William Shakespeare

Learning Target: I can explain why William Shakespeare

became known as one of the finest writers in the English language by

filling in my Slot Notes.

Early Life of William Shakespeare

• William Shakespeare was born in 1564 (the exact date is unknown).

• He was the third of eight children and the only son who survived into adulthood.

• His father was a glove-maker and alderman (like a city councilman).

• He received an education at a local grammar school in Latin and the classics.

Career• In his early life, most people believe that

Shakespeare earned a living as a school master at home in Stratford on Avon.

• Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the theater company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men.

• In 1593, the Plague struck England and theaters were closed for two years. Shakespeare used this time to write.

• He produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613.

• He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later.

Work• Shakespeare’s work includes

poetry and plays.• His work modeled some of the

classic works of Greek and Roman tradition.

• Shakespeare was successful in his own lifetime; he was both famous and rich.

• His work has even created famous expressions in modern English (e.g. “with baited breath” or “a forgone conclusion” )

Poetry

• Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets– poem of fourteen lines – follows a strict rhyme

scheme and specific structure

• Shakespeare also wrote three narrative poems.

Sonnet 18

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

Plays

• Shakespeare wrote 38 plays

• His plays fall into 3 categories:– Tragedies– Histories– Comedies

Most Famous Works

• Tragedies– Hamlet– Macbeth– Julius Caesar– King Lear– Othello– Romeo and Juliet

"To be, or not to be: that is the question". - Hamlet (Act III, Scene I).

Most Famous Works (cont.)

• Comedies:– Merchant of Venice– A Midsummer Night’s

Dream– Much Ado About Nothing– Taming of the Shrew

"The course of true love never did run smooth". A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Act I, Scene I).

The Globe Theater• Shakespeare and his partners

in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men theater company built the Globe Theater in London in 1599.

• Shakespeare’s work was performed in other theaters, but the Globe produced his best known works.

• Shakespeare often acted in his own plays.

• The original theater burned to the ground in 1613, during a performance of Henry VIII.

The Globe Theater

These photos are from the reconstructed Globe Theater built in 1997.