Man of the millennium

Hi! I am going to interview a person whose name will continue to be remembered this millennium too. Can you guess who it is?

Shalini: Hello, Sir. We are delighted to have you as the MOTM (man of the millennium).

William Shakespeare: I am glad too.

Sir, why did you choose writing as a career?

Well, I studied in Stratford-upon-Avon, a buzzing town. Popular pageants and shows, including plays like "Robin Hood And His Merry Men", fascinated me. It was one of the most exciting places to live in. Also Stratford is lush and green and rivers flow through the town. The plays that I had watched in my childhood and the natural beauty inspired me to become a playwright.

When were you first recognised as a good writer?

I became quite popular by 1952. That year, my picture appeared on a pamphlet and I was referred to as a playwright and an actor. That was a major turning point.

Apart from plays, you have also written many poems like "Venus And Adonis". Could you tell us the reason for switching over from scripting plays to poems?

Well, for sometime, the authorities in London closed public theatres and the need for new plays soon declined. So I tried my hand at poetry and it worked.

Could you tell us something about your plays?

I have written tragic, comic and historical plays. Comedies like, "The Comedy Of Errors" and "Midsummer Night's Dream" were popular. Tragedies like "King Lear" and "Macbeth" and the historical plays like "Julius Caesar" were appreciated by the common man. My villains like Lago and Shylock are as popular as heroes. I have tried to highlight various aspects of life.

You have also written many sonnets, which have become quite unpopular. What are they about?

Sonnets are poems which have 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter and in a formal arrangement of rhymes. Those days it was fashionable to write the sequences of sonnets.

Thank you, Sir. I really enjoying interviewing you. We wish you good luck. Thank you for honouring us by coming to this show.

My pleasure. Thank you.

Well, that is all folks. If you really enjoyed this and want to read more about our MOTM, please grab the book Palladis Tamia: Wit's Treasury" by Meres. So see you in a bookstore.

S. SHALINI, VIII D

Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan S S School, Chennai

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