William Shakespeare - Biography

William Shakespeare - Biography 

William Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest of all dramatists all over the world. He was born on 23rd April 1564, at Stratford-upon-Avon in Henley Street as the oldest son of glove maker John Shakespeare and his wife Mary Arden. He had one sister and one brother. William attended the local grammar school. When he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway from a nearby village Shottery. She was eight years older when he and already pregnant.

They had two daughters - Susan and Judith and a son Hamnet. Hamnet and Judith were twins, but Hamnet died at the age of eleven. He was an actor, who had appeared in secondary roles, before he became playwright. In 1592 he came to London and joined a group of actors known as the Lord Chamberlain's Man.

Eight years later he bought his own theatre and named it the Globe Theatre, which was out door and actors played in the open air. It is also important to remind that in Shakespeare's time here were no actresses and also women's roles were played by men and one actor played more roles than one.

First Shakespeare re-written older plays but later he started to write his own plays and he was very successful. Shakespeare became playwright for actors in "Lord Chamberlain's company". Group often played in front of queen Elizabeth I. Then, when James I replaced Queen Elizabeth, the company recalled "The king's Men". Both the Queen Elizabeth I. and James I. liked him very much. One day, during a performance of Henry VIII was the Globe destroyed by fire.

He was a wealthy man and he bought a handsome house, the second largest in the town. William died in Stradford in 1616 probably on his birthday. The legend says that he died after a louder and noisier birthday celebration with his friends. He is buried at local Trinity Church. Here is buried also his wife and other members of this family. His plays were first published in 1623. Today, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is visited by tourists from all over the world.

Shakespeare was a big poet and wrote some nice sonnets, but the best know are his plays. He wrote 37 plays, tragedies, comedies, historical plays and romances, which is something between tragedy and comedy:

• Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and plays which are something between tragedy and a historical play - Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra
• Comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, Twelfth Night.
• Romances: Pericles, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest.
• Historical plays: Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI.