Who is William Shakespeare

Introducing William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is one of the famous figures in world literature, as he is called the English national poet. Shakespeare wrote in the British theater during the Elizabethan and Jacobin eras, or the so-called English Renaissance, leaving behind a large legacy of literary works that are still widespread today.

The Birth of William Shakespeare

his early years

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 AD in England, in the county of Warwickshire, specifically in the city of Stratford-upon-Avon, but the date of his birth is not historically documented, because birth certificates were not yet issued in the Elizabethan period, but it is believed that he was born on the twenty-third Sunday of April. This is because he was baptized on the twenty-sixth of April, as it is customary for the baptism ceremony to take place several days after the birth of the child. And his father, John Shakespeare, who held several positions, worked as a merchant and achieved great success, held the position of a municipal member, and the position of mayor of the city of Stanford, and became mayor, except that he was accused of lending money excessively and inappropriately, so he was denied the title of “gentleman” (in English : Gentleman), and his request, which he submitted in 1570 AD to carry the coat of arms, was rejected. As for the five brothers and sisters of Shakespeare, who is the eldest of them all, they are: Gilbert (1566 AD-1612 AD), Joan (1569 AD-1646 AD), Anne (1571 AD-1579 AD), and Richard (1574 AD). -1613 AD), and Edmund (1580 AD-1607 AD), and has The family grew up together in Henley Street.

It is believed that Shakespeare received his education at the Stratford Grammar School located in the city center of Stratford, which is concerned with teaching Latin grammar and translation for many writers, such as: Cicero, Virgil, and Ovid, and he is Shakespeare's favorite writer, and this assumption was built on the basis of The status of Shakespeare's father as a member of the municipality, which gives him the right to educate his children at Stratford Grammar School for free, but there is no historical record proving this, nor is there evidence that Shakespeare completed his education.

his personal life

It is believed that William Shakespeare was a convert to Catholic Christianity, and that his family was sympathetic to Catholics, and he formed his own family when he reached the age of eighteen, as he married Anne Hathaway, who came from the city of Shuttery on November 28, 1582 AD, and in 1583 AD they had their first two children. Susan, then they gave birth to twins Judith and Hamnet in February 1585 AD, and in 1596 AD Hamnet died when he was eleven years old, so Shakespeare grieved deeply for his only son, and he did not publish any writings until four years after his death, so he released his famous play “Hamlet ". Historians could not know the events that took place in Shakespeare's life since the baptism of his twins Hamnet and Judith in 1585 AD, and until 1592 AD in which Shakespeare moved to London and his star rose in the world of theater. This period of Shakespeare's life was called the Lost Years. There is no documented evidence explaining why he left his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon and moved to London, or what he was doing before moving to London and gaining fame as a professional actor and playwright.

his career

Shakespeare's practical life was in the city of London, moving to Stratford from time to time, and although there is no conclusive evidence about the period in which Shakespeare began his writing career, the prevailing beliefs indicate that he started since 1592 AD, based on historians' performance records that were set up On the theaters of London, which dates the beginning of the brightness of Shakespeare's star in the world of theater, and in the year 1594 AD, Shakespeare published some of his plays in the form of copies with four pages, and it did not take long for his writings to achieve the highest percentage of sales, in the year 1598 AD, and it is noteworthy that Shakespeare worked as an actor in the theater In addition to his work in playwriting.

Shakespeare began his work in cooperation with a company he founded with his fellow actors since 1594 AD, and called it the “Lord Chamberlain's Men”, which became the leading company in London, and in 1599 AD the company became its own theater, as the members of the company built The theater is on the south bank of the River Thames, and they called it the Globe Theater (in English: The Globe), and the company was honored in 1603 AD by obtaining a royal patent by King James I, the king who assumed the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth, so the name of the company was changed to “Men The King” (in English: The King’s Men), and the members were not satisfied with that, so they included the Blackfriars Indoor Theater for their company in 1608 AD, and it is worth noting that Shakespeare’s partnership in the “King’s Men” company brought him to wealth, as records indicate that Shakespeare bought and invested in a large number of Real estate, including his purchase of the second largest house in Stratford County in 1597 AD, in addition to investing his share of the tenth tax in Stratford County.

