Introductionto

William Shakespeare

6th Grade/English 2

Shakespeare’s Life• Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, on

23 April 1564• He was the 3rd of eight children• Went to the King Edward VI Grammar

School in Stratford and studied Latin grammar and literature

• Married Anne Hathaway in 1582,when he was 18 years old.• Was working on plays and sonnets in

London by 1592• Died in 23 April 1616. He was 52 years

old.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Family Life• Father - John Shakespeare was a

leather glovemaker and wool merchant (1531-1601)

• Mother - Mary Arden, daughter of rich local landowner(1540-1608)

• Wife - Anne Hathaway was 12 years older

• Children - Susanna (1583 - 1639), twins Judith (1585 – 1592) and Hamnet(died when he was eleven from a disease)

• Family lived in Stratford, Shakespeare lived in London except for the last five years of his life when they were together

His work and careerFACTS • William Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest writer in English Literature.• Poet and dramatist• He wrote 37 plays: comedies, tragedies and histories • Wrote about 154 sonnets and a few poems• Started out as an actor

Comedies• A Midsummer Night’s Dream• All’s Well That Ends Well• As You Like It• The Merry Wives of Windsor• Measure for Measure• The Comedy of Errors• Two Gentlemen of Verona• The Tempest• The Merchant of Venice• Twelfth Night• The Taming of the Shrew• Winter’s Tale• Cymbeline

Tragedies

• Antony and Cleopatra• Coriolanus• Macbeth• Othello• Romeo and Juliet• Hamlet • Julius Caesar• King Lear• Timon of Athens

History

• Henry IV , part 1, part 2

• Henry V ,

• King John

• Richard II

• Richard III

Importance to English• Used over 20,000 words in his works ( the

average writer uses 7,500)• The English Dictionary of his time only had

500 words• Shakespeare’s plays show the first recorded

use of 2,035 new English words• He created many words we use in our daily

speech: “antipathy, critical, frugal, dwindle, extract, horrid, vast, critical, excellent, eventful, majestic, lonely, leapfrog, well-read, and countless others (including countless)”

Globe Theater

Why is he still so famous?• In his plays the characters are in situations that we

experience in our lives: love, marriage, death, the need to make difficult choices, greed, selfishness, revenge, kindness etc.

• His plays are full of humanity, tolerance and wisdom• They are constantly fresh and can be adapted to the

time and place they are performed• Their language is very expressive and powerful• Shakespeare’s plays were very popular when he was

alive, and today they are even more popular. There are many films based on his plays.

In conclusion…

William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in history.