William Shakespeare was born on the 23rd of April in 1564, Stratford-on-Avon in the United Kingdom. Shakespeare was the son of John and Mary Shakespeare. He attended school at the King Edward IV grammar school in Stratford. At eighteen years of age Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. Soon after they had three children. Their names were Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. During 1585 Shakespeare left Stratford and moved to London to start his career as an actor. When the plague took place in London all theatres were closed from June 1592 to April 1594. When the plague had finished Shakespeare joined the Lords Chamberlain’s company of actors in 1594.
William Shakespeare is still relevant to modern society today because his plays, poems, characters and all of his works have been remembered and used ever since. The works of Shakespeare have been used in every way possible. Students have and still use them for english literature, plays have been seen in every language and people use the words he invented in their everyday speech. People also study his poems and sonnets and his plays have also been performed on stages, screens and festivals all around the world.
In everyday life humans experience love, laughter, honour, tragedy, betrayal, war,
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This is because his works are expressive and original and they have left an impact on the english literature we learn today. Shakespeare created over seven thousand words that we use in our everyday speech. Shakespeare’s language became popular in the seventeenth and eighteen century and then after they were considered part of the english language. He introduced phrases and new words and also poetic and grammatical structures. In his plays his use of speech was to amuse audiences by using different ranges of insults which were cruel and comical. This is what got the audience so intrigued to his plays, poems and
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford on Avon, England, in April of 1564 to Mary and John Shakespeare. He was the third child and the eldest son. His father was a tanner, glove-maker, and trader in wool and other precious commodities. William attended the Stratford Grammar school where he studied and received substantial training in Latin. He was married on November 27, 1582, to a woman named Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older than he was. In May of 1583, the couple's first daughter, Susanna was born. The couple had twins in February of 1585, Hamnet and Judith. Throughout his life, Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays, and several poems and sonnets. He was also an actor for a short while. Several of Shakespears plays were performed at the famous Globe Theater in England. On April 23, 1616 Shakespeare died, he was buried at the church of Stratford on April 25, 1616.
Shakespeare was and is an extremely crucial figure in the English language. Period. Some may say that “Shakespeare’s use of the English language is irrelevant in today’s modern world”(Dusbiber 1), or simply “Shakespeare is useless”. Some may also refute that there are other great writers out there that are from all sorts of different cultures, that can teach students of different ethnicities the same ideas and same topics that Shakespeare teaches, which may be the case for some people. However, if you look at the
William’s father, John Shakespeare married Mary Arden in the year 1557. “John and Mary Shakespeare’s first two children, Joan and Margaret, died as babies. Such early death was not unusual because there was no protection against childhood illnesses . It is remarkable that their next child, William, survived” (Greenhill and Wignall 5). It is estimated that William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564. William was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. Stratford-upon-Avon is a famous tourist attraction today. Hundreds of thousands of people visit Stratford every year to view William’s birthplace, death place, and grave. “William was born when the plague was raging in Stratford. That year nearly fifteen percent of the town’s population died of the killer disease” (Greenhill and Wignall 5). When William was about six he was sent to the King’s New School. The King’s New School was a grammar school. “The school day in the 1500s was long and hard” (Greenhill and Wignall 5). School began as early as six in the morning and ended at five in the afternoon. There were eight hours of teaching in a day and the school day began and ended with prayers. “Schoolwork at the g...
If you have ever read or seen a Shakespeare play you know how much different we talk today, then he did. According to the article called "Shakespeare: words, words, words" by S.S. Morty, it says, "Surely Shakespeare took full advantage of the unparalleled linguistic freedom to incent, to experiment with, and to indulge in lavishly." In his time, he did not have any grammars or dictionary he had to follow. Knowing that he did not have to follow anything he made up a lot of his own words. When he would produce a play, the audience a lot of the time didn't know and understand some of the words that were in his play. They wouldn't know the words because they didn't have anything to know the definition of them. This explains how and why Shakespeare spoke the way he
...and works very seriously. William Shakespeare is the best writer of all time in the field and time he resigned in. He is widely known as the best and is very famous for his works. He used humor to create the laughter from his audiences. He wrote many works with humor called comedies. His comedies transformed into different type of comedies. Another one of Shakespeare’s techniques is the use of irony. He uses dramatic irony, situational irony, and verbal irony. Irony plays a very large role throughout all of his works along with comedy. He has contributed so much to the English language and literature. William Shakespeare uses everything from new words to new techniques. He created many new words and phrases. Now the English language can always thank the one and only great William Shakespeare for all that he has done for the English language throughout all his works.
