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William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare. Introduction of his life.

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William Shakespeare

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  1. William Shakespeare

  2. Introduction of his life • William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and was baptised a few days later on 26 April 1564. His father, John Shakespeare, was a glove maker and wool merchant and his mother, Mary Arden, was the daughter of a well-to-do landowner from Wilmcote, South Warwickshire. It is likely Shakespeare was educated at the local King Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford.

  3. Marriage • The next documented event in Shakespeare’s life is his marriage at the age of 18 to Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a local farmer, on November 28, 1582. She was eight years older than him and their first child, Susanna, was born six months after their wedding. Two years later, the couple had twins, Hamnet and Judith, but their son died when he was 11 years old. • Again, a gap in the records leads some scholars to refer to Shakespeare’s life between 1585 and 1592 as 'the lost years'. By the time he reappears again, mentioned in a London pamphlet, Shakespeare has made his way to London without his family and is already working in the theatre.

  4. Acting career • Having gained recognition as an actor and playwright Shakespeare had clearly ruffled a few feathers along the way – contemporary critic, Robert Green, described him in the 1592 pamphlet as an, "upstart Crow". • As well as belonging to its pool of actors and playwrights, Shakespeare was one of the managing partners of the Lord Chamberlain's Company (renamed the King's Company when James succeeded to the throne), whose actors included the famous Richard Burbage. The company acquired interests in two theatres in the Southwark area of London near the banks of the Thames - the Globe and the Blackfriars. • In 1593 and 1594, Shakespeare’s first poems, 'Venus and Adonis' and 'The Rape of Lucrece', were published and he dedicated them to his patron, Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton. It is thought Shakespeare also wrote most of his sonnets at this time.

  5. Playwright • Shakespeare was prolific, with records of his first plays beginning to appear in 1594, from which time he produced roughly two a year until around 1611. His hard work quickly paid off, with signs that he was beginning to prosper emerging soon after the publication of his first plays. By 1596 Shakespeare’s father, John had been granted a coat of arms and it’s probable that Shakespeare had commissioned them, paying the fees himself. A year later he bought New Place, a large house in Stratford. • His earlier plays were mainly histories and comedies such as 'Henry VI', 'Titus Andronicus', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'The Merchant of Venice' and 'Richard II'. The tragedy, 'Romeo and Juliet', was also published in this period. By the last years of Elizabeth I's reign Shakespeare was well established as a famous poet and playwright and was called upon to perform several of his plays before the Queen at court. In 1598 the author Francis Meres described Shakespeare as England’s greatest writer in comedy and tragedy. • In 1602 Shakespeare's continuing success enabled him to move to upmarket Silver Street, near where the Barbican is now situated, and he was living there when he wrote some of his greatest tragedies such as 'Hamlet', 'Othello', 'King Lear' and 'Macbeth'.

  6. Finalyears • Shakespeare spent the last five years of his life in New Place in Stratford. He died on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. He left his property to the male heirs of his eldest daughter, Susanna. He also bequeathed his 'second-best bed' to his wife. It is not known what significance this gesture had, although the couple had lived primarily apart for 20 years of their marriage. • The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623 and is known as 'the First Folio'.

  7. Sonnet18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? A Thou art more lovely and more temperate: B Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,A And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;B Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,C And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;D And every fair from fair sometime declines,C By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;D But thy eternal summer shall not fade,E Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;F Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,E When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:F    So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,G    So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.G

  8. Shall I compare thee • Sonnet 18 is the best known and most well-loved of all 154 sonnets. It is also one of the most straightforward in language and intent. The stability of love and its power is the theme of the poem.The poem consists of three quatrains and a couplet,and therhymeschemeis ABAB,CDCD,EFEF,GG. • The poet starts the praise of his dear friend without ostentation, but he slowly builds the image of his friend into that of a perfect being. His friend is first compared to summer in the octave, but, at the start of the third quatrain , he issummer, so he symbolized the beauty. The poet wanted to ensure that his friend be forever in human memory, saved from the oblivion that accompanies death. The final couplet reaffirms the poet's hope that as long as there is breath in mankind, his poetry too will live on, and ensure the immortality of his muse.

  9. In this first quatrain, the speaker is trying to find something that compares to the beauty of the young man. The speaker tries to compare him to a summer's day, but realizes that the young man is both more lovely and more temperate than summer. Summer can be cruel and rough, which the young man is not. Summer also doesn't last all that long, which is inadequate for the description of this young man. The speaker's main goal is to help the young man live on forever. • The second quatrain is concerned with the natural progression of nature. The "eye of heaven" is referring to the sun, which shines so brightly at times and makes everything so hot; this is one extreme. Line six offers a different extreme weather variation; summer lacks the expected brightness, meaning that it is muggy or rainy. When the weather is too extreme in one direction, there is a negative effect on nature. During extreme weather conditions flowers are not able to bloom properly, and are often destroyed by too much heat or too much rain. Extreme weather happens either by chance or simply because nature has been divested of its beauty.

  10. In the third quatrain, the narrator asserts that the young man is superior to nature, because his beauty will not fade like that of summer. "Ow'st," in line ten, is a pun because the speaker treats beauty as if it is a possession, instead of something that has been given to the young man as a gift of nature that will eventually fade. Time and death cannot harm the beautiful young man as long as his beauty is written about in verse. • The speaker tells the young man that he will live on forever, as long as men are alive and can read. His verse gives life to the young man; every time someone reads this verse the young man comes alive again, and will thus live on forever.

  11. Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;A Coral is far more red thanherlips’red;B If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;A If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.B I have seen roses damasked, red and white,C But no such roses see I in her cheeks;D And in some perfumes is there more delight C Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.D I love to hear her speak, yet well I know E That music hath a far more pleasing sound;F I grant I never saw a goddess go;E My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.F And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare G As any she belied with false compare.G

  12. The sonnetbelongs to the secondsection of the Shakespeare’s sonnets and itisaddressed to the “dark lady”. The poetloves the woman forherhumanqualities, forherreal look. Infact Shakespeare attacksall the qualitiesof the angelic woman asdescribedbyPetrarch. • The poembeginstodescibethings in nature that are commonlyperceivedas beautiful and thatthis woman hasnot. The sonnetessentiallyraises the questions “whatis beauty?”. Importantis the couplet that the poetuses to draw a conclusion: “I thinkmy love as rare as…..”Because the mistessdidn’thaveanyqualitiesbutnever the less he lovedher. • The sonnetisorganized in threequartains and a couplet, and the rhymeschemeis: ABAB,CDCD,EFEF,GG. • Itis full of repetitions and assonances: her…her…,if…if…,red…red…,roses; white…why…. • Shakespeare uses a listofcomparisons: • Hereyes are nothinglike the sun(line1) • Herlips are notasredascoral(line2) • Herhairislikewire(line4)

  13. Her voice isnotlikemusic (line 10) • Shedoesn’t movelike a Goddess (line11). • Helovesherspeakevenifher voice isnot musical becausehewantstodescribe a real , blood woman and not a statue or a courteous woman celebrated in the love poetryof the period.

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