William Shakespeare
Born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. His father John
Shakespeare and his mother Mary Arden. W.S. was able to attend grammer school and learned Greek and Latin classics (this is comparable to college education today). At age 14 his father lost the family fortune and remained poor until his death
At 18 he married Anne Hathaway in 1582. She was 26 years old. They had three children Suzanne(1583) and the twins Hamnet and Judith(1585).
In his mid-twenties he left Stratford(supposedly because of poaching on the
Queen's land) for London. His first job with Richard Burbage's men was as an osler; next an actor.
No one knows what he was doing during 1585-1592.
By 1592 he had become known in London as an actor and playwright; his rise was rapid. Queen Elizabeth 1 supported the arts and the theater.
In 1592 a plague closed the theaters(Shakespeare wrote poetry during this time to support himself). In 1593 a brief reopening of the theater happened. In 1594 theaters reopened.
The troupe became the Lord Chamberlain's Men set up on a servant co-op structure.
Requirements for actors:
1. loud voice 2. sing and play instruments 3. good swordsman 4. good memories
During this time he wrote many comedies: Comedy of Errors first of any status.
Histories were written in support of the gov't. This is where they were receiving much of the financial support so they wanted to keep the gov't (Queen) happy. W.S. was a major stockholder in the theater.
1597-bought New Place in Stratford(2nd largest house)
1599-Lord Chamberlain's Men bought land and built the Globe Theater in
Southwark(South Bank of the Thames River). W.S. owned 1/10th
1603-Queen Elizabeth died. King James took reign of England. He loved the arts more than the queen. The name was changed from Lord Chamberlain's Men to the King's Men.
1608-Added to the Globe Theater by buying the Black Friars Theater and giving performances there also. W.S. owned 1/7th
1613-Fire at the Globe during a performance of Henry 8th; rebuilt within a year.
Left comedies and histories to write tragedies soon after the Globe reopened.
Sonnets-published in 1610 but circulated earlier.
First Tragedy: The Tragedy of Hamlet
The famous writer, Shakespeare, was said to have been born in Stratford as the first son to John and Mary Shakespeare on either the 21st, 22nd, or 23rd of April 1564. Most assume that Shakespeare’s birth occurred on the 23rd where then; he was baptized three days later on April 26, 1564. When he was five years of age, Shakespeare attended King’s New School at Stratford. Around 1574 or 1574 Shakespeare graduated from the Lower school to the Upper. There is no record telling how long Shakespeare had spent at King’s New School. There is a chance that Shakespeare was also apprenticed at his father’s shop. In 1582 Shakespeare became associated with the eldest daughter of the Hathaway family. In November of that year, Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway were licensed to marry but the court of Worcester. The couple had approximately three children together: Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith. Susanna was born in 1583 and the twins were born two years after. The time after this, from 1585 -1592, became known as the lost years as there are little known about Shakespeare in that period of time. It is assumed that around 1590 Shakespeare left Stratford to London and began his play writing career. Shakespeare’s first play had been Henry VI, Part One. Then in 1593, the theatres became closed due to the bubonic plague and reopen the next year. During that ...
William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet” was written by Shakespeare in 1595, and was the
William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, tells the story of too unfortunate lovers caught up in their family’s hatred which in the end leads to the tragic deaths of both lovers. Classical Greek tragedy influenced Renaissance writers greatly Shakespeare was no exception. According to the dictionary, fate is ‘the supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines event.’ Which means that it is out of our hands.
William Shakespeare’s intellectual use of the English language is what brought him prosperity throughout his lifetime, and what brings us to tears and laughter in the modern world. The life of Shakespeare is of great importance to English literature because of his many contributions including poetry, stories, and plays. However, many people do not know that he also owned a business. “William Shakespeare was a professional actor, a businessman, and a playwright. Today, nearly four hundred years after his death his plays are still performed” (Greenhill and Wignall 4).
Scene 1 of Act 4 is certainly one of the most visually impacting and intriguing scenes of the entire play. This strong effect is attained by the sequential presentation of mysterious images and a close reference to evil throughout the whole scene. On stage, the visual (the actions and apparitions) and audible (the speech and sound effects as the thunder) factors engulf the entire scene in an atmosphere of wickedness.
Shakespeare’s life span was during the time of the renaissance, a romantic era of art and music. This was believed to be strongly connected in helping him develop a career out of theater. He was genius with his business schemes, many thinking it ran through his blood and that he learned a great deal from his father. Shakespeare was a noted poet before being a playwright. London back in Shakespears time was a mecca of trade ships and new development of big buildings Being in the era, there were stricly divided social classes and order, although the one execption to these everyday customs was the theater. The thea...
