Shakespeare: Must read plays

William Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright in the world & also believed to be the most excellent writer in the English language. He wrote a total of 37 plays in his lifetime. His plays are divided to be written in 4 periods according to the maturation and experiences in the poet's personal life. 

1. Period of Early Experimentation: Titus Andronicus, Henry VI(three parts), Love's Labour's Lost, The Comedy of Errors, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Richard III, Richard II, King John.

2. Period of Rapid Growth and Development: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Henry V.

3. Period of Gloom and Depression: Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Timon of Athens.

4. Period of Restored Serenity/ Late Experimentation: Coriolanus, Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, Henry VIII.

Here's a list of significant plays that are sufficient to know about real life and the mind of Shakespeare. However, in the case of Shakespeare 'more is always less'!

1. The Comedy of Errors

2. Two Gentlemen of Verona

3. Romeo and Juliet

4. Much Ado About Nothing

5. Twelfth Night

6. Julius Caesar

7. Hamlet

8. Macbeth

9. The Tempest

References: English Literature - Its history & significance for the life of the English-speaking world by WJ Long.

Book Review: Riders to the Sea (Play)

Riders to the sea is a one-act tragedy penned down by the renowned Irish playwright, John Millington Synge which was published in 1903 and first performed in 1904. The play is set on the Aran Islands. It is acknowledged as Synge's one of the greatest achievement and a true tragedy.

The chief characters are Maurya, Bartley, Michael, Cathleen and Nora. The play revolves around Maurya who is a grief-stricken old woman. She has lost her husband, father-in-law and four sons to the sea in the past. A chain of circumstances leads to additional catastrophe for the old woman. Presently, her fifth son, Michael has drowned in the sea and she hopes for his body to be washed ashore. Later the day, her youngest son, Bartley enters preparing for a journey by the sea to the Galway fair. Despite the dissuades of his mother, he sets off. Then takes place the most heart-wrenching incident and the old woman loses her last son, Bartley.

Themes of nature, death, fate, power of the sea, the uncertainty of life etc can be noticed in the play. The sea, one of the central themes of the play, is the basis of life and at the very moment the desecrator of life along with being an agent of destiny. 

Synge has the proficiency to transform the regional and naturalistic into illustrated symbols of the universal and the intangible. He presents fate as wholly responsible for the tragedy. The tragic atmosphere is built up in the very beginning by the setting of the play in the foremost few conversations. The readers get the idea that Michael is dead and Bartley is ill-fated. 

The events move headlong towards the final catastrophe. The attention of the readers is drawn to the whiteboards which are kept against the wall which reveal that there has been a death in the family lately. Noora and Catherine the sisters, discuss the clothes of the man who drowned nine days ago to be their brother which builds up the anguished atmosphere of the play. The dreadful situations and the fright full sites seen by Maurya fill the readers with empathy and fear and the hearts of the readers are sorrowful. Maurya's family seems underneath the verdict of death. The play gives a strong message that human beings are mere puppets in the hands of the mighty strength of nature. Man battles constantly but is helpless against the supernatural forces of nature.

The actions have been organised in such a way that the climax emerges logically at the end of the play and does not shock or stun the audience. The tragic atmosphere in the play is constant and through different dialogues and hints, readers have a prepared intellect for another premature demise in the family. Thus, the play flourishes in awakening in us intense feelings of sympathy and fear that are intensified by the influential use of metaphysical and supernatural elements.

And one day she stopped writing!

On the sidewalk, she sat forlorn

No inkling of why the pen was withdrawn.

Ceasing seconds before being born

& to a standstill from dusk to dawn.

Striding on to conceal & heal

Is what poetry made her feel.

After all the arduous work, phrases do fail

In withstanding the test as times prevail

Accepting all the consideration

& assessing oneself for self-interpretation.

From all the battles she had ever won

Far away from where it had all begun.

The fire inside stopped igniting

& one day she stopped writing!

For Once

Another day passes along

the worldly affairs rambling on;

Profound in my core prevails a hustle 

Comprehending not where I belong.

Certainly, arduous concealing it all within

& reminiscing days with no concerns; 

Anyhow, hard hits the reality

with constant being hesitation. 

Peek into that deepest corner of my heart

Whither fibs me desolate & solitary;

Wondering how no one ever reached–

the fraction wholly unmilitary! 

Solely bestowing you access;

to strive in & feel my distress.

For once...

वैसी बारिश अब नहीं होती

वैसी बारिश अब नहीं होती। 

जिसकी पहली बूंद पर मन महक उठता था

और उसका ख़्याल महज़ गुदगुदी दे जाता था

रूह थी ख़ुशगवार।

जानबूझकर भीगा करते थे 

फिर चाहे सर्द रातें क्यों न हों।

साफ चाहत, सुर्ख़ दिल और ये नीला आसमान 

एक और बौछार

फिर उसके आने का इंतजार।

फूलों की बरसात सी होती थी 

मिज़ाज़ बन सा जाता था।

हर कतरे के साथ उसका ख़्याल 

मेरे अल्फ़ाज़ों को संगीत देता था।

तेज़ ठंडी हवाएँ 

अंदर कुछ कशमकश 

फिर एक मौसम और बीत जाता था। 

वैसी बारिश अब नहीं होती। 

How I felt between...

Showing delicate contentment

& being immensely shattered within. 

Applauding for everyone

& longing myself. 

Joking around 

& wailing all alone myself. 

Participating in every major battle

& all defeated by myself. 

Comforting every way I could

& miserable by myself. 

Giving all that I have

& left empty inside. 

Calming each who sobbed

& weeping myself. 

The irony being these assumed lines

& all this being the certainty by itself.

By the lake

Deeply observing the lake

heedless I lay.

the cool showers of rain

soothing the heat strokes of may.

boats floating like leaves

silent & subtle.

And fishes splashing

formulating ample bubbles.

Subsequently swirling the whole spot 

my psyche comes to a halt,

Yet thunderstorms inside

do not tend to stop.

Serving the creamiest latte

off the shore is a cafe,

A part of me intends to flee for it

But the other one aspires to stay.