William Shakespeare

Shakespeare lived some 440 years ago in Stratford-on-Avon, England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was baptised on April 26th, 1564 and was the oldest son of John Shakespeare and his wife Mary Arden. William’s father had an important roll in local affairs. He even became the town mayor, what was called ‘high bailiff’ in that time, of Stratford in 1568. Thanks to this important job the Shakespeares belonged to the rich, but this didn’t last long. In 1576 John Shakespeare was forced to retire from his public life for unknown reasons, picked up his old job as a master glover again and the family fell into poverty. William’s life When he was six Shakespeare went to school. He was very lucky, because Stratford had one of the best grammar schools in England. When he left school, his father just lost his function as town mayor and was a master glover again. Shakespeare went to help his father make fancy gloves of leather and silk, because there was nothing else for him to do in Stratford and there was no money to spare to send William to school again. On November 28th, 1582 William married Anne Hathaway of the neighboring village of Shottery. He was 18 and she was 26 years old. Apparently she was pregnant, because a daughter was born six months later. She was called Susanna In February 1585 Anne and William had also twins: a boy called Hamnet and a girl named Judith. In the autumn of 1587 William decided to escape of the countrylife and went to London. Not long after his arrival William joined one of the best Elizabethian acting companies, Lord Strange’s Men. Soon he started rewriting plays by other people. The first play we know that is originilly written by Shakespeare is ‘Henry VI’. In 1592 it was produced by the Lord Stange’s Men and it was an immediate succes. In 1594 Lord Stange died and the actingcompany searched for and found a new patron: Lord Chamberlain. They also found a theatre in Shoreditch. When they opened in 1594 Shakespeare was very well known for his writing. In 1599 they had to move the theatre. They rebuild it in another shape and called it ‘the Globe’. The finest plays of Shakespeare were put on in this theatre. William wrote in the period of 1595-1601 several plays, including the one about the famous star-crossed lovers ‘Romeo & Juillet’. Shakespeare’s work and acting was greatly appriciated by the Queen and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men used to perform frequently at court. It didn’t all go well in Shakespeares career: his son Hamnet died unexpectedly in 1596 followed by Williams father. The plays William wrote became more sobre. His most famous tragedies ‘Hamlet’ and ‘MacBeth’ were written in this stage of his life. Sometime during the year 1610 Shakespeare retired from London and returned to his wife and two daughters. He continued to write plays and these plays (‘A Winter’s Tale’ and ‘The Tmepest’) were influenced by the peace and quite of the countrylife. Shakepeare died peacefully in the spring of 1616. He was burried in the grounds of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-on-Avon.
Shakespeare today After 440 years the plays written by William Shakespeare are still performed and loved. The stories still touch people and many actors have become famous by playing parts that Shakespeare wrote. These parts were again and again (and still!) performed in different ways: sometimes in the style of Shakespeare’s time (1500) and sometimes the story is put in the present time: his plays continue to inspire the world!