William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564-1616). English poet and playwright –
Shakespeare is widely considered to be the greatest writer in the
English language. He wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23rd April 1564.
His
father William was a successful local businessman and his mother Mary
was the daughter of a landowner. Relatively prosperous, it is likely the
family paid for Williams education, although there is no evidence he
attended university.
In 1582 William, aged only 18, married an
older woman named Anne Hathaway. They had three children, Susanna,
Hamnet and Juliet. Their only son Hamnet died aged just 11.
After his marriage, information about the life of Shakespeare is
sketchy but it seems he spent most of his time in London – writing and
acting in his plays.
Due to some well timed investments
Shakespeare was able to secure a firm financial background, leaving time
for writing and acting. The best of these investments was buying some
real estate near Stratford in 1605, which soon doubled in value.
It
seemed Shakespeare didn’t mind being absent from his family – he only
returned home during Lent when all the theatres were closed. It is
generally thought that during the 1590s he wrote the majority of his
sonnets. This was a time of prolific writing and his plays developed a
good deal of interest and controversy. His early plays were mainly
comedies (e.g. Much Ado about Nothing, A Midsummer’s Night Dream) and histories (e.g. Henry V)
By the early Seventeenth Century, Shakespeare had begun to write plays in the genre of tragedy. These plays, such as Hamlet, Othello and King Lear,
often hinge on some fatal error or flaw in the lead character, and
provide fascinating insights into the darker aspects of human nature.
These later plays are considered Shakespeare’s finest achievements.
Some
academics known as the “Oxfords” claim that Shakespeare never actually
wrote any plays. They contend Shakespeare was actually just a successful
businessman, and for authorship suggest names such as Edward de Vere.
Nevertheless there is evidence of Shakespeare in theatres as he received
a variety of criticism from people such as Ben Johnson and Robert
Greene. When writing an introduction to Shakespeare’s First Folio of
published plays in 1623, Johnson wrote of Shakespeare:
His plays have retained an enduring appeal throughout history and throughout the world. Some of his most popular plays include:
- Twelfth Night
- Henry V
- Romeo and Juliet
- Macbeth
- Hamlet
- King Lear
- Othello
Shakespeare died in 1664; it is not clear how he died although his vicar
suggested it was from heavy drinking.
