FREE ESSAY ON SHAKESPEARE'S BIOGRAPHY

SHAKESPEARE'S BIOGRAPHY

Shakespeare's Biography
Shakespeare is one of those historical literary figures whose name carries the
connotation of genius. His name is mentioned with the same reverence given to those
masters of the arts who have become larger than life, so famous that they are known by
last names only: Chaucer, Beethoven, Bach, Degas, Monet, Mozart, and Picasso.
Shakespeare's plays have become so ingrained in part of the English-speaking culture that
it is impossible to list all of his contributions to language, literature, and drama.
Shakespeare is the most quoted English author of all time. Although Shakespeare's name
and contribution to literature is awe-inspiring, the man himself was undistinguished. He
never thought to be famous, and that one day his plays would be taught in schools all
around the world.
William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon to John and Mary
Arden Shakespeare. He was their third child. He survived infancy which is remarkable
considering the bubonic plague had come to Stratford the following summer killing about
one-sixth of the entire population. Neither of Shakespeare's parents could write;
however, they made sure that William could not only read but write as well. In Stratford,
education was free to the sons of the Burgesses the middle class which John Shakespeare
was a member. John Shakespeare worked himself up from a simple glove maker to a merchant
and one of the leading members in the town. At the age of 5 the boys were sent to 'petty
school' and were taught the alphabet by using hornbook and cross-rows. 
William Shakespeare must be remembering his hornbook when he wrote in Richard III, "He
hearkens after prophecies and dreams/ And from the cross-rows plucks the letter G." Based
on scattered comments throughout his plays, Shakespeare may not have liked his school
years. In Romeo and Juliet, he writes "Love goes toward schoolboys from their books/ But
love from love, toward school with heavy looks." Geromio, in The Taming of the Shrew,
returns from Petruchio's troublesome wedding states "As willingly as e'er I came from
school." Regardless of how he felt about his schooling, it provided him "small Latin and
less Greek" that he would need to succeed in his chosen profession. John and mary
Shakespeare were the most influential in Shakespeare's writing, for they encouredged him
to write; however, it was the simple people who lived at that time who influenced his
writing. About 1577, John Shakespeare fortune began to decline to a point where he had to
take William out of school at the age of thirteen. 
In 1582, Shakespeare at the age of eighteen married Anne Hathaway. Anne Hathaway was
eight years older than her husband. Shakespeare was married by special license for one
could not marry during a certain time due to religious. However, the reason became clear
after six months of marriage when she gave birth to a baby girl named Susanna. Two years
later in February 1585, Anne Shakespeare gave birth to twins, Hamnet, a boy and Judith, a
girl. Shakespeare seemed to have regretted his early marriage in his later life, and his
plays contain many references that seems to criticisms of his own youthful misadventures.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lysander tries to talk his way into Hermia's bed, saying,
"One turf shall serve as pillow for us both/ One heart, one bed, two bosoms, and one
troth." Hermia turns him away, and tells him to "Lie father off, in humane modesty;/ Such
separation as may well be said/ Becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid." 
However Shakespeare did live up to his family obligations. The years of 1585-1592 is
referred to as the 'lost years'. Since there are no records of what happen during that
time of his life, Shakespeare simply fades away and re-appears in London in 1592 as a
writer.From that point on he wrote plays and sonnets and was a bookkeeper for theaters
for a living untill he opened up the most famous theater, The Globe.
For each play, there was a reason why he wrote it. Most plays were written for plain
entertainment and money while many other were written for either Queen Elizabeth or
noblemen who paid well. Macbeth was written for King James I who loved the supernatural
so Shakespeare added the three witches for him. Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night's
Dream for special festival occasion when the Queen herself might be present. Many claim A
Midsummer Night's Dream was written about Queen Elizabeth. Although it would be flattery
to be depicted by Titania, the fairy Queen, who is the most beautiful and strong woman in
the play, it really is almost disrespectful for Titania falls in love with Bottom whose
head is turned into a donkey's. All of these works remind the reader that Shakespeare
wrote his works for actual performances. A Midsummer Night's Dream is the most visual
from all of Shakespeare plays; it is not meant to be read but seen. Almost
all-Elizabethan playwrights wrote for mostly bare stages and minimal props, so the appeal
of the Dream to the viewer's imagination is immense. An upper-class audience is inclined
to favor romance and fantasy in its entertainment. The escape to the wood by Hermia,
Lysander, Demetrious, Helena, Titania, Oberon and the hilarious interaction of the
Athenian tradesmen, including the comical Bottom, combined to create one of Shakespeare's
best-loved comedies. The play contains further reflection on the business of the theater,
with the tradesman's rehearsal and the performance of the ludicrous "Pyramus and Thysby."

Every character in Shakespeare plays came from people around him and the most famous
sayings probably came from a fragmented speech he had probably overheard. Shakespeare
continued writing more plays late into his life. His most famous plays were written a few
years before his death Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Anthony and
Cleopatra and The Tempest are just a few of them. These later works were more complex and
bares more 
of the soul. The Tempest, a play written for the court of James I to celebrate a court
wedding, is Shakespeare's farewell to the theater. The play, a fairytale with a magician
and beautiful daughter, centers on the reconciliation of two generations. G.B. Harrison
praises The Tempest, "Shakespeare has finally achieved complete mastery over words in the
blank-verse form. This power is shown throughout the play, but particularly in some of
Prosero's great speech…" Shakespeare makes his farewell to the theater through the
voice of Prospero, the magician. After recounting a catalogue of scenes he had created
over the years, from raging storms to corpse rising from the dead, Prosero announces,
"this rough magic/ I here abjure…/I'll break my staff, / Bury it certain fathoms in
the earth,/ And….I'll drown my book." (V.i.50-57) His only writing after this
farewell was Henry VII and his Sonnets. 
On March 25, 1616, while he was in good health, Shakespeare made a will. Leaving a dowry
to his daughter, Judith, and his household to his eldest daughter, Susanna, he gave small
amounts of money to friends and money of rings to fellow actors of the Kings' Men. A
month later he became ill and died on April 23, 1616, at the age of fifty-two. As he lay
dying, the chapel bell knelled for the passing of his soul, for the man for whom love was
the center of the universe and the central subject of his many works.
In conclusion, Shakespeare was most influenced by his parents and the people around him.
Shakespeare wrote for purely entertainment and money; but most of all, shakespeare plays
must be seen to gain the full effect. In turn, love shaped most of his work, and his
contribution to the English-speaking culture is immense.