Accomplishments of William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's plays and poems have left a great impact today, and a special place despite the passage of more than 400 years since his death, as his literary works are concerned with: theaters, libraries, and schools, and the following are the most important works of William Shakespeare.

his poems

Shakespeare was distinguished by his creation of many structures and vocabulary that he used in his poems, where some of these vocabulary are distinguished by the fact that they combine several roots of Latin and French origins, and from his original language as well. Shakespeare began writing poetry since 1593 AD, so he wrote the first poem entitled “Venus and Adonis”, which is classified as a narrative poem, and in the following year he wrote another narrative poem called “The Rape of Lucrece”. In English: The Passionate Pilgrim), except that most of the poems of this version that were attributed to Shakespeare were not written by him, and among all the poems of the book were only five poems actually attributed to Shakespeare, and these poems are: two poems published later in Shakespeare's sonnets, and three poems written In the play of love, a wasted effort, and Shakespeare continued to write poetry until 1599 AD, when he wrote a lamentative poem called "The Phoenix and the Turtle", and his poetic works were published in 1601 AD under the name "The Sonnets of Shakespea re).

Shakespeare's sonnets are described as a copy consisting of 154 poetic sonnets. The sonnets are divided into two parts distributed according to the person to whom the poetic verses are addressed. The sonnets (1-126) were written for a handsome and noble young man who is described as a beloved friend of the poet. ) It is addressed to a woman who is characterized by evil and malice, but in spite of that she is a distinguished personality, and the poet clings to her and loves her against his will.

his plays

Shakespeare was able to write more than thirty plays during his life, so the first of what he wrote was several plays that are classified as comedic and historical plays, such as the play Henry VI, and the play Comedy of Errors, and later Shakespeare's direction changed, so he wrote the famous play Romeo and Juliet in 1596 AD, Which is classified as a tragic and romantic play, but he soon returned to the style that he began with and was known for, so he wrote several famous plays, such as: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Anthony and Cleopatra, and he continued in this style for two years. Ten years, but in his last years he changed his style, so he wrote several plays that fall under the romantic style, such as: Cymbeline, The Tempest, and The Winter's Tale.

Not all of Shakespeare's plays were published during his life, as only eighteen of them were published separately in four-page copies, but after his death, John Hemmings and Henry Condell - two of Shakespeare's acting colleagues - collected thirty-six of Shakespeare's plays in one file. They coordinated the texts, edited them, and supervised their printing, until they were able to publish the first file that collected Shakespeare's plays in 1623 AD. The importance of this file lies in the fact that it was able to preserve several important plays by Shakespeare that were not published and were subject to loss.

Among the plays presented by Shakespeare, five plays received preference unanimously by the majority of critics, based on the literary value of the play and its permanence, and they are ranked from the best as follows:

• Hamlet: The play revolves around its protagonist, the young king of Denmark, “Hamlet”, whose father is killed, and he becomes deeply saddened, and decides to avenge his death. Therefore, the tragic play deals with feelings related to the pain of loss, which it is believed that Shakespeare suffered from feelings similar to what was written in this play, due to the loss of his son. Hamnet, and Hamlet is considered the greatest play written by Shakespeare based on the opinion of many literary critics, and it is believed that it provided a deep dimension in psychology hundreds of years before the emergence of its modern image.
• Romeo and Juliet: The play deals with the story of two people who fall in love despite their different social backgrounds, due to the enmity between their families (Montegu) and (Capulet), so several kinetic scenes appear in the play because of this dispute, but the balcony scene remains the most famous dramatic text in the world, and it can be said Romeo and Juliet is a play that presents a romantic and tragic story, and is considered the most famous play written by Shakespeare due to its timeless themes.
• Macbeth: It is a short dramatic play, whose events deal with the change that occurs in the life of Macbeth, who begins with being a soldier, then becomes a king, and finally turns into a tyrant. Her role in the play is important and influential.
• Julius Caesar: The play talks about the plot being hatched by the Roman Senator Marcus Brutus to assassinate Julius Caesar, and the play focuses heavily on Brutus' troubled psyche, and his conflicting morals while laying out the details of the assassination plot, and although the play is under the name "Julius Caesar", he appears in a few of scenes.
• Much Ado About Nothing: The events of the play revolve around Benedick and Beatrice, who have a turbulent relationship. Although they feel love for each other, they refuse to reveal their feelings, so they live a vacillating relationship between love and hate. This play is classified as a satirical comedy of aristocratic behavior.

