William Shakespeare's Biography

     

  William Shakespeare was baptised on the 26th April,1564 and died on the 26 th April, 1616. His actual birthdate remains unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, St George's Day. He was the son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. Shakespeare was born and raise in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. He was an English peot and playwright,widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".

              Although no attendance records for the period survive, most biographers agree that Shakespeare probably was educated at the King's VI New School in Stratford from the age of seven (7) in 1571, about a quarter-mile from his home and he left school at the age of fourteen (14) in 1578.  Grammar schools varied in quality during the Elizabethan era, but the curriculum was dictated by law throughout England, and the school would have provided an intensive education in Latin grammar and the classics.

      His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright artist. Shakespeare was  raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613.
         In addition, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. Shakespeare also wrote some plays which includes the Merchant of Venice, The Count of Monte Cristo and the Six Tales of Shakespeare etc. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.
        According to Answers.com William Shakespeare is known as the best because of his works, especially his plays and sonnets. He is also known for his technique. One cool thing that he did was write in iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter basically means that each line has 10 syllables. These ten syllables would go in a pattern of stressed, unstressed, stressed, unstreseed, and so forth.
        Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime.
Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius. In the 20th century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.
       Furthermore, Elizabethan era was a time associated with Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558–1603) and is often considered to be the golden age in English history. It was the height of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of English poetry, music and literature. This was also the time during which Elizabethan theatre flourished, and William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of plays and theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant Reformation became more acceptable to the people, most certainly after the Spanish Armada was repulsed. It was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland.
       The theatre most often associated with William Shakespeare is the The Globe Theatre, which opened in 1599 in Southwark, London. It was the first theatre built by actors, and was roughly circular in shape with an open roof, which led to it's nickname "The Wooden O."
The original Globe burned down in 1613, following an accident with on-stage pyrotechnics, and was rebuilt in 1614. It was finally closed down in 1642, and demolished in 1644 to make way for housing.