William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare Biography

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor, born in Stratford on Avon, in Warwickshire, England in 1564. Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, in the church of the Holy Trinity. No one like him to deepen and humanize more the characters and plays that make up one of the greatest legacies in the history of universal literature. He is universally known as The Great inspirer of modern theater.

William Shakespeare is the third kid of the eight children who had the union between John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. There is not much information about his childhood since the little that is known or said about his childhood is based on theories.

Since 1577, when he was thirteen years old, his father began to have financial problems and that was why William could not go to college.

Shakespeare only appears 18 years later in a record that certifies his marriage to Ann Hathaway, who is eight years older than him. In 1583, his first daughter was born and was called Susana. On February 22, 1585, his twins Judith and Hamnet were born.

Two years later, in 1587, Shakespeare changed his hometown and moved without his family to London, where he devoted himself to different works. In 1590, Shakespeare would anonymously publish the first part of Henry VI. In 1592, he wrote two great works: Tito Andrónico and Ricardo III. Only from that year, his figure appears in the very center of the theatrical life of the city of London. Write the Taming of the Shrew and The Comedy of Errors in 1593.

Around 1594, Shakespeare was part of the theater company Lord Chamberlain and since then his destiny is related to it. There are documents that prove that Shakespeare was not only a theater writer but also acted in the works of other authors. In this same year, he published The Rape of Lucrece.

Shakespeare’s artistic progress was slow, for in his early works the difficulty in the use of white verse was noted. As he gained experience, he learned to manipulate the techniques that dramatic composition demanded. His experience as an actor helped him, he became familiar with the rhetorical forms that were used in the stages, but he also knew how to structure a play so that it could be attractive for the audience.

In 1596, his son Hamnet died when he was only eleven years old. That same year he wrote The Merchant of Venice.

In 1598, he printed Love’s Labour’s Won and also concludes a couple of works.

In 1599, he was in charge of the theater The Globe and a year later he will finish “Hamlet.”

Hamlet of Denmark represents better than any other circumstance the essence of what is called the “Shakespearean style.”
To say Hamlet is to say, Shakespeare. Undoubtedly, it is his most recognized theatrical work, the piece that houses one of the most famous passages of universal literature. The “Being or not being” with which the monologue begins, said by the tormented spirit of the Prince of Denmark.

The famous Hamletian monologue appears in Act III, Scene I. Here is a fragment:

To be, or not to be–that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep–
No more–and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep–
To sleep–perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.”

In 1611, Shakespeare will finish “The Tempest” and with its premiere, he would end his career. Two years later he retired to his home in Stratford, where he died on April 23, 1616, at the age of 52.

WORKS

Historical drama

King John
Ricardo II
Henry IV, part 1
Henry IV, part 2
Enrique V
Henry V
Henry VI, Part 1
Henry VI, Part 2
Henry VI, Part 3
Ricardo III
Henry VIII

Tragedy

Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
The Lear King
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Titus Andronicus
Troilus and Cressida

Comedy

All’s Well That Ends Well
The History of Cardenio
Cymbeline
As you like it
The Merchant of Venice
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Comedy of Errors
The Taming of the Shrew
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Tempest
The two Gentlemen of Verona
The two noble kinsmen
Measure for measure
Much Ado About Nothing
Twelfth Night
Timon of Athens
Love’s Labour’s Lost