The World of William Shakespeare An Introduction

William Shakespeare Born on April 23, 1564 Lived in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Town on the Avon River Son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden Attended grammar school where he learned Latin and literature.

Marriage and Children Married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 in 1583. Daughter Susana was born in 1583 Twins Hamnet and Judith born in 1585. Hamnet died 9 yrs later.

Shakespeare and the Theater By the time he was 30, Shakespeare was an actor, playwright and part-owner in a theater company called “Lord Chamberlain’s Men.” Theater companies Groups of actors/playwrights Wealthy benefactor Renamed “Kings Men” when King James (KJV) made them national theater company

Later Years of Shakespeare After Hamnet died in 1596, Shakespeare moved out of his home to be around the theater more. Shakespeare wrote from 1592 until his death in 1616 .

Shakespeare’s Death Died on April 23, 1616, on his 52nd birthday. Buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. Epitaph: Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosèd here. Blest be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones.

His Writing Many of Shakespeare’s works are regarded among the best in the English language. He wrote more than 40 plays. Wrote 154 sonnets plus 5 other poems.

The Plays His plays fall into 3 major categories: Comedies Tragedies Histories He acted in many of his own plays during his time. He wrote everything in iambic pentameter Iambic – an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Pentameter – five units of the above, so a line with 10 syllables in all.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets Sonnets are poems with 14 lines with a very specific rhyme scheme. abab cdcd efef gg Each line has 10 syllables

Sonnet 18 – William Shakespeare 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 some time declines, By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm`d; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall Death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: So long as men can breath or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.