William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare, the playwright, had a life of virtual mystery, intrigue and relative sadness. Shakespeare grew up in a modest upbringing and was known to have only completed elementary school. Though he did not attend college, he would end up as one of histories greatest literary success stories. The mysteries surrounding the life of William Shakespeare are perpetuated with the reference to the lost years'; two distinct periods of time from 1578-1582 and 1585-1592, where Shakespeare seemed to have fallen off the face of the plant. I will discuss the town where Shakespeare hales from, excerpts from his works and not commonly discussed information. Followed by a summary of my research.
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Instead, baptismal records reveal that a child of this same name, from the same town, was born on the 23rd of April in the year 1564. It is believed this is the only documented record of William Shakespeare's birth. In the year 1582, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway and within one year had his daughter, Susanna. Two years later Anne bore twins, daughter Judith and son, Hamnet.
Shakespeare was unknown for many years, until in Robert Greene, a very popular dramatist of the era, wrote in his biography entitled "Groats-worth of Witte," of Shakespeare's conceitedness and lack of talent.
"
for there is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers hart wrapt in a Players hyde, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you: and beeing an absolute
Johannes fac totum, is in his owne conceit the onely Shake-scene in a countrey
"
Greene's inclusion of Shakespeare in his biography seemed to be the catalyst to the remarkable career of William Shakespeare, as within a year of Greene's mentioning of Shakespeare in his biography, he [William Shakespeare] published Venus and Adonis'. Venus and Adonis' is the stereotypical romance story, but of the day were insightful and was a true display of genius. Venus, a hopeless romantic, falls in love with Adonis, the prototypical athletic, very masculine type. "Hunting he loved, but love he laugh'd to scorn" refers to Adonis avoidance of
He first began writing comedies such as The Taming of the Shrew and , which garnered early success and popularity for him, so much so that rival playwrights began furiously criticizing Shakespeare in jealousy. In 1592, Robert Greene wrote on his deathbed that Shakespeare was “an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you.” Ironically, the records of these criticisms are the only evidence that we have of Shakespeare’s popularity in the early
At 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, a 26 year old woman from a neighboring town. When they wed Anne was three months pregnant. They had their first child, Susanna was born in 1583. Anne and William also had twins, Hamnet and Judith in 1585. The "lost years" of Shakespeare's life took place in the following 7 years. There are no clear records of what took place in his life during these years. Many theorys have been made but none confirmed. It is generally accepted that Shakespeare arrived in London in the late 1580s.
Among writers and historians, the lack of historical evidence about the life of William Shakespeare has been the main cause of much controversy. Many people doubt that if he was the author of such shocking and transcendental pieces of literature. As a result, the uncertainty that surrounds the authenticity of his persona has increased. Since his childhood, there is no record of Shakespeare attending primary or even university studies. Compared with many other poets and writers his literary training was scarce and his social position was not very favorable to access some kind of help. Many people tend to argue that a man with such a low academic level would be able to possess the rigorous legal, historical and mathematical knowledge that is
The large body of work attributed to William Shakespeare shows education, experience, creativity, and wisdom far beyond what many people are willing to accept came from a single author. Due to the scarcity of facts surrounding Shakespeare’s life, speculation arouse about whether or not he actually wrote his works became more common. In the mid-1800s ideas about other authors were brought forward. However, these theories have little sustenance, and it is likely that the entire body of work attributed to Shakespeare in fact belonged to Shakespeare himself.
