Biography of William Shakespeare

Biography of William Shakespeare’s Life and Works

Introduction:

William Shakespeare lived 52 years, married once, fathered three children, bought a house and lands, and wrote more than a million enduring words of lyric and dramatic literature. Shakespeare left behind a fair number of documents about his professional, financial and personal life, but his material provides little sense of what Shakespeare was like as a living, feeling person.

Many critics have tried to discover an image of the writer in his works, but this evidence is also subject to scrutiny, since the utterances in his plays reflect the ideas of his character. Scholars are thus forced to piece together from a limited body of evidence, both literary and biographical, a portrait of the artist. 

How was the childhood of William Shakespeare:

Shakespeare was born into a modest but respectable family in a small town in Stratford-upon-Avon, central England in 1564. The exact date of his birth is not recorded but it is assumed that Shakespeare was born on 23rd April, 1564. He was probably educated at the local grammar school. He married a woman from a nearby village and might easily have settled into family life and business. Instead he became a part of a bustling theater scene in the capital city of London, although no one is sure how and when he ended up there.

How was the family life of William Shakespeare:

Shakespeare’s hometown was Stratford-upon-Avon, about 90 miles  northwest of London. The man who was probably Shakespeare’s grandfather, Richard Shakespeare, was a farmer in the village of Snitterfield, about three miles north of Stratford. Richard rented land from a man named Robert Arden. Around 1557, Richard’s son John married Robert Arden’s daughter, Mary. Because the Ardens were landowners with a distinguished history in the area, the marriage boosted the Shakespeare’s social status. 

John and Mary Shakespeare lived in Stratford where John went into business treating animal skins and making gloves. They lived in half of a large double house on Henley Street, now known as the Birthplace. Shakespeare had four daughters and four sons, with William being the third child and the eldest boy. John Shakespeare became a respected citizen, and in 1558 he served a one-year term as bailiff, or mayor. 

How was Shakespeare’s Youth:

Town records show that William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564. Since baptism was traditionally performed a few days after birth, Shakespeare’s birthday is commonly assumed to have been either April 22 or April 23. From the age of six or seven, he probably studied at the King’s New School in Stratford. Like other grammar schools of the day, this one would have provided a background in Latin, plus a little Greek, and an introduction to classical works of religion, philosophy and literature. Shakespeare left school in his early teens to help in his father’s shop. 

In 1582 at the age of 18, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathe, who lived in the village of Shottery about one mile west of Stratford. Anne was eight years older than William Shakespeare. Anne gave birth to a daughter and two years later came twins, a son named Hamnet and a daughter named Judith. 

What were The Lost Years in Shakespeare’s Life:

No records related to Shakespeare’s life exist for seven years after the birth of the twins. Historians have no reliable information about those “lost years” between 1585 and 1592. Many theories have been proposed to explain how a young man from Stratford became a skilled dramatist whose plays show extensive knowledge of topics as varied as law, court customs, military life, and Italian cities.

Shakespeare may have spent this period engaged in one or more occupations, perhaps as a soldier, a sailor, a law clerk, a school teacher or a travelling actor. The references in his plays suggest that he was familiar with the practices of these and dozens of other occupations. 

Early Literary Career of Shakespeare:

Once Shakespeare arrived in London, he established himself both as an actor and as a playwright. He was as involved in the management of the theatre as in its artistic aspects. He also won admiration for his lyric and narrative verses which included two long poems and more than 150 sonnets.

What are the Early Plays of Shakespeare:

Shakespeare probably began as an actor in one of several acting companies. He soon tried his hand at playwright and between 1590 and 1593 he scored popular hits with a tetralogy of history plays about the Wars of the Rose’s. Henry VI in three parts, traces the king’s development from an innocent youth to a still innocent adult. The four-play sequence concludes with Richard III.

Shakespeare’s first brilliant villain, Richard manipulates the other nobles to gain the throne, all the while mocking them behind their backs. Taken as a set, the tetralogy emphasizes the idea that God has tested,punished and purified England through a series of bloody conflicts. Peace is restored when Richard is defeated by Henry VII.Shakespeare’s first play in the genre of comedy may have been The Comedy of Errors, which uses the confusion created when two long-separated twins, with servants, who are also twins, arrive in the same city.

In his other romantic comedies – The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love’s Labor’s Lost, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare explored the conventions of Pastoralism. The lovers in these plays learn about themselves by escaping from society to the countryside. 