Shakespeare's works have been a major influence on theatre. Not only did Shakespeare create some of the most admired plays in literature, he also transformed theatre by expanding expectations through characterisation, plot, action, language, and genre. He raised the status of popular theatre, permitting it to be admired by all.
In fact, some of the words we commonly use today were first invented by Shakespeare. "If you search the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) — the definitive record of the English language — Shakespeare is often identified as the sole user or first user of a word or phrase." (Six Reasons Shakespeare Remains Relevant 400 Years after His Death) Shakespeare is even know for using words in unusual ways for his time, completely altering its meaning and causing us to use it in his context. This gives students a huge historical sphere to delve into, as words are used in both familiar and foreign fashions.
It’s important for those studying English literature to study the classics and classic authors such as Shakespeare. Even today Shakespeare’s work remains relevant and influences many new upcoming writers today. Shakespeare’s works will always be important because they depict a wide variety/range of human emotion accurately, tells what are often relatable and universal stories, and he formed the basis our modern day English language. For us to understand Shakespeare’s work we must first know more about his background. Not much actually is known about Shakespeare’s early life such as his birth.
Though some say that Shakespeare and his works are no longer relevant in today’s culture and society, I still pertain the view the idea that Shakespeare is still relevant in today’s world. Shakespeare is still relevant today because of the connections between his plays, true meanings behind his dialogue, and characters of those plays to the people that live now. Connections can be seen in his plays and the world today because of their main theme. In Romeo and Juliet there are many barriers that get in their way, one being especially because they are of different households which can be seen in the play itself “Two households, both alike in dignity/ In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, /From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, /Where
Shakespeare is still very relevant today because his plays and characters portray problems that affect all people in the world. “His ability to speak to audiences around the world is undimmed “ The great thing about Shakespeare is that he speaks to everyone”(Washington Post 378)”.
Shakespeare has perhaps contributed the most to the English language of any writer known to man – literally. Over 1000 words and phrases that he coined as part of his plays and prose are now in common use across the globe. He changed nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, added on previously unheard-of prefixes and suffixes and in some cases made words out of nothing. Even culturally sensitive words such as ‘ode’ (The ANZACS) and scientific jargon (‘epileptic’) are in fact products of Shakespeare. Bernard Levin probably summed this up best when he wrote: “If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle… had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, … - why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare;…” (Bernard Levin. From The Story of English. Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeil. Viking: 1986).
For a text to be relevant it must be able to teach something, it must be accessible for many people, and it should be relatable to the reader’s life. I personally think Shakespeare is somewhat relevant and in some cases should be read. While I do consider him a master of his art, I personally do not think that his texts are as relevant as they once were in current times. I do think that you can learn a great deal of things from his texts, but on the other hand, it is hard for his texts to be relatable to people's lives currently and his texts are extremely difficult and not easily accessible to many people. So there are some things that make his writing worthwhile, but at the same time hurt its ability to be completely relevant.
The only reason why they think this is because the language is a bit heavy going. But once over this hurdle, we all have something to learn from Shakespeare because even though his language is different and needs the reader to focus, his plays all have a good storyline and an interesting point of view and this is what makes them relevant today. My second reason for thinking William Shakespeare is still relevant is his characters. His characters
Even though that Shakespeare influenced the world over 400 years ago, his stories, sonnets and plays are all still relevant today. But why are William Shakespeare still so relevant today? It’s the idea and the issues that that Shakespeare addresses that constantly draw people towards him. Shakespeare had a very rare, but good, understanding of the daily situations and the many different emotions that human go through, which are portrayed in his characters.
In 1564, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon (Hazell 32). It seems that Shakespeare’s career began around the year 1592. This was a tough time for playwrights and actors. There was an outbreak of the bubonic plague which caused concerns for those wanting to watch because of being surrounded by those potentially carrying the disease, thus making it hard for the playwrights and actors to find work (“William Shakespeare.” 653-654).