Shakespeare’s dramas deal with timeless themes such as e.g. love and hate, life and death, in a fairytale-y way, with a pinch of intricate entanglements, in such a way that makes the classical Greek love triangle seem trite. The language in the 400-year-old text is at once lyrical and hard-hitting, providing with a liveliness that still affects the present day reader. Shakespeare’s significance in the history of literature is invaluable, and his style has influenced authors since the 1600s. Not only has his works been a source of inspiration
The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) wants to give their audience the experience and pleasure of what it would have been like to be a playgoer in the Elizabethan era. In order to keep the plays feeling authentic, they consider many aspects such as costuming, music, and having small acting troupes. One of the most important things they do to remain true is they “do it with the lights on,” meaning they have universal lighting just as the Elizabethan theaters would have had. With universal lighting, the audience can see the actors and the actors can see the audience and play their roles to fit the behavior of the audience. In the ASC’s production of Henry V, they used this to their advantage by handing out props to the audience, using the audience as a prop and even having us be extras for their play. By constantly interacting with different members in the
His Tragedies include: Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Timon of Athens, Titus Andronicus (Mabillard). Williams Histories include: 1, 2, and 3 Henry VI, 1 and 2 Henry IV, King John, Henry V, Henry VIII, Richard II, Richard III (Mabillard). Shakespeare moved to London England to pursue his career in playwriting and acting. During the time Shakespeare moved to London, it was having a Renaissance (Scmoop Editorial Team). London at the time wasn't exactly a place you would want to move to though; it was a very nasty and unclean place. A few years after William moved there the Bubonic Plague came through and shut down most of London's theatres (Scmoop Editorial Team). During the time the theatres were closed Shakespeare wrote two poems, "Venus and Adonis", and "The rape of Lucrece" (Scmoop Editorial Team). In 1954 the London theatre finally opened back up for business, and William bought part of one, which later became the favorite theatre of Queen Elizabeth. Shakespeare was in a group called "The Chamberlains Men", which had the chance to perform for the Queen (Scmoop Editorial Team). In 1599 the Globe theatre was built which was where many of Shakespeare's plays
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died on april 23, 1616. His parents was John shakespeare and Mary Arden. John shakespeare had many different jobs like selling leather goods, wool, malt and corn. In 1556 He was appointed the borough’s official “ale taster”. John later became a moneylender and held a series of municipal positions, serving for some time as the mayor of stratford (history.com). Mary keep up the house like cleaned, helped take care of the kids. John and mary oldest children, both girls did not live past infancy. William had 3 younger brothers, Gilbert, Richered, and Edmund. And two younger sisters. Anne, who died at seven, and joan. Thought to die from the black death (folger.edu). William shakespeare was Baptized on
what happen. These years were known as the “Lost Years” of Shakespeare’s life. In this time
Surviving documents of William Shakespeare gives us a glance into his life to show us a poet, playwright, and actor. Shakespeare’s particular characters are endlessly interesting with characters with conflicted lives to characters who understand their obstacle to act or change. “More than any writer before him, Shakespeare designed individual characters with broad and conflicted inner lives, who recognized their problems to act or change. Audience from Shakespeare’s time onwards have related to the psychological and emotional issues explored in his work”(Benson and York 198). William Shakespeare went through rigorous education classes starting at dawn six times a week learning Latin grammar and Latin texts.After two years, students entered
William Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest playwrights of all time. He lived in the 1500s, and throughout his time he has written numerous plays. He was most known for his writing, giving him the name England’s Poet. Shakespeare was a very well known writer, so well known that his legacy still lives on today. William Shakespeare wrote some of the best plays throughout time.
In many of his later comedies, Shakespeare developed a habit of having young men and women fall in love. These comedies, “previews of the modern theatre,” usually end in a marriage, and are very lighthearted in nature. At first glance, Shakespeare’s works may seem complicated. In many ways, they are extremely complex, but, diving deeper into his text, there is an underlining meaning that might be extracted through in depth coverage. The use of contrasting the apparent versus the real is substantial in his plays.
Ben Johnson, a playwright and poet of the 17th century, said of William Shakespeare, “He was not of an age, but for all time.” Johnson accurately predicted that people would read Shakespeare’s writings for centuries to come. William Shakespeare, one of the most famous poets and playwrights, was born on April 23, 1564, to John Shakespeare and May Arden. Interestingly, people know little about such a well-known person’s early life. In fact, the few facts people have about his life come from his works and documents such as church records. Nevertheless, scholars agree on several details about his early life, his mid-life, and his professional accomplishments.
In the end, no one truly knows what happened, leaving scholars to call this period in his life the “lost years”. Only 11 years after the twins were born, and four years after his “lost years”, Shakespeare and Anne’s only son Hamnet died of unknown causes (Chanel). The feelings of love and loss he was put through is thought to have greatly affected his literary
Though William Shakespeare is recognized as one of literature's greatest influences, very little is actually known about him. What we do know about his life comes from registrar records, court records, wills, marriage certificates and his tombstone. Anecdotes and criticisms by his rivals also speak of the famous playwright and suggest that he was indeed a playwright, poet and an actor.