Shakespeare

“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.” (www.ise.uvic.ca) This quote, written by William Shakespeare, illustrates that everybody is a little part of the big world, merely playing his or her “role” as a human. It very much describes the bard himself, being a little part of that “stage”. Although his part was small, he still made an incredible impact. William Shakespeare was a fabulous playwright, writing great plays and putting forth ultimate effort.

Shakespeare’s early life shaped him into what we know him as today. Scholars believe that the bard was born on April 23, 1564; this date is based on the date of his christening. Though Shakespeare hit it big, his family did not. They were only a middle class family, making just enough to get by. Being one of six children, the eldest, that was a lot of work for his parents to support them all. Nevertheless, his mother, Mary, had some inherited money and his father was one of Stratford’s leading men.

Shakespeare’s way of life in his early years was quite normal. He grew up in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. It was a small, worldly market town in the middle of the country.

It was in Stratford that he began his education. The dramatist’s schooling was probably a big factor in helping him to be so intelligent. At the age of four, the bard went to a small, local school. From about the age of six to around the age of fourteen, he attended a free grammar school where he learned Latin. Finally, at the age of sixteen he graduated with honors from Stratford Grammar. One of the most important parts of his education was that he studied many aspiring authors, such as Seneca.

Everybody knows Shakespeare for his plays. The dramatist produced three kinds of plays: tragedies, comedies, and histories. Tragedies were a type of play where the main character was doomed to death. Comedies are not the same as they are now. Back in the bard’s time, comedies were silly complications that finally get resolved and end in a happy conclusion. Histories were true English stories that Shakespeare changed and elaborated into plays. It was not all black and white; he tied humor into tragedies, serious issues into comedies, and fake information into histories.

Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet are some of the most well known of Shakespeare’s plays. The following is a short description of these classics. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s many tragedies. Some witches tell a brave, loyal soldier named Macbeth that he will be the next king. His happiness only lasted so long. His ambition finally burned his heart and he murdered the king and any other roadblocks in front of him. Another one of his classics is King Lear. King Lear had three daughters who he loved dearly. However, he needed to find out who loved him the most, so he could give them the largest portion of the kingdom. Secretly, Lear hoped that his favorite daughter, Cordelia, would say she loved him the most and elaborate on that fact. Yet, Cordelia only said she loved him as a dad and nothing more. Lear got so furious he completely disowned her. Rage and anger consumed him and he became mad that he lost the daughter he actually loved. Hamlet was one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays. Hamlet’s uncle murdered his father. Not knowing this, Hamlet’s mother married the murderer. The ghost of the father reappeared and told Hamlet to take revenge, but Hamlet failed to take vengeance. Romeo and Juliet was one of Shakespeare’s great romantic tragedies. Two young lovers, Romeo and Juliet, had to keep their love secret because their families were enemies. They secretly were married and ran off. Romeo thinking Juliet was dead, poisoned himself. Juliet found out and stabbed herself.

Although the play was the thing, the appearance also mattered. The dramatist produced two plays, sonnets, or poems every year. The quite interesting thing about Shakespeare’s plays is that he mentions hawking in many of them because he adored hawking. He also drew back on the memories of the countryside. For every single one of his plays, he wrote them with the audience in mind. In addition, the plays he wrote had both unoriginal