Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, a small town in the middle of the English countryside. He may have been born on April 23, St George’s Day, which happens also to be the date of his death in 1616.
His father, John Shakespeare, was a glover and public servant with social ambitions, as suggested by his marriage to Mary Arden, the daughter of a well-to-do farmer.
John Shakespeare likely enrolled his son in the King’s New School in Stratford at the age of 7.
Shakespeare’s schooling likely ended around age 15, Ben Jonson, himself a competent scholar, affirmed that Shakespeare knew “small Latin and less Greek. When his father found himself in financial straits and required his eldest son’s help in the family glove-making business.
Shakespeare may have served as a schoolmaster in the northern part of the country. Around 1580 he went to work in Lancashire as a family schoolmaster for the wealthy gentleman Alexander Hoghton.
On 1 December 1582(According to a bond dated November 28, 1582), Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a family friend who lived in the nearby village of Shottery. At the time of their marriage, Shakespeare was only 18 years old, whereas Anne was 26. It is highly probable that the couple were rushed into marriage because Anne was pregnant. This speculation appears to be confirmed by a baptismal record for their first child, Susanna, who was born just six months after their wedding. Three years later Anne gave birth to the twins Hamnet and Judith. (Hamnet died in1596)
In 1584-Albert (1587 –Long)Shakespeare left his native town. Why he did so is not known. The most popular explanation, which appeared after his death, is that he was convicted of deer poaching on the estate of a local magnate, Sir Thomas Lucy at Charlescote, and that he fled to escape the consequences. Then, until 1592when he reappears as a rising actor. Scholars use the phrase “lost years” to refer to the period between the baptism of the twins Hamnet and Judith and Shakespeare’s first-known appearance in the London theater scene in 1592.
(It is said that Shakespeare’s return to Stratford around 1611 indicates a reconciliation with his long-neglected wife.)
In 1592 Robert Greene, in a carping book called A Groatsworth of Wit, mentions “an upstart crow …, absolute “Joannes-Factotumen” rather than “Jack of all trades” Shake-scene, in his own conceit the only Shakescene in a country.
In 1595 his name appears on the payroll of the Lord Chamberlain’s company of actors, who performed at the Court. This company, one of the most important in the town, also played in the provinces, especially during the plague of 1603, in the Shoreditch Dist.
He worked in the Globe Theatre, and finally (after 1608) in the Blackfriars.
About 1610/11 Shakespeare left London for Stratford, where he stayed at New Place, a house that he had bought in 1597.
Globe theatre was burned down during a performance of Henry VIII in 1613.
Shakespeare died on the probable anniversary of his birth, April 23, 1616.
A sad irony of fate, the broad stone that covered his tomb, was inscribed as follows:
“Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbeare
To dig the dust enclosed heare;
Bleste be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.”
-This is a doggerel
There are tow types of works by Shakespeare –
1-Drama
2-Poetry
Genera of Shakespeare –
Tragedy
Comedy
History
Poems
Tragedies-
“Antony and Cleopatra:” Love between the famous Egyptian queen and her Roman soldier lover ends in suicide.
“Coriolanus:” A successful Roman general tries his hand at politics and fails miserably.
“Hamlet:” A Danish prince is driven insane by his father’s ghost demanding retribution for his murder.
“Julius Caesar:” A Roman emperor is brought down by his inner circle.
“King Lear:” A British king decides to test which of his daughters loves him most in order to decide who gets his realm.
“Macbeth:” A Scottish king’s ambition turns him to murder.
“Othello:” A general in the Moorish army of Venice is influenced by one of his courtiers into murdering his wife.
“Romeo and Juliet:” The family politics of two young lovers doom them.
“Timon of Athens:” A wealthy man in Athens gives away all of his money, then plots to attack the city in revenge.
“Titus Andronicus:” A Roman general conducts a truly bloody war of revenge against Tamora, Queen of the Goths.
Comedies
Comedies feature the clever use of language to create wordplay, metaphors, and smart insults. Love, mistaken identities, and convoluted plots with twisted outcomes are also integral aspects of a Shakespearean comedy.
“The Two Gentle of Verona”- A story of two friends and their beloved.
“All’s well that Ends Well” – A problem play
“As You Like It:” The daughter of an ousted French ruler falls in love with the wrong man and must flee and disguise herself as a man.
“The Comedy of Errors:” Two sets of twin brothers, enslaved brothers and noblemen are mixed up at birth, leading to all kinds of trouble later on.
“Love’s Labour’s Lost:” The king of Navarre and his three courtiers swear off women for three years and promptly fall in love.
“The Merchant of Venice:” A spendthrift noble Venetian borrows money to impress his beloved but finds himself unable to repay his loan—in cash, anyway.
“The Merry Wives of Windsor:” The British nobleman John Falstaff (featured in the Henriad history plays) has adventures with a pair of women who trick and tease him.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream:” A wager between the king and queen of the fairies has hilarious effects on the hapless humans wandering in their forest.
