World Book Day falls on April 23rd every year, but do you know that it is also Shakespeare Day? Everybody may have heard of Shakespeare, but do you know how many plays he wrote?
Shakespeare's plays have three kinds: tragedies, comedies and histories. His most famous play is the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, which deals with two young lovers who are not allowed to marry by their parents. Other tragedies include Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth.
Shakespeare's comedies include Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is a play about unclear identities. Two twins are shipwrecked (遭海难) and the sister, Viola, dresses up as her brother, Sebastian, who she thinks is dead. It's funny, because the brother reappears and there's a big love problem going on: Viola is in love with the Duke, who is in love with Olivia, who falls in love with Sebastian except that she doesn't realize that Sebastian is actually Viola dressed up!
Everybody falls in love with the wrong person, but it is all made right in the end.
Some of his history plays, such as Antony and Cleopatra, Richard III and Henry V, are based on the lives of real historical people. In Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra becomes Antony's girlfriend and Antony becomes so crazy about her that he loses control of the army. Cleopatra kills herself in the end and Antony kills himself too.
Shakespeare's plays can be very difficult sometimes. Some of the themes they deal with are heavy, so they almost always include a lighter subplot with characters that are not so important. They are often used in tragedies to lighten the mood of the play and to keep the audience interested in the main plot.
