The Chinese University of Hong Kong

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The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shakespeare Festival
Tuesday, 23rd of May, 2006
230p.m. to 430p.m.
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William Shakespeare
Surprisingly for the world's greatest playwright,
we actually know very little about Shakespeare's
life. What few details we have come from church
records, land titles and the written opinions of
others. Very little is known about young
Shakespeare. We know that Shakespeare was
baptized on April 26, 1564 and it is assumed that
he was born on April 23, 1564. We also know that
in 1582 at age eighteen, Shakespeare married Anne
Hathaway, an older women who was twenty six at
the time. Shakespeare left Stratford for London
to make his fortune roughly fours years later.
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Shakespeare wrote
37 Plays
154 Poems
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We Will See Four Plays

• A Midsummer Nights Dream
• King Lear
• Measure for Measure
• The Winters Tale

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A Review of Shakespeares Plays
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Romeo and Juliet
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Two families (The Montagues and the Capulets)
hate each other
Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love,
but cant be together, so they marry secretly
Romeos best friend Mercutio is killed by
Juliets cousin Tybalt
Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished
My only love sprung from my only hate
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Juliets family do not know about the marriage
and they have promised her hand to Paris
Juliet drinks a poison and pretends to be dead,
but Romeo is not told about the plan
When Romeo hears that Juliet is dead, he rushes
back to her, lays next to her and kills himself
My only love sprung from my only hate
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Juliet wakes up and finds Romeo dead next to her
Juliet kills herself with his knife
The only way they can be together is in death
The two families realise that their fighting has
killed their only children and so the fighting
stops
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http//www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2368926?htv12
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Lysander loves Hermia, and Hermia loves Lysander.
Helena loves Demetrius Demetrius used to love
Helena but now loves Hermia. Egeus, Hermia's
father, prefers Demetrius as a suitor, and
enlists the aid of Theseus, the Duke of Athens,
to enforce his wishes upon his daughter.
According to Athenian law, Hermia is given four
days to choose between Demetrius, life in a
nunnery, or a death sentence. Hermia, ever
defiant, chooses to escape with Lysander into the
surrounding forest. Complications arise in the
forest. Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of
Fairies, are locked in a dispute over a boy whom
Titania has adopted. Oberon instructs his servant
Puck to bring him magic love drops, which Oberon
will sprinkle in the Queen's eyes as she sleeps,
whereupon Titania will fall in love with the
first creature she sees upon awakening.
Meanwhile, Helena and Demetrius have also fled
into the woods after Lysander and Hermia. Oberon,
overhearing Demetrius's denouncement of Helena,
takes pity upon her and tells Puck to place the
magic drops on the eyes of Demetrius as well, so
that Demetrius may fall in love with Helena.
Puck, however, makes the mistake of putting the
drops in the eyes of Lysander instead. Helena
stumbles over Lysander in the forest, and the
spell is cast Lysander now desires Helena and
renounces a stunned Hermia.
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http//videodetective.com/home.asp?PublishedID513
302
http//www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/midsummerni
ghtsdream/episode.shtml
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The play opens with King Lear deciding how to
retire his throne. He decides to divide his land
up among his three daughters. Whichever daughter
can lavish him with the most praise and prove
they love him most, will get the best land. Regan
and Goneril are the first to profess their love
to their father. Lear is gratified and grants
each a healthy portion of land. He saves the
last, but best portion of land for his youngest
and favorite daughter, Cordelia. Cordelia,
unfortunately, is unwilling to lie to her father.
She will not allow herself to behave in the way
her sisters did. She simply states that she loves
Lear as much as any daughter should, no more, no
less.
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The furious Lear attempts to persuade Cordelia to
reconsider her answer, but after unsuccessfully
doing so, rashly decides to bestow no land on her
and essentially banishes her from his site. One
of Cordelia's suitors, The Duke of Burgundy,
loses all interest in the powerless daughter. The
King of France recognizes Cordelia's virtues and
takes her even without any land. The loyal Kent
attempts to change Lear's mind with blunt
honesty, but is banished for contradicting Lear's
proclamation. Lear is going to live with his
eldest daughters, yet still keep the title
"King." Secretly, Goneril and Regan conspire to
not allow Lear to exert his title over anything.
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http//www.pbs.org/shakespeare/works/work186.html

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(No Transcript)
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The Duke of Vienna proposes to tighten laws
against sex outside marriage. He entrusts this
task to his deputy. Isabella joins an order of
nuns which has a prohibition against speaking to
men. Isabella's brother is caught for having
illicit sex and sentenced to be executed.
Isabella pleads with the Duke's deputy for
leniency. The deputy tries to seduce Isabella. In
the end everyone is paired off in marriage. The
play demonstrates that judges have the same
frailties as those they judge.
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King Leontes of Sicilia has falsely accused his
wife Hermione of bearing an illegitimate child
fathered by his friend Polixenes. He has ordered
his courtier, Antigonus, to abandon the infant on
a foreign shore. Antigonus reluctantly complies
in order to save the baby, named Perdita, from
being murdered by its jealous father. A storm
brews as Antigonus bids farewell to the child,
and he exits "pursued by a bear." An old peasant
enters in search of sheep lost by his adolescent
son. He discovers the baby and decides to rescue
it. The son arrives after having seen Antigonus
devoured by the bear and his ship sunk in the
storm. The two discover that a cache of gold has
been left with the baby for them.
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http//www.pbs.org/shakespeare/works/work183.html