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William Shakespeare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
William Shakespeare
(National Portrait Gallery [2] )
William Shakespeare (baptised [3] April 26 [4] , 1564 [5] , died (O.S.)
-
April 23 [7] , 1616 [8] ) is considered by many to have been the
greatest writer [9] the English language [10] has ever known. As a
playwright [11] , he wrote not only some of the most powerful tragedies
-
, but also many of the funniest comedies [13] ever to appear on an
English stage. He also wrote 154 sonnets [14] and several major poems
-
, some of which are considered to be the most brilliant pieces of
English literature ever written, because of Shakespeare's ability to
rise beyond the narrative and describe the innermost and the most
profound aspects of human nature [16] . He is believed to have written
most of his works between 1585 [17] -1610 [18] , although the exact
dates and chronology of the plays [19] attributed to him are not
accurately known.
Shakespeare's influence on the English-speaking world is reflected in
the ready recognition afforded many quotations from Shakespearean plays
-
, the titles of works based on Shakespearean phrases [21] , and the
many adaptations [22] of his plays. Other indicators of contemporary
influence are his inclusion in the top 10 of the "100 Greatest Britons
-
" poll [24] sponsored by the BBC [25] , the frequent productions
based on his work, such as the BBC Television Shakespeare [26] , and the
success of the fictional account of his life in the 1998 [27] film
Shakespeare in Love [28] .
Table of contents
1 Biography [29]
2 Identity and Authorship [30]
3 Plays and their Categories [31]
4 Dramatic Collaborations [32]
5 Plays possibly by Shakespeare [33]
6 Other Works [34]
7 See also [35]
8 Specialist acting companies and theatres [36]
9 External links [37]
Biography
Most historians agree that actor and playwright were the same William
Shakespeare for whom we have considerable historical records.
Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon [38] , England [39] , in
April 1564 [5] , the son of John Shakespeare [40] , a glove maker, and
Mary Arden [41] . The baptism of Shakespeare is recorded on April 26 of
that year and the 23rd [7] has traditionally been considered his
birthday. His father, prosperous at the time of William's birth, was
prosecuted for participating in the black market in wool, and later lost
his position as an alderman [42] . There is some evidence that both
sides of the family had Roman Catholic [43] sympathies.
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway [44] , six years his senior, on
November 28 [45] , 1582 [46] at Stratford-upon-Avon [38] in a ceremony
witnessed by Fulk Sandalls [47] and John Richardson [48] ); the marriage
seems to have been rushed by the bride's pregnancy. After his marriage,
little is known of William Shakespeare until he appears on the London
-
literary scene.
On May 26 [50] , 1583 [51] Shakespeare's first child, Susanna, was
baptised at Stratford. This was soon followed on February 2 [52] , 1585
-
, with the baptisms of a son, Hamnet, and a daughter, Judith.
By 1592 [53] , he was sufficiently known to be denounced by Robert
Greene [54] as "an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with
his Tygers hart wrapt in a Players hyde, supposes he is as well able to
bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you: and beeing an absolute
Johannes factotum [55] , is in his owne conceit the onely Shake-scene in
a countrey." (The italicised line is a parody of the phrase, "Oh,
tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide" which Shakespeare used in Henry
VI, part 3 [56] )
In 1596 [57] Hamnet died; he was buried on August 11 [58] , 1596 [57] .
Because of the similarities of their names, some suspect that his death
was the impetus for Shakespeare's The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince
of Denmark [59] .
In 1597 [60] William sold "one messuage, two barns, two gardens, two
orchards, with appurtenances, in Stradford-upon-Avon" to William
Underhill [61] for sixty pounds. The house on this property was that
built by Sir Hugh Clopton [62] .
By 1598 [63] Shakespeare had moved to the parish of St. Helen's,
Bishopgate and appeared top of a list of actors (Every man in his Humor)
produced by Ben Jonson [64] .
