William Shakespeare was born on April, 23rd 1564 in Stratford-in-Avon, northwest of London. This date is based on record of his baptism on April 26th.
Shakespeare's father John was a successful glove marker and a businessman who held a number of positions in the town government. His mother whose maiden name was Mary Arden, was the daughter of his father's landlord.
There is no written evidence of Shakespeare's boyhood, not even a name on a school attendance list. However, given his father's statue, it is highly probable that he attended the Stratford Grammar School, where he acquired knowledge of Latin.
In November, the year 1582 William Shakespeare received a license to marry. At this time Anne would have been 26 and William 18. A considerable age difference to William Shakespeare, whom at the time was still under the age of consent (21). It is apparent that Anne Hathaway became pregnant prior to marriage which would have no doubt caused a scandal for both of the families. Some writers have made much of the fact that Shakespeare left his wife and children behind and he went into London not long after his twins were born. However, he visited his family in Stratford regularly during his years as a playwright, and they may have lived with him for a long time in London.
Shakespeare became connected with the theatre in the late 1580's and earlyn1590's. By 1594, however, he had become a part owner and the principal playwright of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, one of the most successful theatre companies in London.
In 1599, the company built the famous Globe theatre on the South bank of the Thame River, in Southwark. This is where most of Shakespeare plays were performed.
William Shakespeare did not think to himself that he was a man of letters. He wrote his plays to be performed and did not bring out editions of them for the reading public. The first published edition of his work, called The First Folio, was issued in 1623 by two members of his theatre company, John Heminges and Henery Condell, and contained thirty-six of the thirty-seven plays now attributed to him.
In about 1610, William Shakespeare retired to Standfort, though he continued to write plays. April 23rd 1616 he died and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford because it was a common practice to move bodies after burial to make room for others.
Timeline of Praise
No other English writer has won such universal and enthusiastic praise from critic and fellow praise from critics and fellow writers. Here are sample of that praise, shown on a timeline from Shakespeare's day to our won:
· Ben Jonson (1572-1667) “He was not of an age, but for all time!"
· A.C.Bradley (1851-1935) "Where his power or art is fully exerted, it really does resemble that of nature."
· T.S.Eliot (1888-1965) "About any one so great as Shakespeare it is probable that we can never be right............."
Elizabethan Theatre
Prior to the reign of Elizabeth I, theatre companies made a living by travelling around the country looking for large audiences to perform. When Queen Elizabeth came to power and throughout her reign, she fostered the rise and formalization of English drama. It was during her era that drama began to be recognized as a complex art form to be appreciated, loved and critiqued by the masses. Queen Elizabeth’s own interest in drama led to this increasing interest.
When Shakespeare was twelve years old, an actor named James Burbage built London’s first theatre, called simply ‘The Theatre’, just beyond the city walls in Shoreditch. Actors- even prominent and well-to-do actors like Burbage- occupied a strange place in London society; they were frowned upon by the city fathers but were wildly popular with the common people.
In 1597, the city fathers closed down ‘The Theatre’. In late 1598, Richard Burbage (James’s son) and his men dismantled it and hauled it in pieces across the Thames to Southwark. It took them six months to rebuild it, and when they did they renamed it the ‘Globe’.
Critics dispute the exact shape and structure of this building however many believe it was round and octagonal. Shakespeare makes reference to the building in Henry V calling it “this wooden O”. It is believed that the design and structure of this building was derived from the beat-baiting and bull-baiting rings built in Southwark.
The building could seat in excess of 2500; but actors had to project their voices to be heard. Back then, there was no technology which is utilized in the theatre today. Sound effects, special lighting, scenery and all the modern amenities now used to enhance productions were entirely absent. The actors were forced to use their own abilities to compensate for the lack of technology.
In 1613 a cannon was fired as a part of a performance of Henry VIII set the theatre’s thatched roof on fire and destroyed it. The patrons escaped unharmed, but the Globe was completely destroyed.
Building a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe was American actor Sam Wanamaker’s dream. After long years of fund-raising construction, the theatre opened its doors full season on June 8, 1997.
Like the earlier Globe, this one was also made of wood, with a thatched rood and lime plaster covering the walls.
During the late 16th century, Elizabethan drama became fully- developed. Playwrights turned away from basing their plays on the religious aspects of society and began writing more sophisticated plays. Drawing on models from ancient Greece and Rome, writers introduced tragedies- plays in which disaster befalls the hero/heroine. Dramatists also began writing their plays in carefully construed of unrhymed verse, using fanciful language and making the words play a vivid image in the viewers minds.
