Willam Shakespeare: His Life
William Shakespeare was baptised on the 26th of April 1564 and died on the 23th of April 1616. He was an English actor, poet and playwright, infact he is recognized as the greatest writer and pre-eminent dramatist that ever lived. He was very handsome as you can clearly see in this picture and is frequently refered to as England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". Because he was so handsome as soon as he turned eighteen someone wanted to marry him. Her name was Anne Hathaway. Personally I think she took his chilhood from him because she was eight years older than he was. Nontheless they had their first child,Susannah within six months of their marriage and then later had twins, Hamnet and Judith in 1585. Sadly Shakespeare's only son, Hamnet died in 1596 at the tender age of eleven.
William Shakespeare: His work
Some of Shakespeare's surviving works include a collaboration of 38 plays,154 sonnets and two long narrative poems among other narratives. Some of Shakespeare's plays such as Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet are among the most well known literary works in the world. However there have been rumors that Shakespeare didn't actually write all of his plays on his own and that either Christopher Marlowe or Queen Elizabeth were the real authors. But in my opinion I think this is a rumor and nothing more as there is clear evidence of Shakespeare's personal involvement within his plays.One of Shakespear'e plays, Hamlet was actually influenced by an incident which occured when Shajespeare was fifteen. A woman in a nearby village drowned in Avon. Her death was ruled accidental but still may have been a suicide. Shakespeare later used this in Hamlet leaving open the question of whether Ophelia died accidentally or by her own hand.
Hamlet was first printed in 1603. It is Shakespeare's largest drama, based on a lost play known as the Ur-Hamlet. Prince Hamlet, an enigmatic intellectual, mourns both his father's death and his mother's remarriage. His father's ghost appears to him and tells that Claudius, married to Queen Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, poisoned him. Hamlet, fascinated by cruelly witty games, swears revenge. "The time is out of joint; O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right!" He arranges an old play whose story has a parallel to that of Claudius. Hamlet's behavior is considered mad. He kills the eavesdropping Polonius, the court chamberlain, by thrusting his sword through a curtain. Polonius's son Laertes returns to Denmark to avenge his father's death. Polonius's daughter Ofelia loves Hamlet, but the prince's sadistically brutal behavior drives her to madness. "Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?" he tells Ophelia who dies by drowning. Before the slaughter that ends the story, Hamlet says to his friend Horatio: "I shall win at the odds. But thou wouldst not think how ill all's here about my heart." A duel takes place and ends with the death of Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet, whose final words are "the rest is silence."
According to a legend, he left Stratford for London to avoid a charge of poaching. After 1582 Shakespeare probably joined as an actor one or several companies of players. By 1584 he emerged as a rising playwright in London, and became soon a central figure in London´s leading theater company, the Lord Chamberlain´s Company, renamed later as the King´s Men. He wrote many great plays for the group. In 1599 a new theater, called The Globe, was built
William Shakespeare: His Childhood
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was the eldest son of Mary Arden and John Shakespeare who was a glover and wood dealer. At the age of eighteen, He married Anne Hathaway with whom he had three children. Wait a minute........He wasn't the typical eighteen year old of modern day so lets back up a bit. William Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare was a man of status within the community so William was granted free education. It is assumed that Shakespeare attended King Edward 1V Grammar School. He was educated in Stratford from age seven in 1517 and finished his schooling at age fourteen in 1578. Following his father William Shakespeare also did some butchering at some point and time in his youth.
William Shakespeare: What makes him so great?
Shakespeare possessed a vast aray of vocabulary especially for his time. He used 29,066 different words in his plays. Today the average English-speaking person uses something like 2000 words in everyday speech. Many numerologists even claim that Shakespeare wrote the King James version of the bible at the age of 46. Another fasinating fact about William Shakespeare was that he came from very humble beginnings but still somehow managed to be the best. This therefore makes him an inspiration for all those who may be struggling for a better life and a brighter future. Another reason which earns Shakespeare the title of "The greatest writer that ever lived" is the fact that his writings have lived on throughout the years. Instead of them being forgotten and discarded as I'm sure many other writings of his time have been, his writngs have been modified, modernized and translated for a younger audience to enjoy.
A bit about the Elizabethan era.
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