John Donne was born in 1572 in Bread Street, London to a wealthy Roman Catholic Family. Donne's first teachers were Jesuits, and at age 11 was entered at Hart Hall where he studied for three years. Donne began questioning his faith when his brother Henry died of fever in prison after being imprisoned for giving shelter to a proscribed Catholic priest. Donne's first book of poems, Satires,was known to be one of his most important steps in Literature. John Donne, being well- off by inheritance, spent his money on womanizing, books, and theatres. In 1601, when Donne was beginning a promising career, he secretly married seventeen year-old Anne More, daughter George More. Sir George More had Jack thrown in Fleet Prison for weeks. After being dismissed he lived in poverty and struggled to support his family. In 1607 Donne refused to take Anglican orders, but King James announced that Donne would receive no post or preferment from the King, unless in the church. He finally agreed and was appointed a Royal Chaplain later that year. In 1616, he was appointed Reader in Divinity at Lincoln's Inn. As his fortunes were improving, Anne Donne died on August 15,1616. Only seven of their children survived their mother's death, which all led to Jack Donne experiencing extreme grief. Jack Donne continued writing depressing works. He died on March 31, 1631.
information taken from :http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/donnebio.htm
picture taken from: google images
In "The Flea," by John Donne, the narrator pleads his love to save the life of something as little as a pesky flea. His reasoning is that the flea binds them together, because the flea has sucked both of their bloods, therefore inside the flea, they are combined. He pleads that killing the flea would be sacrilege, for there would be"three sins in killing three." The lover kills the flea, where she gets on her finger, " the blood of innocence." For the man, he believed the flea reflected their marriage bed, that within the flea they were married. Once she kills the flea, he asks what the fleas sin was, other than sucking their blood. She claims that neither of them are less of people for killing the flea, that they are still together, and she would not lose any more honor by "yielding" to him as when she killed the flea. Her fears have proved to be irrational.
I LOVE this movie. I watched it in higschool. I can relate so much better to this version of it, because it is reflects a better relation to the world today. The concept is the same, the boy and girl who fall in love, but who are forbidden to be together, who would rather die than be without one another. This portrayal of it was able to hold my attention, where as the old one with the older language lost me a lot of the times. It also, while being easier to understand, helped me gain a better perspective of what Romeo and Juliet was about in the first place. I love when film makers adapt older plays to modern day films. It is so much more interesting! The ending scene will be uploaded below (hopefully) so that you can better understand what I am talking about. It ends the same, however, the weapons and means of death that are used are more of what a couple in this situation may do in today's time (but hopefully no one still resorts to this)!
Hamlet is one of my favorite of Shakespeare's plays. It was just a play full of irony. King Hamlet called upon his son, Prince Hamlet, to get revenge on Claudius, his brother, for murdering him and marrying his wife. I think it is so crazy how the ending all turns out. When in the beginning it is Hamlet who is supposed to kill Claudius, the table turns and Claudius wants to kill Hamlet. They are both out to get eachother, each making mistakes. Hamlet, having killed Ophelia's father, by accident, leading to Ophelia's death, makes him a new enemy, Laertes. Claudius uses Laertes as a security for Hamlet's death. It is ironic to me, that the cup intended for Hamlet filled with poison, wound up in the hands of Gertrude, killing her. In the end, Laertes warns Hamlet of the King's plans, after both being struck by the poisoned blade. Laertes dies, leaving Hamlet and Claudius. Hamlet strikes Claudius with the blade, and forces him to drink the poison, and they both die together. It is the prime example of a tragedy. Hamlet, being a victim in so many ways. However, Hamlet got his closure, he killed the King who murdered his father, and he was alotted a burial fitted for a fallen soldier, he died in respected terms.
This picture is a scene from Hamlet, taken from google images.
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright. Although his date of birth is unknown, he was baptized on April 26, 1564 and died on April 23, 1616. He married Anne Hathaway at the age of 18 and had three children, Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith. He began a successful career in London as an actor, writer,and part-owner of a playing company called Lord Chamberlain's Men. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, and later began writing tragedies, inlcuding Hamlet and Macbeth. 
