William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon and died in 1616 (he lived 52 years) in Great Britain. He was an English poet, playwright and actor.
He is considered the most outstanding British writer and national poet of England. He was well known during his lifetime but it was when he died that he was fully appreciated and became famous all over the world. He wrote about 40 plays and 154 sonnets. He wrote historical chronicles, poems, comedies and tragedies. His plays have been translated into all the most important modern languages. Performances take place in different parts of the world. He introduced to the English language about 600 new words of his own, which he used in his plays.
HIS LIFE:
His parents were John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. He had seven siblings. In 1571 he went to school in Stratford where he learnt Latin, history, ancient literature and rhetoric. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-oldAnne Hathaway. They had three children. One of them, Hamnet, died in 1596 and perhaps his deathprovided Shakespeare’s inspiration for writingHamlet. In 1582 Shakespearedisappeared. Nothing is known about seven years of his life. This time is described as “the lost years”. It is most likely he went to London without his wife and children and there he worked at a theatre. In 1592 he joined Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was in 1598 that William Shakespeare first took part in a performance. At first, he was only an actor but later he started writing plays which brought him instant fame. He was a co-owner of the Globe Theatre. His fortune was growing rapidly so he bought two houses, one in London and the other one in Stratford (New Place). He got to Stratford in 1613. He died on 23 April, 1616. He spent the last days of his life in New Place.
Many of his dramas draw themes from ancient literature and he was influenced by great writers. His inspirations were also Italian and English works such as short stories and chronicles. Shakespeare believed it was a good method to draw on well-tried literary models. At the same time, he considered the reaction of the audience as the most important criterion.
The best comedies: "The Taming of the Shrew” (Poskromienie złośnicy), "Love's Labour’s Lost” (Stracone zachody miłości), "A Midsummer Night's Dream” (Sen nocy letniej), "Much Ado About Nothing” (Wiele hałasu o nic), "The Merchant of Venice" (Kupiec wenecki).
The best tragedies: “Julius Caesar” (Juliusz Cezar), “Timon of Athens” (Tymon Ateńczyk), “King Lear” (Król Lear), “Romeo and Juliet” (Romeo i Julia), “Macbeth” (Makbet), “Hamlet” (Hamlet), “Othello” (Otello).