Shakespeare: BiographyWilliam Shakespeare was a great English playwright, dramatist and poetwho lived during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest playwright of all time.
No otherwriter’s plays have been produced so many times or read so widely in so manycountries as his. Shakespeare was born to middle class parents. His father, John, was aStratford businessman. He was a glove maker who owned a leather shop. JohnShakespeare was a well known and respected man in the town. He held severalimportant local governmental positions.
William Shakespeare’s mother was MaryArden. Though she was the daughter of a local farmer, she was related to afamily of considerable wealth and social standing. Mary Arden and JohnShakespeare were married in 1557. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford in 1564. He was one of eightchildren. The Shakespeare’s were well respected prominent people.
When WilliamShakespeare was about seven years old, he probably began attending the StratfordGrammar School with other boys of his social class. Students went to schoolyear round attending school for nine hours a day. The teachers were strictdisciplinarians. Though Shakespeare spent long hours at school, his boyhood was probablyfascinating.
Stratford was a lively town and during holidays, it was known toput on pageants and many popular shows. It also held several large fairs duringthe year. Stratford was a exciting place to live. Stratford also had fieldsand woods surrounding it giving William the opportunity to hunt and trap smallgame.
The River Avon which ran through the town allowed him to fish also. Shakespeare’s’ poems and plays show his love of nature and rural life whichreflects his childhood. On November 28, 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway of theneighboring village of Shottery. She was twenty-six, and he was only eighteenat the time. They had three children.
Susana was their first and then they hadtwins, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet, Shakespeare’s son, died in 1596. In 1607,his daughter Susana got married. Shakespeare’s other daughter, Judith, gotmarried in 1616. In London, Shakespeare’s career took off.
It is believed that he mayhave become well known in London theatrical life by 1592. By that time, he hadjoined one of the city’s repertory theater companies. These companies were madeup of a permanent cast of actors who presented different plays week after week. The companies were commercial organizations that depended on admission fromtheir audience.
Scholars know that Shakespeare belonged to one of the mostpopular acting companies in London called The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Shakespeare was a leading member of the group from 1594 for the rest of hiscareer. By 1594, at least six of Shakespeare’s plays had been produced. During Shakespeare’s life, there were two monarchs who ruled England.
They were Henry the eighth and Elizabeth the first. Both were impressed withShakespeare which made his name known. There is evidence that he was a memberof a traveling theater group, and a schoolmaster. In 1594, he became an actorand playwright for Lord Chamberlain’s Men. In 1599, he became a part owner ofthe prosperous Globe Theater. He also was a part owner of the BlackfriarsTheater as of 1609.
Shakespeare retired to Stratford in 1613 where he wrotemany of his excellent plays. There are many reasons as to why William Shakespeare is so famous. Heis generally considered to be both the greatest dramatist the world has everknown as well as the finest poet who has written in the English language. Manyreasons can be given for Shakespeare’s enormous appeal.
His fame basically isfrom his great understanding of human nature. He was able to find universalhuman qualities and put them in a dramatic situation creating characters thatare timeless. Yet he had the ability to create characters that are highlyindividual human beings. Their struggles in life are universal.
Sometimes theyare successful and sometimes their lives are full of pain, suffering, andfailure. In addition to his understanding and realistic view of human nature,Shakespeare had a vast knowledge of a variety of subjects. These subjectsinclude music, law, Bible, stage, art, politics, history, hunting, and sports. Shakespeare had a tremendous influence on culture and literature throughout theworld. He contributed greatly to the development of the English language. Manywords and phrases from Shakespeare’s plays and poems have become part of ourspeech.
Shakespeare’s plays and poems have become a required part of educationin the United States. Therefore, his ideas on subjects such as romantic love,heroism, comedy, and tragedy have helped shape the attitudes of millions ofpeople. His portrayal of historical figures and events have influenced ourthinking more than what has been written in history books. The world hasadmired and respected many great writers, but only Shakespeare has generatedsuch enormous continuing interest. My source states explanations rather thanopinions on why Shakespeare’s contributions to literature are so vast.
Mysource devoted thirty pages to William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s plays are usually divided into three major categories. These are comedy, tragedy, and history. Three plays which are in the categoryof comedy are “The Comedy of Errors”, “The Taming of the Shrew”, and “The TwoGentlemen of Verone”.
Three plays which are in the category of tragedy are”Romeo and Juliet”, “Titus Andronicus”, and “Julius Caesar”. In the category ofhistory, three plays are “Henry V”, “Richard II”, and “Richard III”.
