William Shakespeare

Shakespeare was a playwright, actor and a poet.

Although the exact date of his birth is unknown, records show that he was baptised 26 April 1564. He died on the 23rd of April 1616.
He was also known as ‘The Bard of Avon’.

Considered the world’s greatest dramatist*, Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets*.

During his younger years, he lived in Stratford upon Avon. His father, John Shakespeare, was a resident of the district and in 1565, he was chosen to be in the position corresponding to mayor. Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden of Wilmcote, Warwickshire, came from an ancient family and was the heir to some land.

Shakespeare had 7 brothers and sisters. He married Anne Hathaway when he was only 18. Anne was already three months pregnant when they married, consequently their first child was born 6 months after their marriage.  They later had twins. This was a very small amount of children as most people had eight or over.

Shakespeare retired in 1611 at the age of 47 to his home town of Stratford, where his wife and family had remained during all the years in which he had lived and worked in London.

Very few of Shakespeare’s plays have a prologue*, but among them is Romeo and Juliet. It tells us that the ‘star-crossed loves’ are going to die which really is a spoiler. Because of this, the audience know that despite the love and liveliness of the couple at the beginning, they are running towards a tragic fate.

Prologue of Romeo and Juliet

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;

Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows

Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,

And the continuance of their parents’ rage,

Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,

Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;

The which if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Today, Shakespeare’s work is studied in schools and universities around the world, and his stories are depicted on TV and in films. In 1997, the modern Globe Theatre was opened in London. A reconstruction of the original, it’s just a few hundred metres from where the original one once stood.

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Did you know…?

Many scholars wonder if Shakespeare actually wrote his plays! He made no mention of his career in his will – and he showed great knowledge of other countries in his plays, despite never leaving England. What’s most likely, however, is that Shakespeare pinched his references from classic old plays, just like everyone else did!

Glossary

• *sonnet is a 14-line poem
• *dramatists a person who writes plays
• *prologue is a separate introduction of a literary, dramatic, or musical work.