William
Shakespeare
Biography
Details
about William Shakespeare’s life are sketchy, mostly mere surmise based upon
court or other clerical records. His parents, John and Mary (Arden), were
married about 1557; she was of the landed gentry, he was a yeoman—a glover and
commodities merchant. By 1568, John had risen through the ranks of town
government and held the position of high bailiff, similar to mayor. William,
the eldest son, was born in 1564, probably on April 23, several days before his
baptism on April 26, 1564. That Shakespeare also died on April 23, 52 years
later, may have resulted in the adoption of this birth date.
William
no doubt attended the local grammar school in Stratford where his parents
lived, and would have studied primarily Latin rhetoric, logic, and literature.
At age 18 (1582), William married Anne Hathaway, a local farmer’s daughter
eight years his senior. Their first daughter (Susanna) was born six months
later (1583), and twins Judith and Hamnet were born in 1585.
Shakespeare’s
life can be divided into three periods: the first 20 years in Stratford-upon-Avon,
which include his schooling, early marriage, and fatherhood; the next 25 years
as an actor and playwright in London; and the last five in retirement back in
Stratford where he enjoyed moderate wealth gained from his theatrical
successes. The years linking the first two periods are marked by a lack of
information about Shakespeare, and are often referred to as the “dark years”;
the transition from active work into retirement was gradual and cannot be
precisely dated [Boyce, 587].
John
Shakespeare had suffered financial reverses from William’s teen years until
well into the height of the playwright’s popularity and success. In 1596, John
Shakespeare was granted a coat of arms, almost certainly purchased by William,
who the next year bought a sizable house in Stratford. By the time of his
death, William had substantial properties, both professional and personal,
which he bestowed on his theatrical associates and his family (primarily his
daughter Susanna, having rewritten his will one month before his death to
protect his assets from Judith’s new husband, Thomas Quiney, who ran afoul of
church doctrine and public esteem before and after the marriage) [Boyce, 529].
Shakespeare
probably left school at 15, which was the norm, and took some sort of job,
especially since this was the period of his father’s financial difficulty.
Numerous references in his plays suggest that William may have in fact worked
for his father, thereby gaining specialized knowledge [Boyce, 587].
At
some point during the “dark years,” Shakespeare began his career with a London
theatrical company—perhaps in 1589—for he was already an actor and playwright
of some note in 1592. Shakespeare apparently wrote and acted for Pembroke’s
Men, as well as numerous others, in particular Strange’s Men, which later
became the Chamberlain’s Men, with whom he remained for the rest of his career.
When,
in 1592, the Plague closed the theaters for about two years, Shakespeare turned
to writing book-length narrative poetry. Most notable were “Venus and Adonis”
and “The Rape of Lucrece,” both of which were dedicated to the Earl of
Southampton, whom scholars accept as Shakespeare’s friend and benefactor
despite a lack of documentation.
During
this same period, Shakespeare was writing his sonnets, which are more likely
signs of the time’s fashion rather than actual love poems detailing any
particular relationship. He returned to play writing when theaters reopened in
1594, and published no more poetry. His sonnets were published without his
consent in 1609, shortly before his retirement.
Amid
all of his success, Shakespeare suffered the loss of his only son, Hamnet, who
died in 1596 at the age of 11. But Shakespeare’s career continued unabated, and
in London in 1599, he became one of the partners in the new Globe Theater,
built by the Chamberlain’s Men. This group was a remarkable assemblage of
“excellent actors who were also business partners and close personal friends .
. . [including] Richard Burbage . . . [who] all worked together as equals . . .
”.
When
Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 and was succeeded by her cousin King James of
Scotland, the Chamberlain’s Men was renamed the King’s Men, and Shakespeare’s
productivity and popularity continued uninterrupted. He invested in London real
estate and, one year away from retirement, purchased a second theater, the
Blackfriars Gatehouse, in partnership with his fellow actors. His final play
was Henry VIII, two years before his death in 1616.
Incredibly,
most of Shakespeare’s plays had never been published in anything except
pamphlet form, and were simply extant as acting scripts stored at the Globe.
Only the efforts of two of Shakespeare’s company, John Heminges and Henry
Condell, preserved his 36 plays (minus Pericles, the thirty-seventh) in
the First Folio. Heminges and Condell published the plays, they said, “only to
keep the memory of so worthy a friend and fellow alive as was our Shakespeare”
. Theater scripts were not regarded as literary works of art, but only the
basis for the performance. Plays were a popular form of entertainment for all
layers of society in Shakespeare’s time, which perhaps explains why Hamlet
feels compelled to instruct the traveling Players on the fine points of acting,
urging them not “to split the ears of the groundlings,” nor “speak no more than
is set down for them.”
Present
copies of Shakespeare’s plays have, in some cases, been reconstructed in part
from scripts written down by various members of an acting company who performed
particular roles. Shakespeare’s plays, like those of many of the actors who
also were playwrights, belonged to the acting company. The performance, rather
than the script, was what concerned the author, for that was how his play would
become popular—and how the company, in which many actors were shareholders,
would make money.
