William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He married Anne Hathaway at age 18 and had three children with her. Shakespeare went on to have a successful career as a playwright and poet in London, writing famous works such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and 154 sonnets. He was also an actor and shareholder in The Lord Chamberlain's Men theatrical company, making him a celebrated figure of the English Renaissance. Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of 52.
2. Life
He was born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-
Avon, England.
He was the oldest of the five surviving children of
John Shakespeare and Mary Arden.
The young Shakespeare began his education at the
age of five.
He primarily studied Latin along with languages
such as French and Italian.
3. Three years after leaving school, Shakespeare
married Anne Hathaway.
Shakespeare was eighteen when he married,
whereas Hathaway was twenty-six.
They had three children: Susanna, Hamnet and
Judith.
4. He was a playwright and he also wrote sonnets.
He became a member of The Lord Chamberlain's
Men, a company of actors that performed in The
Theatre and later The Globe.
The company was Queen Elizabeth's favourite
theatre group.
5. In 1594, Shakespeare became a founder, actor, chief
playwright, and shareholder of The Lord
Chamberlain's Men, a company of actors that
performed in The Theatre and later The Globe.
The company was Queen Elizabeth's favourite
theatre group.
8. The Lord Chamberlain's Men performed in two
different theatres: "The Theatre" and the world
famous "Globe Theatre."
Both theatres were in the round with the audience
seated on three levels:
the upper class sat on the highest level,
the middle class sat on the lower levels,
and the groundlings stood in the pit around the stage.
9. The audience did not have to be quiet and often
criticized the plays loudly if they didn't like the
acting or the plot.
The groundlings would throw things at the actors
if they were displeased with the play.
10. All of the characters in Shakespeare's plays were
played by men.
Shakespeare's women are strong, often stronger
than the men.
Whereas Shakespeare's women are strong in
character, Shakespeare's men are the opposite.
13. Comedies
All’s Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
The Comedy of Errors
The Merry Wives of Windsor
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
The Taming of The Shrew
14. He also wrote some Histories about kings and
other famous historical people
15. Sonnets
He wrote 154 sonnets.
A sonnet is a poem with 14 lines.
The Shakespearean sonnet’s rhyme scheme:
a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g
16. 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 fade
Nor 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.
