Literature / English Writer, Poet & Dramatist
English Writer, Poet, Playwright
A brief biography of William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, considered the greatest writer, dramatist and poet of the English language.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (baptised April 26, 1564 – died April 23 1616), Born in Stratford-on-Avon, a small England country town, he was the son of a wool dealer who also became a town mayor; his mother was the daughter of a local landowner. Shakespeare was educated at the grammar school, and in 1582 married Anne Hathaway. They had three children, a daughter Susanna and twins. Numerous articles have been written about him, and his works constantly reviewed, studied, criticized and analyzed. Some of his plays such as Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet are among the most famous literary works. He created characters from all walks of life with his gift of insight into human nature.
Early Life
He established himself as an actor and a dramatist in London by 1589. Early plays, written around 1589-93 were the comedies The comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Two Gentleman of Verona; the three parts of Henry VI; and Richard III, and the tragedy Titus Andronicus .
As a Writer and Poet
In 1593, he came under the patronage of the Earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated his long poems Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. He also wrote for him the comedy Love's Labour 's Lost, and seems also to have dedicated his sonnets written around 1593-96.
As a Dramatist
From 1594 to about 1612, Shakespeare was a member of a theatre group called The Chamberlain's Men (later The King's Men). He wrote many plays for the group and had no rival writing as a dramatist, for example, the lyric plays Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Richard II 1594-97, and The Merchant of Venice 1596-97. By 1599 their group became so successful that they were able to build a new theatre called The Globe.
William Shakespeare - The Time & Life of the World's Greatest Writer | Free Documentary History.
Works
The Falstaff plays of 1596-99: Henry IV (parts I and II), Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor (said to have been requested by Elizabeth I), brought the height of his fame. He wrote
Julius Caesar in 1599. The period ended with the lyrically witty Much Ado
About Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth
Night, about 1598-1601. With Hamlet begins
the period of the great tragedies (1601-08), including Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, Antony
and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus.
This 'darker' period is also reflected in the comedies around 1601-04: Troilus and Cressida, All's Well that Ends
Well, and Measure for Measure.
Shakespeare also wrote numerous sonnets. A collection of 154 sonnets written by him, including some of the finest poems ever written, was published in 1609. It was thought that Shakespeare collaborated with John Fletcher on Henry VIII and Two Noble Kinsmen during 1613. He had retired to Stratford about 1610 to be with his family, where he died April 23, 1616.
Legacy of Shakespeare
Almost all of Shakespeare's plays are still performed today. For the first 200 years after his death, Shakespeare's plays were frequently performed in revised or cut form. It was not until the 19th century, with the critical assessment of Samuel Coleridge and William Hazlitt, that the original texts were restored.
His plays are broadly divided into lyric plays, including Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream; comedies, including As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, and Measure for Measure; historical plays, such as Henry VI, Richard III, and Henry IV; and tragedies, such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear.
Photo Credit:
William Shakespeare. Public Domain.
Video Credit:
William Shakespeare: The Greatest Playwright. YouTube, uploaded by Biograpahics. Accessed April 26, 2022.
William Shakespeare - The Time & Life of the World's Greatest Writer | Free Documentary History. YouTube, uploaded by Free Documentary History. Accessed April 26, 2022.
Resources:
1. Goring, Rosemary. (Ed.) Larousse Dictionary of Writers. (1994)
2. McGovern, Una, (Ed.) Chambers Biographical Dictionary. (New Edition). (2002)
Note: This is an abridged piece. I first published this article for Suite101.com, April 2007 (now close). / Tel
(c) April 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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