Online Shakespeare

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The Life and Times of William Shakespeare

"To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man"

Introduction:

William Shakespeare:1564 -1616. English dramatist and poet, considered the greatest of all playwrights. Born Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. He was the son of a Stratford businessman and probably attended the local grammar school, acquiring a grounding in the classics. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. They had three children. Little else is known of his life before 1592, when he appeared as a playwright in London. He may have been a member of a travelling theatre group, and some evidence in his early style suggests he may have been a schoolmaster. In 1594 he became an actor and playwright for the Lord Chamberlain's Men (the King's Men under James I). It is thought that he played supporting roles, e.g. the Ghost in Hamlet. In 1599 he became a part owner of the Globe Theatre and in 1608 of the Blackfriars Theatre. He retired to Stratford in 1613 and died in 1616. In his will he left his house and land to his eldest daughter, his wife his "second-best bed", his youngest daughter a silver bowl, and enough money for each of his fellow actors to buy a ring to wear in his memory. He is buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-Upon-Avon.

No other writer's plays have been produced so many times or read so widely in so many countries as his. His work communicate a profound knowledge of the wellsprings of human behaviour, revealed through portrayals of a wide variety of characters. His use of poetic and dramatic means to create a unified aesthetic effect out of a multiplicity of vocal expressions and actions is recognised as a singular achievement, and his use of poetry within his plays to express the deepest levels of human motivation in individual, social and universal situations is considered one of the greatest accomplishments in literary history.

" He was not of an age, but for all time " - Ben Johnson

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