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William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Shakespeare is the greatest name in the whole range of English Literature. He was born in April, 1564 at Stratford-on-Avon, in the country of Warwick. His mother, Mary Arden, hailed from a noble family. His father, John Shakespeare, was a prosperous farmer and timber and wool merchant. He was interested in Municipal affairs and rose up to the exalted position of ‘Justice of Peace’.

At the age of nine, Shakespeare was admitted to the Village school. At the age of nineteen, he married Anne Hathway, who was some eight years senior to him. Six months later, his eldest daughter Susanna was born. In 1585, Shakespeare was blessed with twins, Hamnet and Judith. About this time Shakespeare left Stratford to London to seek his fortune. His literary career begins with his stay in London. In the year 1612, he retired from his literary and dramatic activities and settled down in Stratford. He died on 23^rd April, 1616 and was buried in the Stratford Church Yard.

Tradition says that the immediate cause for Shakespeare to leave Stratford for London was his involvement in a poaching case connected to Thomas Lucy’s Deer Park.

The statement that "Shakespeare’s biography is built upon doubts and thrives upon perplexities" signifies that there is no fully accurate data or thoroughly reliable information regarding his life history.

‘New Place’, the big house that Shakespeare purchased at Stratford for sixty pounds, is now preserved as a national museum and serves as an important place of pilgrimage for the lovers of English literature.

More about Shakespeare’s Plays

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• A C Bradley, the critic classified the Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and King Lear as the four great tragedies of Shakespeare.

   

   

• Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI are included in the category of Shakespeare’s history plays.

   

   

• Troylus & Cressida and Timon of Athens are the two plays grouped under the head Greek plays.

   

   

• Julius Caesar, Coriolanus and Antony & Cleopatra are known as the Roman Trios.

   

   

• Measure for Measure, All is Well That Ends Well and Comedy of Errors are commonly known as problem plays. In problem plays, Shakespeare poses a problem without suggesting a solution. Some common characteristics of problem plays of Shakespeare are

   

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• The non-dramatic works of Shakespeare are Venus and Adonis, Rape of Lucrece and A Sequence of 154 Sonnets.

   

   

• Christopher Marlowe was the famous English dramatist who was born in the year of Shakespeare’s birth (1564).

   

   

• Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest are two comedies in which Shakespeare introduced supernatural elements. It dominates the human action in The Tempest and not so much in Midsummer Night’s Dream.

   

   

• The word ‘dark’ in dark comedies connotes the tragic pain and intensity in a play, which has a happy ending.

   

   

• Frederick in As You Like It and Antonio in The Tempest are two usurpers in Shakespeare’s comedies.

   

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