 1989

England and France, 1422-1471

Henry VI
Joan of Arc
Margaret of Anjou, Henry's wife
Duke of York
Duke of Suffolk, his rival
York's sons: Edward IV and Richard III
Edward, Prince of Wales, his son

The War of the Roses between the House of York (White Rose) and the House of Lancaster (Red Rose) and the Hundred Years War: The Dukes of York and Suffolk, Prince Edward and Hensy VI killed. Edward IV ascends the throne.

Dick the Butcher: The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

Britain

Henry VIII
Thomas Cardinal Wolsey
Queen Katherine
Anne Boleyn
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

Henry falls in love with Anne. Wolsey is cannot support the marriage but dies before trial. Cranmer supports the King and his break with Rome.

Cardinal Wolsey: Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal I serv'd my king, he would not in mine age have left me naked to my enemies.

Last play performed at the Globe Theater before ti was burned from a stage cannon.

Ancient Rome

Julius Caesar
Casca
Brutus
Cassius
Mark Antony
Octavious

Conspirators Cassius and Brutus kill Casar on the Ides of March. Antony turns the Romans against the conspirators with his funeral oration. Antony allies with Octavious and defeats the assassins at Phillippi. Cassius and Brutus commit suicide.

Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March
Cassius: The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves
Caesar: Yond' Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous
Casca: But for my own part, it was Greek to me.
Caesar: Cowards die many times their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once
Antony: Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the dogs of war
Antony: I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.
Antony: This was the noblest Roman of them all (about Brutus)

England and France

King John
Arthur, his nephew
Constance, Arthur's mother

John seizes the throne after the death of Richard the Lionheart. John has Arthur blinded. Arthur dies while trying to escape. John is poisoned by a monk.

Ancient Britain

King Lear
His daughters, Regan, Cordelia and Goneril
The Earl of Kent
The Earl of Gloucester
Edgar, Gloucester's rightful heir
Edmund, Gloucester's bastard
Lear's Fool

Lear plans to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. Cordelia refuse to do more than offer the proper love and devotion and he exiles her and the Earl of Kent. Edmund tricks Lear into exiling Edgar. Goneril and Regan strip Lear of his remaining rights. Lear goes mad and is alone with his fool. Cordelia invades with a french army and is defeated. Goneril kills Regan and commits suicide. Edmunds treachery is revealed. Lear enters with Cordelia who Edmund had hanged and dies.

Lear: Nothing will come of nothing
Lear: How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child LEAR: I am a man more sinn'd against than sinning
Lear: Ay, every inch a king

Basis for Kurasawa's "Ran"

Athens

Timon, a wealthy man
Alcibiades, an Athenian Noble
Apemantus, a philosopher

Apemantus warns Timon he is easily flatterred. A rumor questions his wealth. His creditors demand payment and none of his former guests help. Timon decries their conduct and withdraws to a cave where he discovers a hoard of gold. He refuses to help Athens against Alcibades and dies.

Timon: The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction robs the vast sea: the moon's an errant thief, and her pale fire she snatches from the sun.

Trojan War

Troilus, a Trojan Prince
Cressida, daughter of Calchas
Aeneas and hector, Troilus' brothers
Diomedes, a Greek warrios
Calchas, a Trojan priest

Troilus and Cressida fall in love. Cressida, whose father Calchas defected to the Greeks, is exchanged for a Trojan prisoner. Troilus and Cressida exchage love tokens. Troilus sees Cressida give his toke to Diomedes. The truce ends. Achilles kills Hector.

Rewritten by Dryden

Navarre

Ferdinand, King of Navarre
The Princess of France

Ferdinand and his courtiers pledge to forgo women for three years but fall in love with the Princess.they court her secretly. The King of France dies and she must go home. The couples must separate for a year.

Costard: honorificabilitudinitas (Word only occurs once in Shakespeare's works-- Hapax legomenon
Rosaline: A jest's prosperity lies in the ear of him that hears it, never in the tongue of him that makes it.

Musical Kenneth Branagh 2000

Scotland, mid 11th century

Macbeth, Thane of Glamis
Banquo
Lady Macbeth
King Duncan
Malcolm and Donalbain, sons of Duncan
Macduff, Thane of Fife
The three witches

Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches who foretell of Macbeth's ascendence to the throne. Macbeth murders Duncan. Macbeth has Banquo murdered. Lady Macbeth is consumed by guilt, sleepwalks, dies. Macduff defeats Macbeth and Malcolm is proclaimed king.

