Shakespeare: biography
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William Shakespeare was one of the most popular storytellers of all time. Shakespeare’s plays are quoted almost as often as the Bible. During his career, Shakespeare was not only a playwright but a poet and a businessman as well. Many of his plays were known for their complex characters, and tragic heroes. People like his plays as they can relate to the characters humanism.
Shakespeare was born in Stratford, England. As in the tradition of the time, Shakespeeare would have attended the Stratford grammar school where he would have learned to read out of an ABC bbol or Horn book. The primary language taught in schools at the time was Latin (Mabillard, 2000).
Records show that Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was with child at the time, in 1582. Anne was older than Shakespeare by 8 years. The couple’s first child was a daughter, Susanna; two years later they had a set of twins Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet passed away around the age of ten.
Wanting to pursue a career in theatre, Shakespeare moved to London. By 1592, Shakespeare was earning a living as an actor and playwright. In 1593, the theatres were closed down due to plague. Shakespeare belonged to an acting group which he managed, The Lord Chamberlin’s Men; later it was renamed the King’s men in honor of the king.
Shakespeare’s works had attracted the attention of the Earl of Southampton who then became his patron. Two pieces of poetry were dedicated to Southampton: “Venus and Addonis” and “the Rape of Lucrece.”
Shakespeare bought his wife a large house in Stratford, but probably didn’t much spend time there due to the four day ride to get there.
As Shakespeare continued in his career, he became involved more in the business side. Shakespeare and his partners built the Globe Theatre.
Shakespeare wrote different types of plays: comedies, historical plays, tragedies, and tragic comedies. Some of the more well-known plays were Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello.
At first Shakespeare’s writing was similar to other writing of the time, and used metaphors and rhetorical phrases. Late Shakespeare developed smooth style with a metrical pattern.
People like his plays because the characters seemed real.
("William shakespeare biography," 2013)