GCSE English Literature and GCSE English Revision:How to write about Shakespeare’s plays

This article focuses on how to write about Shakespeare’s plays, as part of our series of articles on learning techniques, revision and preparation for GCSE English Literature and GCSE English examinations.

How to write about Shakespeare’s plays

Let the teacher/examiner assessing your written (or spoken) work see that you know that a play is drama. It happens in performance in a theater (or, today, in a feature film or TV or radio broadcast). It is not a book and there are no readers. You may have used a book containing the characters’ lines, some basic stage directions and lots of notes to help you study the play. But this is not what Shakespeare intended for his audience.

Show that you understand the difference between (fictional) characters in the play, and the (real) actors who play the parts. And don’t call the play a “film” or a “book”.

Extract from Teachkit.

We hope this article helps with your GCSE English Literature revision. Be sure to check out the LearnThruMusic Shakespeare learning songs.

GCSE English LearnThruMusic covers the following work by Shakespeare:

Othello
Romeo & Juliet
Merchant of Venice
Macbeth

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