First Witch: When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Macbeth: If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly.
Lady Macbeth: But screw your courage to the stivking place.
Macbeth: Is this a dagger which I see before me?
Three Witches: Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble
Lady Macbet: Out damned spot! out I say!
Macbeth: It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Macbet: Lay on, Macduff and damned be him that first cries hold, enough

Shortest tragedy
The Scottish Play
Throne of Blood- Kurasawa
Scotland, Pa.

Vienna

Vincentio, Duke of Vienna
Angelo, one of the Duke's deoputies
Claudio and Juliet, lovers
Isabella, Claudio's sister

Vincentio give Angelo control of Vienna. Angelo orders enforcement of a law ordering death for lovers living togetheer before marriage. Claudio is the first to be sentenced. Isableea pleads for her brother's life. Angelo offers to spare Claudio if she will become his mistress. Vincentio reappears disguised as a friar, sets everything right, and weds isabells.

Venice

Antonio, a merchant of Venice
Shylock, a Jewish moneylender
Jessica, Shylock's daughter
Portia, an heiress
Bassanio and Lorenzo, friends of Antonio

Antonio borrows money from Shylock secured by "a pound of flesh". Portia asks her suitors to choose among caskets of gold, silver and lead. Bassanio correctly chooses lead. Portia disgused as Balthazar defends Antonio against Shylock and wins. Shylock must forfeit his goods and convert. Jessica marries Lorenzo.

Launcelot Gobbo: It is a wise father that knows his own child
Portia: The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Shylock: If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

The Garter Inn

Falstaff

Falstaff courts two wealthy married women. They trick him into hiding in a laundry basket.

Pistol: Why, then the world's mine oyster

Verdi's last opera

Athens and the nearby woods

Theseus, Duke of Athens
Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons
Oberon, King of the Fairies
Titania, Queen of the Fairies
Lysander and Hermia, lovers
Demetrius, in love with Hermia, then Helena
Puck, Oberon's servant
Bottom, a weaver

hermia refuses to wed Demetrius and escapes to the woods with Lysander. Oberon anf Titania argue. Puck give a love potion to Lysander who falls in love with Helena. Oberon gives bottom the head of an ass. Puck gives love potion to Titania who falls in love with Bottom. All the couples are reunited and the tradesmen perform "Pyramus and Thisbe".

Puck: Lord, what fools these mortals be

Film with james Cagney as Bottom
Mendelssohn's Weddiing March composed for play

Messina

Don Pedro
Benedick
Beatrice
Claudio
Dogberry
Hero

Benedick and Beatrice argue then fall in love. Don John plots to defame Hero. Claudio refuses to marry her. Dogberry obtains confession of plot and Hero and Claudio are married.

Kennneth Branagh Film 1990

Venice, Cyprus

Othello: A Moor
Desdemona: His wife
Iago and Cassio: His lieutenants
Emilia: Iago's wife & Desdemona's servant

Othello in the service of Venice is sent to defend Cyprus from the Turks. Iago is passed over for promotion and plots against Othello. Desdemona drops her handkerchief which Iago uses to convince Othello his wife is unfaithful. Iago convinces Roderigo to kill Cassio. Iago stabs Roderigo. Othello smothers Desdemona. Othello commits suicide and Iago is arrested.

Iago: But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at: I am not what I am
Iago: Your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.
Iago: O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-ey'd monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on
Othello: Then, must you speak of one that lov'd not wisely but too well

Operas by Rossini and Verdi
Film: "O" 2001 set in an American highschool

Britain, late 114th century

Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Thaisa, his wife
Marina, his daughter
Gower, poet and narrator Antiochus: King of Antioch

Pericles marries Thaisa by solving a riddle. Thaisa dies giving birth to Marina but is broght back to life by a magician. Marina as sent to a brothel but remains chaste. All are reunited in the end.

Riddle reveals that Antiochus is in an incestuous relationship with his daughter.

Britain, late 14th century

Richard II
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, his uncle
Henry Bolingbroke, Gaunt's son (Henry IV)

Richard exiles Bolingbroke and confiscates Gaunt's property. Bolingbroke leads a rebellion and imprisons Richard. Boling broke becomes King Henry IV. Richard is killed at Pomfret Castle.

Richard II: This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars . . .This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England

Played a role in the Earl of Essex' failed rebellion against Elizabeth

Britain, late 15th century

Edward IV
Edward (Edward V) and Richard, his sons
Richard, Duke of Gloucester and George, Duke of Kent, King Edward's brothers
Duke of Buckingham, Richard's ally
Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond (Henry VII)

Richard plots against all between him and the throne. He has Clarence sent to the tower and orders him killed (drowned in the Malmsey butt). He is named protector of the two young princes, but usurps the thrown and has them killed in the Tower of London. Henry Tudor lands a rebel army in England and defeats him at Bosworth field. Henry becomes Henry VII ending the War of the Roses.

