William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon”. His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare’s private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Table of Contents:
1. Early life
2. Marriage and children
3. Career
4. Retirement and death
5. Physical appearance
6. Sexuality
7. Religious beliefs
8. Authorship
9. Shakespeare in popular culture
10. Legacy
11. Top William Shakespeare Quotes
Early life
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, on 26 April 1564. His birthday is traditionally celebrated on 23 April, Saint George’s Day. This date, which can be verified through baptismal records, is not known to be Shakespeare’s actual birthday, but it was convenient for him as a public playwright. He was the third child of eight and the eldest son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. John was a prosperous glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary was the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer.
Shakespeare was probably educated at the King’s New School in Stratford, a free grammar school chartered in 1553. His schooling would have followed the standard curriculum of the time, which would have included Latin grammar, rhetoric, and literature. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare’s private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Marriage and children
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, on 28 November 1582. The consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued the marriage licence on 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 witnesses signed the marriage register rather than the usual four.
The situation was further complicated by the fact that Hathaway was pregnant with their first child, Susanna, who was born on 26 May 1583. twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised on 2 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 theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the “complaints bill” of a law case before the Queen’s Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589. Scholars refer to the years between 1585 and 1592 as Shakespeare’s “lost years”.
Career
In 1592, Shakespeare’s name began to appear in print, albeit with some frequency, as an actor in London. In a pamphlet published in that same year, he was accused of stealing deer from a local aristocrat, Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote Park. The accusation may have been a ploy by Lucy to discourage actors from using his land. Shakespeare’s plays started to be published in quarto editions from 1594, and by 1598 his name had become a selling point and began to appear on the title pages. Despite this, Shakespeare continued to act in his own and other playwrights’ plays, and to write poetry. His last known acting role was as Adam in As You Like It, a play he co-wrote with John Fletcher, who had taken over as the King’s Men’s house playwright after Shakespeare’s retirement from the stage.
Shakespeare’s first plays were written in the conventional style of the day. He wrote them in a stylised language that does not always spring naturally from the mouths of his characters. Even during Shakespeare’s lifetime, there was a growing dissatisfaction with the artificiality of much Elizabethan drama, and playwrights such as Thomas Dekker and Ben Jonson sought to revive a more naturalistic style.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, Shakespeare’s plays have been continually performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed, and reinterpreted through various cultural and political contexts around the world.
Retirement and death
Shakespeare retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, where he died three years later. In his will, he left the bulk of his large estate to his eldest daughter Susanna. The terms of the will prevented her from marrying until she was 30 years old. Susanna outlived her father by seven years. She married Dr. John Hall, a physician, on 5 June 1607. Susanna and John Hall had one child, Elizabeth, who was born on 21 February 1608.
Shakespeare’s will also provided for his wife Anne and his two daughters. Anne was to receive his “second-best bed”, and Susanna and Judith £10 each “to buy them each a ring”.
His will did not make any reference to his literary works, which suggests that he did not consider them to be of any great value. Shakespeare’s will was executed on 25 March 1616, and he was buried in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church two days later.
Physical appearance
There are no contemporary descriptions of Shakespeare’s physical appearance, and the surviving images that have been traditionally attributed to him show a man of more than average height but of slight build. A monument erected in his memory by his widow in 1623 in Stratford shows him in the act of writing, with a quill pen in his right hand.
A theory that has gained some traction is that Shakespeare may have had Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that can lead to tallness, a narrow face, and elongated limbs. There is no definitive evidence for this theory, and it has been disputed by other scholars.
Sexual orientation
There is no evidence that Shakespeare was gay or bisexual. However, some scholars have argued that Shakespeare’s plays and poems contain coded references to his homosexuality or bisexuality.
Religious beliefs
Shakespeare was probably a Protestant. He almost certainly attended Protestant services as a boy, and his first biographer, Nicholas Rowe, wrote that Shakespeare “was bred a Protestant”. A number of Shakespeare’s plays contain overt references to the Protestant Reformation, and one, King John, deals with the subject directly.
While there is no direct evidence of Shakespeare’s religious beliefs, there is indirect evidence that he was a Catholic. In 1606, he bought a lease on a property in Blackfriars, London, which was a hotbed of Catholic activity. In addition, a number of Catholic symbols and images can be found in his plays.
Authorship
Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
However, the authorship of some of Shakespeare’s plays has been questioned by a number of scholars. The sceptics argue that Shakespeare was not the author of the plays attributed to him, and that they were actually written by someone else, such as Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, or William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby.
Shakespeare in popular culture
Shakespeare’s plays and poems have been adapted into a number of different forms and media, including operas, ballets, films, television programmes, and video games. His work has also been translated into many different languages.
Some of the most popular adaptations of Shakespeare’s work include the ballet Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev, the opera Otello by Giuseppe Verdi, the film Romeo + Juliet by Baz Luhrmann, and the television series The Simpsons.
Legacy
Shakespeare’s plays and poems have been a major influence on Western literature and culture. His work has been translated into every major living language, and his plays are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare’s plays and poems have also been adapted into a number of different forms and media, including operas, ballets, films, television programmes, and video games. His work has also been translated into many different languages.
Some of the most popular adaptations of Shakespeare’s work include the ballet Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev, the opera Otello by Giuseppe Verdi, the film Romeo + Juliet by Baz Luhrmann, and the television series The Simpsons.
Top Shakespeare Quotes
“My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break.”
“Expectation is the root of all heartache.”
“What is past is prologue.”
“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”
“Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.”
“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”
“Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself.”
“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.”
“Words without thoughts never to heaven go.”
“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”
“‘Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after.”
“Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge.”
“Boldness be my friend.”
“How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.”
“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”
“The fault…is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”
“Nothing can come of nothing.”
“How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?”
“This above all; to thine own self be true.”
“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.”
“When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain.”
“Words are easy, like the wind; faithful friends are hard to find.”
“To be, or not to be: that is the question.”
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
“Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.”
“In time we hate that which we often fear.”
“Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up o-er wrought heart and bids it break.”
“The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.”
“I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.”
“I bear a charmed life.”
“Though she be but little, she is fierce.”
“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.”
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
“Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.”
“And oftentimes excusing of a fault doth make the fault the worse by the excuse.”
“Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise.”
“Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.”
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts.”
“Talking isn’t doing. It is a kind of good deed to say well; and yet words are not deeds.”
“Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.”
“Brevity is the soul of wit.”
“No legacy is so rich as honesty.”
“What’s done can’t be undone.”
“All that glisters is not gold.”
“Pleasure and action make the hours seem short.”
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”
“Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head.”
“And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.”
“Such as we are made of, such we be.”
Source: Wikipedia Britannica Shakespeare Poets William Shakespeare Poetry Foundation Brainyquote Shakespeare Bl.uk Biography