William Shakespeare has a reputation of being “the greatest playwright” and the “most famous English man”. He lived during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. His plays, poems, and sonnets have been passed from generation to generation up until this day. Why, you may ask? Shakespeare’s truthful writing style captivated many and influenced biographies, novels, plays, and films no matter what era it was. He wrote with different emotions: cheerful, sorrowful, unfortunate, or the opposite, humorous. No other writer’s plays or works have been produced so many times or read so widely in so many countries as his.
Shakespeare was born in Stratford in 1564, being one of eight children in total. His mother came from a wealthy family, and his father was a glove maker. He was about seven years old, when he began attending Stratford Grammar School with other boys of his own social class. The school had highly qualified teachers who were very strict on disciplining the students. Students went to school for about nine hours a day and went to school year round. He did not want to attend a university, so he withdrew from school at the age of only fourteen. Shakespeare’s poems and plays show love and nature and rural life which reflects his childhood.
At age eighteen, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was ten years older than him. Together, they had three kids. The following year after their marriage, their first girl, Susana, was born. They also had one set of twins. Their names were Hamnet and Judith, but Hamnet only lived to be eleven years old due to the plague that was going around the city. From the years of 1585 and 1592, not much is known about Shakespeare that is why they are called “The Lost Years.” In 1592, Shakespeare left Stratford and left to London where he went to pursue his career. In London, his career flourished.
In 1592, he became well known by many people in London as an established playwright. Shakespeare was an actor, writer, director, and stockholder for a well-known theatrical company in London called Lord Chamberlain’s Men. After he became known as a poet, many theatres were calling upon him to write more plays. The company was extremely successful and popular, simply because of his performing and works. He was the company’s leading member. His company often performed for Queen Elizabeth and her court and they were always satisfied with the outstanding performances and scripts.
Shakespeare began to write poems when London authorities closed all public theatres because of outbreaks of plague that were being exposed to everyone. During that time, there was no need to write plays so he began writing poems that most people considered more important than plays. In 1593, Shakespeare wrote his first long poem called, “Venise and Adonis.” The following year he wrote another poem called, “Rape of Lucrece”. Both poems were dedicated to Henry Wriotheslet who was the Earl of Southampton. The success of the poems did not lead Shakespeare into giving up writing plays. As soon as the Theatres reopened he began to write plays again.
His sonnets gained so much popularity. They usually described the devotion of a character that was often identified as the poet himself, to a young man whos beauty and virtue he praises and to a mysterious and faithless dark lady with whom the poet is infatuated. Although a lot of Shakespeare’s sonnets are popular, his reputation is primarily about his plays.
Once the theatres reopened, he became fully involved in writing plays. During the years 1594 and 1608 Shakespeare was London’s most popular playwright because of the number of times his plays were published and performed. The company that he worked for, was later called the King’s Men because they performed special presentations on a regular basis for King James I. Shakespeare performed many times for him. He performed for the king so much, that he had the privilege to perform in The Globe, which had barely been built. The first play was called “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”. After he produced that tragedy, he dedicated himself to writing many more. Some of his most famous tragedies are: “Hamlet”, “Othelo”, “King Lear”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Macbeth”, and “Anthony and Cleopatra”. Many that were performed for Queen Elizabeth after she passed away. The tragedies that he wrote gave insight to the way his life and thoughts really were.
Shakespeare was an innovator. He adapted to a different writing style other than the traditional one at the time. This style allowed his words to flow more freely. His early works, such as Richard II, Henry VI (parts 1, 2, and 3) and Henry V are all about weak or corrupt rulers that have been interpreted by Shakespeare himself, and justified the origins of Tudor Dynasty. He also wrote several comedies that included witty romance. Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Merchant of Venice are best recognized as favorites because of their wit and wordplay.
William Shakespeare wrote with intellectual perceptiveness and poetic power of a high scholarly person. Perhaps, that is the reason why many skeptics have questioned his authorization. His most tragic plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar. Shakespeare’s work is studied and performed everywhere around the world. An example of an influential movie is The West Side Story, which mirrors Romeo and Juliet.
Some of his comedies are: “The Taming of the Shrew”, “The Comedy of Errors”, “As You Like It”, “Much Ado About Nothing”, and “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”. After his many works, he became a better observer, which also helped him to write his plays better. William Shakespeare was considered a gentleman and his plays showed a lot of violence and passion. Many of his plays and poems are based on the way life really was. Some of his themes were love, evil, war, heroes, and romance. Many of his characters also came from many different lives. Shakespeare had everything; from kings, generals,to lovers, drunkards. Shakespeare understood people. He created characters that had meaning beyond the time and place of his plays. All of his characters were intriguing and remarkable.
As you can see, William Shakespeare has been very influential on the modern world. He has inspired great movies and wrote lines that will live on forever. His sonnets are still well known and moving emotionally. He is generally considered the greatest dramatist that has walked this earth. He is the world’s famous author and the finest poet ever to write in the English language. No other plays have been produced and translated so many times, as his, which explains why he is a praised writer.
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