VII. Read the titles of Shakespeare’s plays and give their Russian translations.

Romeo and Juliet The Comedy of Errors Hamlet Othello Henry IV Julius Caesar The Taming of the Shrew

King Lear Macbeth Much Ado About Nothing Twelfth Night Richard III The Tempest

VIII. Read the text about William Shakespeare and say what new have you learnt.

William Shakespeare, the greatest and most famous of English writers, and probably the greatest playwright who has ever lived, was born on the 23^rd of April, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon.

In spite of his fame we know very little about his life. At the age of six he was sent to school, but had to leave it at the age of 13. His father, John Shakespeare, was a glove-maker, and when he fell into debt, William had to help him in the trade.

Just what William did between his fourteenth and eighteenth year isn’t known. At the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. Ann was eight years older than her husband and the marriage wasn’t a happy one. When Shakespeare was twenty-one, he went to London.

There is a story that Shakespeare’s first job in London was holding rich men’s horses at the theatre door. But nobody can be sure that this story is true.

Later, Shakespeare became an actor and a member of a very successful acting company. It’s highly probable that The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet and some other plays by Shakespeare were performed for the first time on this stage.

Very soon, however, the actors were told that they could no longer use the land that their theatre was built on and the company had nowhere else to perform. There is a story that in the dead of night the whole acting troop took down their theatre, timber by timber, brick by brick. They carried it across the river and rebuilt it. The new theatre was called the Globe.

Shakespeare’s Globe was rather different from modern theatres. The plays were performed in the open air and the audience got wet if it rained. There was no scenery, very few props, and the only lighting was the daylight that came from the open roof above. Women in those days weren’t allowed to act in public and all the parts (even Juliet!) were played by men. Much of the audience stood to watch the performance and moved around, talking with each other and throwing fruit at the stage if they didn’t like something.

Shakespeare wrote 37 plays: 10 tragedies (such as Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth), 17 comedies (such as As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing), 10 historical plays (such as Henry IV, Richard III.). He also left 7 books of poems.

Most of Shakespeare’s plays were not published in his lifetime. So some of them may have been lost in the fire when the Globe burnt down in 1613.

Shakespeare spent the last years of his life at Stratford, where he died, ironically, on the same date as his birthday, the 23d of April, 1616. He was buried in the church of Stratford. A monument was erected to the memory of the great playwright in the Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey. In 1997 Shakespeare’s Globe was restored.

IX. Read the statements and say whether they are true or false. Make use of different ways of agreement and disagreement.

1. W. Shakespeare lived in Stratford-on-Avon until he was twenty.

2. His first job in London was holding rich men’s horses at the theatre

door.

3. Shakespeare’s Globe was similar to modern theatres.

4. The Globe burnt down in 1613.

5. The theatre was restored in 1897.

6. Shakespeare wrote 47 plays.

7. The writer died on the same date as his birthday.

X. Give antonyms (from the text) for the following words.

to be similar to – to die – much – to be prosperous –

poor – in the morning – women – to be destroyed –

that…

XI. Read one of Shakespeare’s best sonnets.

1. Try to translate it into Russian.

Sonnet 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she believed with false compare.

b) Read the translations done by S. Marshak and O. Bedniy-Gorckiy and compare their translations with yours.

Сонет 130

Её глазенки тлеют угольками,

Среди ресниц, белесых как зола,

Коралл не делит цвет с её устами,

Так чем завлечь меня она смогла?

Со свёклою, не то, что с алой розой,

Я не сравню оттенка блеклых щёк,

А тело пахнет даже не мимозой…

И как я полюбить такую смог?

В ней совершенны линии не слишком,

А лобик узкий мысль наморщит вряд,

Ни красотой не вышла ни умишком,

И никакой ей не к лицу наряд…

И все ж богиням не сравниться с нею,

Я плохонькой любим, зато – своею!

(О. Бедный-Горький)

**********

Ее глаза на звезды не похожи,

Нельзя уста кораллами назвать,

Не белоснежна плеч открытых кожа,

И черной проволокой вьется прядь.

С дамасской розой, алой или белой,

Нельзя сравнить оттенок этих щек.

А тело пахнет так, как пахнет тело,

Не как фиалки нежный лепесток.

Ты не найдешь в ней совершенных линий,

Особенного света на челе.

Не знаю я, как шествуют богини,

Но милая ступает по земле.

И все ж она уступит тем едва ли,

Кого в сравненьях пышных оболгали.

(С.Я. Маршак)