“Much Ado About Nothing:” Beatrice and Benedick, a pair of Venetian adversaries, are conned by their friends into falling in love with one another.
“The Taming of the Shrew:” A boorish man agrees to marry the wealthy but obnoxious elder daughter of a Paduan lord.
“The Tempest:” Stranded on a remote island, a duke-turned-sorcerer uses magic to take his revenge.
“Twelfth Night:” Twins Viola and Sebastian are separated during a shipwreck. The girl disguises herself as a man and then falls in love with a local Count.
“Measure for Measure” – A Problem Play
“The Winters’s Tale” – love and jealous
Histories
Shakespeare’s histories are only about English monarchs.
Four of his plays-
“Richard II, the two plays of “Henry IV,” and “Henry V” are called the Henriad, a tetralogy that contains events during the 100 Years War (1377–1453).
2nd Four of his plays-
Meanwhile, “Richard III” and three plays of “Henry VI” explore events during the War of the Roses (1422–1485).
“King John:” the reign of John Lackland, King of England from 1199–1219
“Richard II:” ruled England from 1377–1399,
“Henry IV“- Parts -1 Ruled England from 1399–1413
“Henry IV” -Parts -2
“Henry V:” ruled England from 1413–1422
“Henry VI” -Part 1,ruled England from 1422–1461 and 1470–1641
“Henry VI” –Part-2
“Henry VI” –Part-3
“Richard III:” ruled England 1483-1485
“Henry VIII:” ruled England from 1509-1547
“Edward III:” ruled England from 1327–1377 (with Tomas Kyd)
Problem Plays
Shakespeare’s so-called “problem plays” are plays that do not fit into any of these three categories. Although most of his tragedies contain comic elements, and most of his comedies have bits of tragedy, the problem plays shift rapidly between truly dark events and comic material.by F.S.Boas
“All’s Well That Ends Well:” A lowborn French woman convinces a countess’s son that she is worthy of his love.
“Measure for Measure:” A Venetian duke tells everyone he is leaving the city but stays in town disguised to find out who his true friends are.
“Troilus and Cressida:” During the Trojan war, kings and lovers battle out their difficult stories.
Phases of Literary period of Shakespeare
| I Period 1590-1595 | Immaturity /Experimentation |
| II period 1595-1600 | Growth and Development |
| III period 1600-1607 IV Period 1607-1612 | Despair and Gloom Calmness |
-By – W.J Long
01- About His Plays.
All the manuscripts of the plays have perished; Shakespeare himself printed none of the texts; and though sixteen of them appeared singly in quarto(1609 by Thomas Thrope)form during his lifetime, they were all unauthorized editions. It was not till 1623, seven years after his death, that the First Folio edition was printed by his two colleagues – Heminges & Condell. It contained thirty-six dramas (Pericles was omitted), and these are now universally accepted as Shakespeare’s. Pericles was published in second edition (1664-65) of Third Folio(1663)
02- The Mature Comedies.
Here is the fine flower of Shakespeare’s comic genius. The comic spirit manifests itself at many levels—the sophisticated wit of Beatrice and Benedick or the clowning of Dogberry and Verges in Much Ado about Nothing, the jovial good humour of Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night; the
lighter clowning of Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice; the urbane worldly wise humour of Touchstone in As You Like It.
3-The Sombre/Problem Plays. In this group are
All’s Well that Ends Well,
Measure for Measure,
Troilus and Cressida.
Though comedies in the sense that The chief characters do not die, Their tone is sombre(Sad) and tragic.
4-The Great Tragedies.
Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear
are the climax of Shakespeare’s art.
In intensity of emotion, depth of psychological insight,
and power of style they stand supreme.
05-The Roman Plays.
These are based on North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives,. Julius Caesar,
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Cymbeline is also considered roman play *
06- The Last Plays.
A mellowed maturity is the chief feature of this group, which contains
Cymbeline,
The Winter’s Tale,
The Tempest.
More important facts about Shakespeare
His first published play was Henry VI, Part II
(1590-91).
He wrote 154 sonnets and 37 plays. He never actually published any of his plays, they are known today only because two of his fellow actors–John Heminges and Henry Condell.
They recorded and published 36 of them posthumously
under the name ‘The First Folio’.
He was a partner in the leading company of actors,
the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, founded in 1594.
He wrote plays for the Globe Theatre and it was
burnt down on 29th June, 1613 after a cannon shot
set fire to it during a performance of Henry VIII, but it was rebuilt in 1614.
The Globe Theatre was demolished in 1644.
His collective sonnets were first published in 1609.
The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s shortest play which is written in 1787 lines.
Shakespeare was known as the Bard of Stratford.
‘King Lear’ was banished from the English stage for making fun of the monarchy and King George III.
‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ has the highest percentage of
rhyming lines of all of his plays.
There is no record of ‘Alls well that Ends Well’ ever being performed in Shakespeare’s lifetime.
He never attended a university.
He lived through the Black Death.
Shakespeare had many quarrels with play critic Robert Greene.
He has instances of suicide on unlucky thirteen (13) times in his works.
*None of his plays were acted out by women.
Shakespeare was buried in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon and is believed to have died on his birthday.
Shakespeare performed in many of his own plays.
There is evidence that he played the role of ghost in
‘Hamlet’ and Adam in “As You Like It’.
When Shakespeare was alive, the town was called
Stratford, not Stratford-upon-Avon.
The motto of the Globe Theatre was “totus mundus
agit historionem”(all the world’s stage).
(Latin – Jacks in “As You Like It”, Act II, Scene vii, line 139
Last play he wrote was ‘Two Noble Kinsmen’.(collaborated work). While self is Tempest.
Shakespeare had seven siblings :
Joan (b. 1569); Margaret (b. 1562); Gilbert (b. 1566), another Joan (b. 1569); Anne (b. 1571); Richard (b. 1574) and
Edmund (b. 1580).
One of Shakespeare’s relatives on his mother’s side,
William Arden, was arrested for plotting against
Queen Elizabeth I, imprisoned in the Tower of
London and executed.
During his life Shakespeare performed before Queen
Elizabeth I, and, later, before James I who was an
enthusiastic patron of his work.
‘Timon of Athens’ was acollaboration with Thomas Middleton.
‘Pericles’ with George Wilkins and ‘The Two Noble Kinsmen’ with John Fletcher.
Two of Shakespeare’s plays, ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Much
Ado About Nothing’ have been translated into
Klingon. (is a contracted language were created by screenwriter Gene L. Coon
Shakespeare changed the company’s name from the
‘Lord Chamberlains Men to the King’s Men’ in 1605
He invented the word “assassination and bump”-
(Hatya-ubhaar/takrana)
*Shakespeare is believed to have influenced the
English language by coining certain words:
“Fashionable” (Troilus and Cressida),
“Sanctimonious” (Measure for Measure),
“Eyeball”(A Midsummer Night’s Dream),
“Lackluster” (As You Like It) and the expressions
“Forgone conclusion” (Othello),
“in the pickle (The Tempest),
“Wild goose Chase” (Romeo and Juliet)
“one fell swoop” (Macbeth).
Shakespeare’s Poetic works
Shakespeare’s two long narrative poems were among the earliest of his writings.
1-Venus and Adonis (1593), composed in six-line(1194) stanzas(199), showed decided signs of immaturity.
2-The Rape of Lucrece (1594), in rhyme royal stanzas, is of less merit. As was common in the poetry of that day,
the-action was retarded with long speeches, but there were Shakespearian touches all through.
Other poetic works –
In 1599 a collection of verse called The Passionate Pilgrim appeared with Shakespeare’s name on the title-page.
It is an anthology of 20 poems collected and published by William Jaggard that were attributed to “W. Shakespeare”
In 1609 a collection of Shakespeare’s sonnets was printed by Thomas Thorpe, who dedicated the volume to a certain “Mr W. H.” The most probable explanation is that he was William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke.
The sonnets themselves consist of 154 numbers, which are all composed in the English form of the sonnet, that of three quatrains clenched with a couplet.
Total sonnets 154, 1-126 is dedicated to Mr. W.H. and 127 to 154 are generally known as the Dark Lady sonnets . No doubt the scholars have attempted to trace out the identity of the dark lady . But her identity is still a mystery . She is a beautiful mistress with black hair and raven black eyes . She may be Mary Fitton , a lady who lived at Gawsworth Hall . She may be Aline Florio , the wife of an Italian translator according to Dr. Aubrey Burl , a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries . She may be Lucy Morgan , a fallen woman known as Lucy Negro according to Dr. Duncan Salkeld from the University of Chichester
It varies from the nonsense-verses in Hamlet and King
Lear to the graceful perfection of
Ariel’s “Full fathom five”; – The Tempest
TOUCHSTONE and AUDREY -“It was a lover and his lass” As You Like It, Act 5 scene 3
“O mistress mine”; –Twelfth Night, Act II,-III
“the willow-song” in Othello, “The Willow Song”, in Act 4, Scene 3
“Take, O take those lips away,” in Measure for Measure,
Dirge, “Fear no more the heat o’ the sun,” in Cymbe-line.
Shakespeare would still be numbered among our greatest lyrical poets.
If Shakespeare had written nothing but his sonnets … he would … have been assigned to the class of cold , artificial writers , who had no genuine sense of nature or passion .
( Hazlitt about Shakespeare’s Sonnet )
They seem to be full of fine things said unintentionally – in the intensity of working out conceits .
( Keats about Shakespeare’s Sonnet )