"Richard: Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York;
Richard: Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? Was ever woman in this humour won?
Richard: I am not in the giving vein to-day.
Richard: A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

Film: Ian McKellen set in 1930s fascist England

Verona

Romeo Montague
Juliet Capulet
Tybalt, her cousin
Mercutio, his friend
Friar Lawrence
Juliet's Nurse
Paris

Romeo falls in love with Juliet and they are secretly married by Friar Lawrence. Tybalt kills Mercutio in a duel and is slain by Romeo. Juliet fakes her death with a potion from the Friar. Romeo goes to the Capulet crypt, kills Paris and takes poison. Juliet awakes and stabs herself with Romeo's dagger.

"Prologue: Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene . . . A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life
Romeo: But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!
: Juliet: O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
Juliet O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
Juliet: Good-night, good-night! Parting is such sweet sorrow That I shall say good-night till it be morrow.
Mercutio: A plague o' both the houses!

Opera by Gounod
Film: Romeo+Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes

Padua, Verona

Katherina, the shrew
Bianca, her sister
Petruchio
Lucentio, Bianca's suitor

Bianca cannot marry before Katherina. Petruchio marries Katherina and tames her by not letting her sleep or eat and by ripping up her new clothes. Lucentio marries Bianca and Hortensio marries a rich widow. Petruchio proves that Katherine is the more obediant wife.

Petruchio: Kiss me Kate, we will be married o' Sunday
Petruchio: This is a way to kill with kindness

Musical: Kiss Me, Kate
Movie: 10 Things I Hate About You with Heath Ledger
Movie: Deliver Us From Eva 2003

An Island

Prospero, former Duke of Milan
Miranda, his daughter
Antonio, Prospero's brother and usurper of his title
Ariel, a spirit serving Prospero
Caliban, a savage and deformed slave
Ferdinand, son of the King Alonso of Naples

Prospero creates a tempest by magic which brings his enemies to him. Miranda falls in love with Ferdinand. Prospero and Ariel use magic to defeat Caliban's plots. Prospero frees Ariel and forgives Alonso and Antonio.

Ariel: Full fathom five thy father lies
Prosper: We are such stuff As dreams are made on; and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.
Miranda: O brave new world, That has such people in't!

Shakespeare's last play
Movie: Forbidden Planet

Ancient Rome

Titus Andronicus, a Roman general
Lavinia, his daughter
Tamora, Queen of the Goths
Aaron, a moor

Titus lost 21 of 25 sons in war. He returns to rome with his prisoners. Aaron chops off Titus' hand. Lavinia is raped and mutilated. Titus kills Tamora's sons and serves them to her in a pie. Many other revenge killings are done.

Demetrius: She is a woman, therefore may be woo'd; She is a woman, therefore may be won; She is Lavinia, therefore must be lov'd

Illyria

Duke Orsino
Countess Olivia
Viola and Sebastian, twins
Sir Toby Belch
Malvolio, Olivia's steward
Sir Andrew Aguecheek

Viola and Sebastian are shipwrecked and separated in Illyria. Olivia falls in nlove with Viola dresses as a man (Cesario). Viola falls in love with Duke Orsino. In the end Duke Orsino and Viola are to be married as are Toby and Maria, and Olivia and Sebastian.

Orsino: If music be the food of love, play on
Sir Toby: Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale? Malvolio: Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.

Subtitled "or what You Will"

Verona, Milan

Valentine and Proteus, two gentlemen
Silvia, beloved of Valentine
Julia, beloved of Proteus

Valentine wants Proteus to go with him to Milan, but he is love with Julia. In Milan they both fall in love with Silvia. Valentine is exiled. Valentine saves Silvia and gives her to Proteus. Proteus returns to Julia and Valentine marries Silvia.

Sicily, Bohemia

Leontes, King of Sicily
Hermione, his wife
Perdita, their daughter
Polixenes, King of Bohemia
Florizel, his son
Antigonus a Sicillian lord

Leontes suspects Hermione and Polixenes of adultery. She dies in childbirth. Antigonus secretly raises Perdita in Bohemia. She falls in love with Florizel. All are reconciled and the statue of Hermione comes back to life.

Stage direction: Exit, pursued by a bear

Athens

Palomon and Arcite, cousins
Princess Emilia

Palomon and Arcite are imprisoned by the Athenians, They both fall in love with Emilia. They fight, Arcite wins but is thrown from his horse and dies. Palomon weds Emilia.

Written by Shakespeare and John Fletcher