his sayings

Many of Shakespeare's phrases and sayings that appeared in his plays had an important impact on the modern English language, so they were included in modern dictionaries, and became part of the language used today, and among the most prominent sayings of Shakespeare:

• Not all that glitters is gold(English: All that glitters isn't gold) from the play The Merchant of Venice.
• To be the whole and the end, (in English: To be-all and the end-all) from the play Macbeth.
• The lesson is with her rings, (in English: All's well that ends well) from the play The Lesson with its Rings.
• break the silence(In English: Break the ice), from the play The Taming of the Shrew.
• We've seen better days(English: We have seen better days), from the play As You Like It.

Controversy over Shakespeare

Some controversy arose questioning the fact that Shakespeare wrote the plays attributed to him more than two hundred years after his death. The writing of Lord Francis Bacon, and that the attribution of these plays to Shakespeare is nothing but a conspiracy hatched to hide the real personality who wrote these works, but this controversy raised by Delia Bacon is not based on any real evidence to prove the validity of her claim, and there is no evidence that the name used by the author of the poems It was only a pseudonym, or that Shakespeare was only a theatrical actor, and on the other hand there is a lot of evidence that proves the opposite of these allegations, and confirms the existence of a real person named William Shakespeare who wrote all the literary pieces attributed to him, and proves the fact that he is part of a theatrical company was represented in it.

After this controversy raised by writer Delia Bacon, many people adopted her point of view, including: the Earl of Essex, Christopher Marlowe, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Rutland, the Earl of Oxford, and Queen Elizabeth I, despite what is raised by Bacon's supporters or anyone who assumes the existence of another author of the plays Shakespeare, but not all of the names of the possible authors had any connection with any contemporary actor of any of Shakespeare's plays, or with anyone responsible for the production of those plays.

The influence of William Shakespeare

Not only did Shakespeare provide entertainment to his readers and fans of the plays, but his literary writings also had an important impact on several levels. The most author was able to master this type of literature, especially in the classic heroic or romantic tragicomedy narration, in addition to the distinctive narrative style of the stories, and the formation of their structure in an impressive way. By doing so, the vocabulary that Shakespeare introduced by formulating words in a different way, such as changing verbs into nouns and vice versa, linking words together in new ways, and adding suffixes and prefixes to words.

Shakespeare's stories are distinguished by being beyond time and culture, as they are stories that do not die but are told in new ways to suit the modern world, because they carry a large amount of human feelings that do not change with time or with different cultures, and it is believed that presenting these human feelings, such as love, or music, Or getting old that no Western writer was able to express in influential and eloquent words as Shakespeare did. Shakespeare lies not only in his words and rhetoric, but also in the strength of the characters that appear in his plays, especially the characters he drew in the tragic plays that excelled in the Greek tragedy. Shakespeare's tragic characters are among the most difficult roles that any actor may play, and at the same time the most attractive for actors as well.

his last years and his death

William Shakespeare continued to write until 1613 AD, the year in which he wrote his last two plays, then returned to Stratford announcing his retirement. Shakespeare died at the age of 52, on April 23, 1616 AD, and was buried in his hometown of Stratford-upon. Avon, as he placed his body in the altar of the Temple of the Church of the Holy Trinity in which he had a share, because he had bought a tenth of that church for a large sum of money, and as for Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway, she remained by her husband's side until the last days of his life, and his family was placed on the wall closest to His tomb contains a bust of him that resembles his figure in a writing position.