William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare Biography

 
 William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, a successful glover and alderman originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer.He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptized there on 26 April 1564. His actual birth-date remains unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, St George's Day. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholar's mistake, has proved appealing to biographers, since Shakespeare died 23 April 1616. He was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son.
Although no attendance records for the period survive, most biographers agree that Shakespeare probably was educated at the King's New School in Stratford, a free school chartered in 1553 about a quarter-mile from his home. Grammar schools varied in quality during the Elizabethan era, but the curriculum was dictated by law throughout England, and the school would have provided an intensive education in Latin grammar and the classics.

At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. The consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage license 27 November 1582. The next day two of Hathaway's neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage. The ceremony may have been arranged in some haste, since the Worcester chancellor allowed the marriage banns to be read once instead of the usual three times, and six months after the marriage Anne gave birth to a daughter, Susanna, baptized 26 May 1583.Twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptized 2nd February 1585.Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596.
After the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theater scene in 1592, and scholars refer to the years between 1585 and 1592 as Shakespeare's "lost years".Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616.

William Shakespeare Plays

History themed Plays

• King Henry IV Part 1 
• King Henry IV Part 2 
• King Henry V 
• King Henry VI Part 1 
• King Henry VI Part 2 
• King Henry VI Part 3 
• King Henry VIII 
• King John 
• Richard II 
• Richard III 

 Comedy themed Plays

• Alls Well That Ends Well
• As You Like It 
• Comedy of Errors 
• Cymbeline 
• Love's Labour's Lost
• Measure for Measure 
• Merchant of Venice 
• Merry Wives of Windsor
• Midsummer Nights Dream
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Pericles, Prince of Tyre
• Taming of the Shrew 
• The Tempest 
• Troilus and Cressida
• Twelfth Night 
• Two Gentlemen of Verona 
• Winter's Tale
  

Tragedy themed Plays

• Antony and Cleopatra 
• Coriolanus
• Hamlet
• Julius Caesar
• King Lear 
• Macbeth 
• Othello 
• Romeo and Juliet 
• Timon of Athens 
• Titus Andronicus  

Not until after his death was Shakespeare considered the greatest playwright and poet in the history of the English language. With dramatic works such as Romeo and Juliet and King Lear, it is no surprise that his texts have been translated worldwide. But, Shakespeare’s greatness might stem from his ability to cross genres and produce works in comedy such as A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, history such as in Hamlet, and romance (or fantasy-like), such as in The Tempest. Some of his works also include those labeled problem-plays or tragi-comedies due to the difficulty of labeling them under one strict genre.

Elizabethan era

The Elizabethan era was a time associated with Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558–1603) and is often considered to be the golden age in English history. It was the height of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of English poetry, music and literature.

   The Elizabethan theatre was erect a playhouse outside the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor, where the player would no longer be hindered by the authorities. Eventuallly, the theatre was built in 1576 at Shoreditch. Fortunately, the experiment was successful. Also, the Elizabethan playerswere accustomed to act on a variety of stages.