Summary:
An overview of the life of the famous English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616).
"O Romeo. O Romeo, where for thou are Romeo?" That's the famous quote from one of William Shakespeare's famous play, Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare has written 36 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 narrative poems. William Shakespeare is not only the most famous English writer, but he's also one of the most popular writers. Not much is known about Shakespeare's life, but all records that are known about him come from his works, the church, and public records.
Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church on April 28, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon. Most likely, he was born a couple of days earlier. He then moved to a small area with less than 2,000 people that was located in the small county of Warwickshire. He most likely attended one of Stratford's free, but excellent grammar schools even though there is no record of that fact exists.
John Shakespeare was William Shakespeare's father. John was a Glover and leather merchant with great financial success. He was chosen high Bailiff (mayor), but later withdrew from civic life. In the mid-1570's, the family's financial status declined and was lost. John died in 1601. Mary Shakespeare was William Shakespeare's mother. She died in 1609, eight years after John died.
On November 28, 1582, the church officials gave Shakespeare permission to marry Anne Hathaway. Shakespeare was 18 when he married Anne, and she was 26 and was most likely pregnant with her first child. Susanna. Susanna was baptized on May 26, 1583. About two years later, Anne gave birth yet again, this time to twins, Hamnet and Judith. They were baptized on February 2, 1585.
Shakespeare arrived in London in 1591, when he was 27 years old. By then, he was already he was an established writer and actor. He then lived and worked there for 25 years, acting, producing, and writing plays. In 1592, Shakespeare was sufficiently well known by the pen on his name and parody line from Henry VI, Part 3: "O tiger's wrapped in a women's hide." From 1593-94, the plague closed the London Theaters. During this time, Shakespeare wrote two narrative poems: "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape Lucerne."
Shakespeare's plays were meant to be preformed, not published. Here are the comedies he wrote were: Love's Labor's Lost (1554), The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, As you Like It, and Twelfth Night. Some of the tragedies he wrote were: Julius Creaser, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Anthony and Cleopatra, and Corcolanus (1608).
During his last eight years of life, Shakespeare wrote only four plays--Cymbeline, Henry VIII, The Tempest, and The Winter's Tale. Some university professors argued that The Tempest, written about 1610, was Shakespeare's last play. They also thought that Henry VIII, which was written in 1613, could have been his last play. Afterward, they stated that he then retired almost completely to Stratford. William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. He was 57 years old. Shakespeare was buried in Stratford-on-Avon. On his tombstone, this message is inscribed:
"Good friend, for Jesus sake for beare,
To dig the dust enclosed here:
Blesse be ye man and spears this stone.
And curst be he move my bones."
Shakespeare isn't a great playwright given that he's quotable; he's quotable for the reason that he's a great playwright. It's his behavior of language and his exposure of his natural life that has made him both broadly read and deeply well respected.
McCormick, Paul. Et Al. Adventures in English Literature Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. 1973
Kizhoben, Albert. Et Al. The Tragic Voice: Shakespeare Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc. 1974
Di Yanni, Robert. Et Al. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. New York City 1999
"Shakespeare, William" Academic American Encyclopedia 1988 ed.
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