William
Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, and was buried two days later in the
chancel of Holy Trinity Church where he had been baptized exactly 52 years
earlier.
A Shakespeare Biography
Quiz
1. In what year was Shakespeare born?
A.
1564
B.
1616
C.
1558
D.
1592
2. What town or city was Shakespeare born in?
A.
London
B.
Stratford-upon-Avon
C.
Snitterfield
D.
Oxford
3. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon,
but what county is the town in?
A. Sussex
B. Norfolk
C. Durham
D. Warwickshire
4. The names of Shakespeare's father and
mother were:
A.
Abraham and Sara
B.
William and Anne
C.
John and Mary
5. Shakespeare attended the Stratford Grammar
School, also known as the King's New School:
A.
From 1569 to
1579
B.
He did not attend
school.
C.
There are no records
of his school attendance, but it is highly likely he attended that school.
6. Who did Shakespeare marry?
A.
Judith Sadler
B.
Susanna Hall
C.
Anne Hathaway
D.
Mary Queen of
Scots
7. How old was Shakespeare
when he got married?
A. 17
B. 18
C. 19
D. 20
8. Shakespeare was the father of how many
children?
A.
3
B.
2
C.
10
D. 1
9. Shakespeare left his home town of Stratford
because:
A.
He was caught poaching
on the lands of Sir Thomas Lucy and fled to avoid prosecution.
B.
He was apprenticed to
his father who was a butcher. He hated the work and ran away to London.
C.
He took a job as a
school teacher in the country, and left to pursue this career.
D.
It is not known for
sure how or why he left.
10. The London theaters were closed on
account of a virulent outbreak of the plague in 1593 and part of 1594.
Specifically, what disease was this?
A.
Tuberculosis
B.
The Plague of
Frogs
C.
Bubonic Plague
D.
The pox
11. In
what year was the Globe Theater built?
A.
1594
B.
1599
C.
1608
D.
1613
12. Sometime after 1599-1600 Shakespeare
turned from writing predominantly romantic comedies and history plays to
tragedies. Which five plays are known as his "great tragedies"?
A.
Hamlet, Othello,
Macbeth, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra
B.
The Merchant of
Venice, Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, Henry V, Twelfth Night
C.
King John, Henry VI
Part 1, Richard II, Richard III, Henry VIII
D.
Measure for
Measure, Troilus and Cressida, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Cymbeline.
13. In 1603 Shakespeare's acting company,
The Lord Chamberlain's Men, became the King's Men. Which king was their patron?
A.
George III
B.
James I
C.
Edward III
D. Henry VIII
14. In
his later years, Shakespeare collaborated with what author on the play The
Two Noble Kinsmen?
A.
Thomas
Middleton
B.
Francis
Beaumont.
C.
Christopher
Marlowe.
D.
John Fletcher.
E.
Ben Jonson
15. In what year did Shakespeare die?
A.
1599
B.
1616
C.
1623
D. 1642
16. How much did Shakespeare
write?
- 1 play, 38 sonnets and 154
epic narrative poems
- 54 plays, 5 sonnets, and 38
epic narrative plays
- 4 plays, 38 sonnets, and 5
epic narrative poem
- 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and
2 epic narrative poems
17. In
what year was the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, called the
First Folio, published?
A.
1599
B.
1616
C.
1623
D.
1685
18. Is it reasonable to think that someone
other than William Shakespeare (1564-1616) of Stratford-upon-Avon wrote the
works attributed to him?
A. Yes.
B. No.
Keys to a Shakespeare Biography Quiz
1.
A
2.
B
3.
D
4.
C.
5.
C
6.
C
7.
B
8.
A
9.
D
10. C
11. B
12.
A
13.
B
14.
D
15.
B
16.
D
17. C
18. B
План мероприятий
посвященных 450-летнему
юбилею Уильяма Шекспира
Цели:
Образовательные: приобретение знаний о литературном наследии У.
Шекспира.
Развивающие: развитие языковой культуры, памяти, речевой грамотности, творческой
активности, расширение кругозора.
Воспитательные: воспитание чувства уважения и интереса к культуре
страны изучаемого языка.
Мероприятия.
1. Демонстрация цикла короткометражных анимационных фильмов в снятых по наиболее
известным произведениям Уильяма Шекспира, исполненных в разнообразной технике.
(февраль - март)
2. Викторина по просмотренным короткометражным
фильмам на русском языке.(март)
3. Викторина по биографии У. Шекспира на
английском языке. (март)
4. Экскурсия в Областную научную библиотеку.
Тема: Великобритания.(20 февраля, группа Т - 11)
5. Внеклассное мероприятие по творчеству У.
Шекспира в рамках предметной недели цикловой комиссии ОГСЭД.
6. Конкурс презентаций студентов первого курса
посвященных биографии и творчеству У.Шекспира.
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