E X T E N S I O N SHAKESPEARE AND HIS PLAYS Playwrights used plays to express their views on religion and politics as well as to entertain the public and Shakespeare was very clever at doing this without getting into trouble with the authorities for being too outspoken1. Every play which was written had to be registered. This meant that it could also be censored and, as far as we know, there were never any objections to any of Shakespeare s plays. Eighteen of his plays were published but they were unauthorized versions. Shakespeare himself never tried to publish any of them. This might seem strange but in fact it is A Midsummer s Night s Dream. easily explained because he wrote them to be performed, not read. Some of his plays can be dated by references to historical events or records of their performances. Although the language of the 16th century is not easy to understand, many English people do not realize that a lot of everyday expressions they use actually come from his plays! Language was developing in his day, so there were no strict spelling rules. He also invented many new words. He was one of the first playwrights to use blank verse2 and he broke away3 from the ancient Greek rules of theatre known as the three unities of time, place and action. His earliest plays were the three parts of Henry VI, Titus Andronicus, and Love s Labour s Lost. Before the turn of the century, he had written The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer s Night s Dream, while his later ones were Othello, King Lear, The Tempest and The Two Noble Kinsmen. The demand for new plays was continuous and sometimes actors had to learn and remember the lines of several plays at the same time! 1. outspoken: saying exactly what you think, whatever the consequences. 2. blank verse: poetry which has a regular rhythm but does not rhyme. 3. broke (break-broke-broken) away: left, went away from. 54