Shakespeare's signature
Shakespeare became an actor, writer and ultimately part-owner of an
acting company known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men [66] - the company
was named, like others of the period, for their aristocratic sponsor. It
was sufficiently popular that after the death of Elizabeth I [67] and
the coronation of James I [68] (1603 [69] ), the new monarch adopted the
company and it became known as The King's Men [70] .
Various documents recording legal affairs, and business transactions
show that Shakespeare grew increasingly affluent in his London years. He
did well enough to buy a property in Blackfriars, London [71] , and
owned the largest house in Stratford.
In 1609 [72] he published his sonnets [73] , love poems addressed some
to a 'dark lady' [74] , and some to a young man (or 'fair lord' [75] ).
He retired approximately 1611 [76] and died in 1616 [8] , on April 23rd
-
, perhaps the reason behind the tradition of his birthday being this
same day. He remained married to Anne until his death. Of their three
children, Hamnet, the only boy, died at the age of 11. There were two
daughters, Susannah and Judith. Susannah married Dr John Hall [77] , and
was later the subject of a court case.
Coincidentally, he died on the same day as his Spanish counterpart
Miguel de Cervantes [78] .
Identity and Authorship
Main article: Shakespearean authorship [79]
The vast majority of academics accept that the William Shakespere
recorded as living in Stratford-upon-Avon, the actor Shakespeare and the
playwright Shakespeare are one and the same person, but this subject has
been hotly debated over the years; even the painting that accompanies
this article (and appears above the name "William Shakespeare" in the
National Portrait Gallery, London [2] ) may not be a representation of
Shakespeare at all. Sir Francis Bacon [80] , Edward de Vere [81] , and
Christopher Marlowe [82] have been suggested as alternative authors or
co-authors for some or all of Shakespeare's work.
The idea that Shakespeare himself wrote all of what are commonly
accepted as his plays has also been called into question. There is
ongoing serious academic work to ascertain the authorship of plays and
poems of the time, both those attributed to Shakespeare and others.
Plays and their Categories
Shakespeare's plays were published as a series of folios and quartos
-
, and continue to be widely studied and performed. They are a firm
part of the Western canon [84] of literature.
His dramatic work can be categorised as follows:
- Shakespearean tragedies [85]
- Romeo and Juliet [86]
- Macbeth [87]
- King Lear [88]
- Hamlet [59]
- Othello [89]
- Titus Andronicus [90]
- Julius Caesar [91]
- Antony and Cleopatra [92]
- Coriolanus [93]
- Troilus and Cressida [94]
- Timon of Athens [95]
- Shakespearean comedies [96]
- The Comedy of Errors [97]
- All's Well That Ends Well [98]
- As You Like It [99]
- A Midsummer Night's Dream [100]
- Much Ado About Nothing [101]
- Measure for Measure [102]
- The Tempest [103]
- Taming of the Shrew [104]
- Twelfth Night or What You Will [105]
- The Merchant of Venice [106]
- The Merry Wives of Windsor [107]
- Love's Labour's Lost [108]
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona [109]
- Pericles Prince of Tyre [110]
- Cymbeline [111]
- The Winter's Tale [112]
- Shakespearean histories [113]
- Richard III [114]
- Richard II [115]
- Henry VI, part 1 [116]
- Henry VI, part 2 [117]
- Henry VI, part 3 [56]
- Henry V [118]
- Henry IV, part 1 [119]
- Henry IV, part 2 [120]
- Henry VIII [121]
- King John [122]
Some scholars of Shakespeare break the category of "Comedies" into
"Comedies and "Romances [123] ." The plays included in this category
would be Cymbeline [111] , The Winter's Tale [112] , Pericles Prince of
Tyre [110] , and The Tempest [103] .
Dramatic Collaborations
- The Two Noble Kinsmen [124] , published in quarto in 1654,
was attributed to playwrights John Fletcher [125] and William
Shakespeare, and about half of it seems to be written by Shakespeare
and half by Fletcher.
- Cardenio [126] Shakespeare is reported to have collaborated
on a second play with Fletcher, Cardenio, based on an episode from
Don Quixote [127] .
