William Shakespeare was a supreme English poet and playwright, universally recognized as the greatest of all the dramatists. A complete, authoritative account of Shakespeare’s life is lacking; much supposition surrounds relatively few facts. His day of birth is traditionally held on April 23, and he was baptized on April 24, 1564. He was the third of eight children, and was the eldest son of John Shakespeare. He was probably educated in a local grammar school. As the eldest son, Shakespeare would of taken over his father’s business, but according to one account, he became a butcher because of reverses in his ather’s financial situation.
According to another account, he became a school master. That Shakespeare was allowed considerable leisure time in his youth is suggested by the fact that his plays show more knowledge of hunting and hawking than do those of other dramatists. In 1582, he married Anne Hathaway. He is supposed to have left Stratford after he was caught poaching in a deer park. Shakespeare apparently arrived in London about 1588 and by 1592 had attained success as a playwright. The publication of Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece and of his Sonnets established his reputation as a poet in he Renaissance manner.
Shakespeare’s modern reputation is based mainly on the 38 plays he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Shakespeare’s professional life in London was marked by a number of financially advantageous arrangements that permitted him to share in the profits of his acting company, the Chamberlain’s Men, and its two theaters, the Globe and the Blackfriars. His plays were given special presentation at the courts of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. After about 1608, Shakespeare’s dramatic production lessened and he spent more time in Stratford.
There he established a family in and imposing house, the New Place, and became a leading local citizen. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the Stratford church. Although the precise date of many of Shakespeare’s plays is in doubt, his dramatic career is divided into four periods: (1) the period up to 1594, (2) the years from 1594 to 1600, (3) the years from 1600 to 1608, (4) the period after 1608. In all periods, the plots of his plays were frequently drawn from chronicles, histories, or earlier fiction. Shakespeare’s first period was one of experimentation. His early plays are characterized to a degree of superficial construction and verse.
Some of the plays from the first period my be no more than retouchings of earlier works by others. Four plays dramatizing the English civil strife of the 15th century are possibly Shakespeare’s earliest dramatic works. These plays, Henry VI, Parts I, II, III, and Richard III, deal with the evil results of weak leadership. Shakespeare’s comedies of the first period represent a wide range. The Comedy of Errors depends on its appeal on the mistakes in identity between two sets of twins involved in romance and war. The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Love’s Labour’s Lost are all comedies and satires.
Next, Shakespeare’s second period includes his most important plays about English history. The second period historical plays include Richard II, Henry IV, Parts I and II, and Henry V. These plays deal with English kings who lose their power to their successors. Outstanding among the comedies of the second period is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is fantasy filled and is achieved by the interweaving of several plots involving two pairs noble lovers, a group of bumbling townspeople, and members of the fantasy realm. Another comedy is The Merchant of Venice which is haracterized by friendship and romantic love.
The witty comedy Much Ado About Nothing is marred by an insensitive treatment of its main character. Shakespeare’s most mature comedies, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night, are characterized by a hilarious and kindly charm that depends upon the attraction of lovely heroines. The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy about middle-class life which contains a comic victim of the middle-class. One of the two tragedies of this period is Romeo and Juliet. It is famous for its poetic treatment of youthful love, and dramatizes the fate of two overs victimized by feuds of their elders.
The other, Julius Caesar, is a serious tragedy of political rivalries. Shakespeare’s third period includes his greatest tragedy and his dark or bitter comedies. The tragedies of this period are the most profound of his works. Hamlet goes far beyond other tragedies of revenge in picturing the mingled sordidness and glory of the human condition. Othello the growth of unjustified jealously in the protagonist. King Lear deals with the consequences of the irresponsibility and misjudgment of an early ruler of Britain and his councillor. The tragic outcome is the result of their iving power to their evil offspring rather that their good offspring.
Antony and Cleopatra with a different type of love, namely, the middle-aged passion of the Roman general Mark Antony for the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. In Macbeth, Shakespeare depicts the tragedy of a basically good man, who led on by others, succumbs to ambition. In getting and retaining the Scottish throne, Macbeth dulls his humanity to the point where he becomes capable of committing any enormity. Three other plays of this period suggest a bitterness lacking in these tragedies because the protagonists do ot seem to possess greatness or tragic stature.
In Troilus and Cressida The gulf between the ideal and the real, both individually and politically, is evoked. In Coriolanus, the Roman hero is portrayed as unable to bring himself either to woo the Roman masses or to crush them by force. Timon of Athens is a similarly bitter play about a character reduced to nothing by ingratification. The two comedies of this period are also dark in mood. Of these, All’s Well That Ends Well is less significant that Measure for Measure which suggests a picture f morality in Christian terms. Finally, the fourth period of Shakespeare’s work comprises his principles tragedies.
Toward the end of his career, Shakespeare created several plays suggestive of a mood of final resignation in the human lot. These plays differ greatly than his other comedies, but ending happily with a reunion or final reconciliation. The romantic tragicomedy Pericles, Prince of Tyre concerns the character’s painful loss of his wife and the persecution of his daughter. After many adventures, Pericles is reunited with his loved ones. In Cymbeline and The Winter’s Tale, domestic omplication are resolved by restoring loved ones.
The most successful product of his creativity is his last complete play, The Tempest, in which the resolution suggests the beneficial effects of the union of wisdom and power. Two final plays include a historical drama, Henry VIII, and The Two Noble Kinsmen, a story of two noble friends for one woman. Hence, from a poor family, Shakespeare emerged as a great playwright. The odds were against him, but he rose to the occasion and wrote over 38 plays which made him famous throughout the world. He is still considered to be the best playwright that ever lived.