Shakespeare’s, Richard III depicts the unscrupulous rise to power and ensuing short reign of Richard III of England. Through all of his plays, Richard is becoming known as the perfect villain for the way he raises to power. We know that Richard is obviously a villain by the way he single-handedly orchestrates all of the chaos and violence throughout the course of the play. However, Richard III makes the readers reevaluate the meaning of what a hero really is. As malevolent as he is, there is no question that he is the play’s protagonist. He is motivated by self-interest and the play’s plot is ultimately developed around his battle to become the king and remain in power over the people. The reader’s get in depth looks at his character and they almost develop a false sense of sympathy for the jealousy and pain that he had endured, while blatantly disregarding the fact that he is a murderer. On the other hand, he can be viewed in some aspects as the hero of the play. As crazy as this may be, Richard shares some noble qualities that heroes have. During his rise to power, he displayed perseverance and courage in a way that was never thought possible.
Hamlet has been praised and revered for centuries as one of William Shakespeare's best known and most popular tragedies. Based on its popularity, critics alike have taken various viewpoints and theories in order to explain Hamlet's actions throughout the play. The psychoanalytic point of view is one of the most famous positions taken on Hamlet.
One of William Shakespeare’s earliest plays, Romeo and Juliet (c. 1594) is a well-known tragedy about the relationship of two “star-crossed” (1.P.6) lovers whose families have been quarreling for many years. Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet, fall deeply in love after meeting at a ball held in the Capulet’s house. Shakespeare was still gaining an audience when he wrote Romeo and Juliet, so he used many well-known styles and techniques in order to give the audience what they wanted. As G.B. Harrison explains, Shakespeare shows the best and the worst characteristics of his early, immature style in Romeo and Juliet.
Ask anyone who Shakespeare was, and he or she will immediately rattle off at least three different plays that were required readings in English, not to mention a few blockbuster movies bearing his name. Many revere the works of Shakespeare as paramount in the world of literature, dedicating entire books, classes and festivals to the study and celebration of his work. Although the ancient language is a common stumbling block for even the most seasoned readers, his varied tales of love, hate, fear, betrayal, laughter, defeat and victory are just as fitting today as they were four hundred years ago. He is amazingly timeless. Yet, while we might know what Shakespeare is, will we ever really know who Shakespeare was? Ah, there’s the rub!
William Shakespeare was able to, through his writings , lead the readers to examine their own social corlas, judgment, and wisdom. The most remarkable quality of his works is that even when we read them today, we still examine ourselves. He was able to accomplish their task as well as any writer of any era. Shakespeare's writings allow his readers to question the social climate of their day. (Bender 13).
What is a hero? Many people think that a hero is a person that changes someone else’s life or the world's society. A hero wants to make a difference in the world and leave a legacy in society. People like this could be considered heroes. William Shakespeare was one of the best British heroes of this century. His accomplishments on his plays, books, and poems, and the legacy he left behind. In schools students read some of shakespeare's
His reputation was established in London around 1592. His first play he wrote was in 1593, it was called Venus and Adonis. He became a "gentleman" after inheriting his fathers coat-of-arms, even though actors were generally looked at as rogues and vagabonds. He probably wrote his 154 sonnets during this time as well. They were published later on in 1609.
Two of the greatest masters of British literature, Shakespeare and Chaucer, tended to look to the classics when searching for inspiration. A lesser-known example of this lies in an ancient tale from Greece about two star-crossed lovers. There are many variations on the names of these lovers, but for the purpose of solidarity, they shall henceforth be referred to as “Troilus and Criseyde” for Chaucer and “Troilus and Cressida” for Shakespeare. Chaucer’s “Troilus and Criseyde” offers up a classic tale of love that is doomed, whereas Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida” is not only tragic but also biting in its judgment and representation of characters. This difference may be due to the differences in time periods for the two authors, or their own personal dispositions, but there can be no denying the many deviations from Chaucer’s work that Shakespeare employs. Shakespeare’s work, by making the characters and situations more relatable, builds upon Chaucer’s original work, rather than improving it or shattering it.
From the works of William Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser it is clear that some similarities are apparent, however the two poets encompass different writing styles, as well as different topics that relate to each other in their own unique ways. In Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” and Spenser’s “Sonnet 75”, both poets speak of love in terms of feelings and actions by using different expressive views, allowing the similar topics to contain clear distinctions. Although Edmund Spenser’s “Sonnet 75” and William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” relate in the sense that love is genuine and everlasting, Spenser suggests love more optimistically, whereas Shakespeare focuses on expressing the beauty and stability of love.