Plays possibly by Shakespeare
- Edward III [128] Some scholars have recently chosen to
attribute this play to Shakespeare, based on the style of its verse.
Others refuse to accept it, citing, among other reasons, the
mediocre quality of the characters.
- The Book of Sir Thomas More [129] , a collaborative work by
several playwrights, one of whom may have been Shakespeare. That
Shakespeare had any part in this play is no longer generally
accepted, however.
- Love's Labour's Won [130] A late sixteenth-century document
lists this among Shakespeare's recent works, but no play by this
title survives. It may be the alternate title of one of the plays
listed above, such as Love's Labours Lost or All's Well That Ends
Well.
Other Works
His other literary works include:
- Sonnets [73] (See also sonnet [14] )
- Longer poems:Venus and Adonis [131] ,The Rape of Lucrece
[132] ,The Passionate Pilgrim [133] and The Phoenix and the Turtle
[134]
- Funeral Elegy by W.S. [135] ?
For a period it was thought on the basis of evidence researched by Don
Foster [136] that Shakespeare wrote a Funeral Elegy for William Peter
[137] . However most scholars now conclude that this work was not his.
See also
- Elizabethan theatre [138]
- His contemporaries Christopher Marlowe [82] , Thomas Kyd
[139] , Queen Elizabeth I [140] , Edward de Vere [81] , Edmund
Spenser [141]
- His godson, William Davenant [142] , and son-in-law John
Hall [77] .
Specialist acting companies and theatres
- Bell Shakespeare Company [143] (
http://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/) John Bell (actor) [144] -
Australia [145]
- Royal Shakespeare Company [146] based in Stratford-upon-Avon
-
.
External links
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare"
This page was last modified 06:43, 2 Apr 2004. All text is available
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License [157] (see
Copyrights [158] for details). Disclaimers [159] . Wikipedia is powered
by MediaWiki [160] , an open source wiki [161] engine.
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[100] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Nights_Dream
[101] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing
[102] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measure_for_Measure
[103] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest
[104] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taming_of_the_Shrew
[105] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Night
[106] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Merchant_of_Venice
[107] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Merry_Wives_of_Windsor
[108] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love's_Labour's_Lost
[109] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Gentlemen_of_Verona
[110] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericles_Prince_of_Tyre
[111] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbeline
[112] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Winter's_Tale
[113] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespearean_histories
[114] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_(play)
[115] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_II_(play)
[116] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VI,_part_1
[117] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VI,_part_2
[118] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_(play)
[119] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV,_part_1
[120] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Henry_IV%2C_part_2&action=edit
[121] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Henry_VIII_(play)&action=edit
[122] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_John
[123] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare's_Late_Romances
[124] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Noble_Kinsmen
[125] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fletcher
[126] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardenio
[127] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote
[128] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_III_(play)
[129] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=The_Book_of_Sir_Thomas_More&action=edit
[130] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love's_Labour's_Won
[131] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_and_Adonis
[132] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=The_Rape_of_Lucrece&action=edit
[133] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=The_Passionate_Pilgrim&action=edit
[134] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=The_Phoenix_and_the_Turtle&action=edit
[135] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Funeral_Elegy_by_W.S.&action=edit
[136] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Foster
[137] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=William_Peter&action=edit
[138] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan_theatre
[139] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kyd
[140] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England
[141] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Spenser
[142] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Davenant
[143] http://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/
[144] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bell_(actor)
[145] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia
[146] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Shakespeare_Company
[147] http://wikibooks.org/wiki/Study_Guide:Shakespeare
[148] http://quote.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
[149] http://sources.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare's_last_will_and_testament
[150] http://sources.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_Works_of_William_Shakespeare
[151] http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/
[152] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gutenberg
[153] http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/search?author=Shakespeare%2C+William
[154] http://www.shakespeare-literature.com/
[155] http://daphne.palomar.edu/Shakespeare/
[156] http://search.eb.com/shakespeare/index2.html
[157] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License
[158] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights
[159] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer
[160] http://wikipedia.sourceforge.net/
[161] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
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