Life of a Renaissance Writer - William Shakespeare 3rd Yr Revision
Intro One of the most famous writers in the world Epitome of the Renaissance man Writes about ordinary humans and great historical figures
Early life Born in Stratford on Avon in 1564 Married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 Moved to London to become an actor Started writing plays
Fame Joined a theater group called the King’s men Become their leading playwright Wrote in the vernacular - v renaissance thing Before the Renaissance, all writers had to write in Latin Shakespeare made people proud of their own language So famous that his men performed his plays in front of Queen Elizabeth
Typical Renaissance Man Like many people in the Renaissance,... He was Influenced by the ideas of the past, including ancient times Like great Renaissance people he was influenced by the Enlightenment Believed in questioning old ideas Introduced almost 5,000 new words into the English language
Plays Wrote three main types of plays - tragedies, comedies and histories Famous tragedies are Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and MacBeth Comedies are plays with a happy ending and are about love Famous ones by Shakespeare = Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream Historical plays are about important people from the past Famous ones by Shakespeare = Julius Caesar, Henry V
Why so famous? His plays are famous because they contain all the diff aspects of humanity He could mix serious drama with side-splitting comedy He could write in many different styles Some of characters speak in the coarse language of peasants Some of his others, speak in an elegant, lofty courtly language His plays deal with important themes such as the meaning of life, and love
True genius Like Da Vinci, he was a polymath Also wrote sonnets Sonnet = 14-line love poem Considered the most beautiful sonnets in english many addressed to a ‘dark lady’
End of life Returned to Stratford to live with his wife Died in 1613 at the age of 52 Lives on through his 38 plays and his sonnets Still Influences people today