He was born on 23rd April 1564 at Stratford-upon-Avon. His father was merchant. At the age of seven he started attending local grammar school. At eighteen he married Anne Hathaway from nearby village Shottery. She was eight years older and already pregnant. After the wedding their first child had been born. It was their first daughter Susanna. Then they had twins the boy Hamnet and the girl Judith.
Until the year 1592 there are almost no records about him. But we know that in this year he was already established actor and playwright in London. In 1594 he joined to Lord Chamberlain’s Men and working there as leading actor and dramatist. In 1599 the company built their own theatre, The Globe in which Shakespeare shared the profits. For the next decade the Globe was leading theatre. Many famous plays were written and acted there. Queen Elizabeth I. and her son James I. showed the company many favours.
But there was a disaster in 1613. During the performance Henry VIII. the Globe was destroyed by the fire. Lord Chamberlain’s Men already renamed to the King’s Men had leased other smaller theatre, The Blackfriars. This theatre was indoor unlike the Globe, which was outdoor. This theatre allowed performing the scenic effects, that caused rising of spectaculars.
Before, in 1612 Shakespeare had returned home, because his son Hamnet had died. They lived at New Place, which was the second largest house in Stratford. There he spent the last years of his life. In 1613 he bought the Blackfriars. Shakespeare died on 23rd April 1616 and he is buried at Trinity Church.
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays divided into four groups. They are the comedies, the tragedies, the historical plays and the romances.
COMEDIES TRAGEDIE ROMANCES HISTORICAL PLAYS
The Taming of the Shrew Romeo and Juliet The Winter’s Tale Henry IV. I. II.
As you like it Hamlet The Tempest Julius Caesar
Twelfth Night King Lear Pericles
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Othello
Macbeth
Shakespeare also wrote poetry, the sonnets. (The Rape of Lucrece, Venus and Adonis)
Hamlet
Hamlet, the son of the Denmark king, learns about the death of his father. The ghost tells him that he has been poisoned by spill the poison into the ear. To make it sure, Hamlet pretends madness and tests the ghost’s story by having a play, which resembles to the murder of his father. Nobody guesses why he goes bananas. The prepared play is acted before the new king, who betrays himself. He decides to destroy Hamlet and he sends him to
England to have him killed there. But Hamlet returns and plays the end of the story into a bloody vengeance when almost everyone dies. – Hamlet, the King, Hamlet’s mother…
King Lear
King Lear had three daughters. He decided to divide his kingdom among them and he asked them to tell him who of them loved him the best. The two elder ones told him that they loved him above all, but that was not true. Cordelia, who really loved him, said that she would give a half of her love to him and a half to her future husband. King Lear became very angry and drove her away from home. Too late the king realized that both two daughters hadn’t told him the truth. They get rid of him and the old king wet mad. Cordelia, who married the king of France came to England with the army to help father. But both King Lear and Cordelia were made prisoners and she was put to death by her sisters. Then King Lear had the heart broke and he died too.
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