In the mid 1590s, Shakespeare made another venture into English history with King John, which dramatized a power struggle of the 1200s. He also made his second attempt at tragedy with Romeo  and Juliet. Shakespeare’s first tragedy, Titus Andronicus is a grim bloodbath. Romeo and Juliet is much less gory and far more touching. In the year between 1604 and 1605, Shakespeare published his very popular tragedies Othello and Macbeth successively. 

Long Poems and Sonnets of Shakespeare:

In the early 1590s severe outbreaks of the plague  closed the theatres for months at a time. During this lulls Shakespeare seems to have devoted himself to poetry. In 1593 he published Venus and Adonis, dedicated to a young nobleman, Henry Wriothesley, the earl of Southampton. Its subject is the goddess Venus and her romantic pursuit of the young hunter, Adonis. Of all the Shakespearean works printed during his lifetime, Venus and Adonis was the poet’s best seller. 

A year later, Shakespeare published another long poem, The Rape of Lucrece, describing a violent incident from Roman history. 

Shakespeare’s sonnets were not published until 1609, but he probably began writing them during 1590s. Some are to a young nobleman whom many scholars identify as Southampton. Handwritten copies of the sonnets were circulated privately among selected acquaintances, whose admiration helped Shakespeare’s poetic reputation grow. In all he wrote one hundred and fifty-four sonnets.

Of course, sonnets numbering from one to one hundred and twenty-six have been addressed to his friend and patron, perhaps Earl of Southampton, sonnets numbering one hundred and twenty-seven to one hundred and fifty-two have been addressed to a dark lady, perhaps Mary Fitton and sonnets numbering one hundred and fifty-three to one hundred and fifty-four have been addressed to Cupid, the God of love. Now, in all these sonnets, we notice excellent imageries which the poet has used to express his thought clearly. 

Shakespeare’s Talent Grows:

Shakespeare continued to develop his talents during the late 1590s, producing a string of notable success. The comedies he wrote during this time were darker and more complex than his earlier works. Most of them deal in some way with Disguise, which conceals characters’ outer identities and frees them to explore their inner selves. In three comedies – The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Twelfth Night- young women disguise themselves as men, releasing themselves from society’s expectations about gender. 

While completing these comedies, Shakespeare also wrote a masterful new tetralogy of history plays like King Henry IV(Part I & II), Henry V. Henry IV focuses on King’s son, Prince Hal whose loyalties are torn between his father and his fun-loving but untrustworthy companion, Falstaff. Shakespeare revived the character of Falstaff in a comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor. 

While writing plays at the rate of about two a year, Shakespeare probably continued to work on his sonnets, and it is conceivable that all 154 sonnets were completed by 1598. They are Shakespeare’s only non dramatic writings in the first person. The sonnets contain many emotions, including devotion, fear, trust and a desire for immortality through art. Many readers have looked for Shakespeare’s life and personality in his sonnets. 

The Mature Artist Shakespeare:

By the early 1600s Shakespeare’s career was at its height. He had mastered the romantic comedy and the English history play. His acting company had just constructed a new handsome theatre, The Globe. Shakespeare began to investigate the genre of tragedy. This form enabled him to pursue deep questions about human morality without the need for humor or flashy battle scenes. He also ventured into unusual, mixed forms: the dark, satirical comedies known as the problem plays and the strange, magical works known as the romances. After writing his last plays, Shakespeare retired to Stratford as a gentleman. 

How was the Last Days of Shakespeare:

Around 1611, Shakespeare appears to have left London to live in Stratford with his family but continued to be involved in theatre business. In 1613, he bought the gatehouse of Blackfriars, an indoor theatre where the King’s Men performed.  He also interrupted his retirement at least twice. He wrote a history play, Henry VIII. 

In February 1616, Shakespeare’s daughter Judith married Thomas Quiney. A Stratford physician, John Ward wrote in his diary that around that time, perhaps at the wedding celebrations, Shakespeare had a “merry meeting” with playwrights Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton and developed a fever caused by excessive drinking. Lying ill, Shakespeare altered his will to provide for Judith. He left most of his property to Susanna’s family. He also left little money to some of his fellow actors.

On April 23, 1616, Shakespeare died. Seven years later Heminges and Condell published the first folio, containing 36 of Shakespeare’s plays and ensuring that his art would live long after him. 

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