Introduction to Shakespeare

For many students in Years 9 and 10 this will be your first encounter with Shakespeare. It is significant that very nearly everybody in your class and everybody you know will have heard of Shakespeare. For many people, although they have never read a play or a famous sonnet written by William Shakespeare, they have an opinion on Shakespeare. For example, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is Shakespeare only for older people?
• Is Shakespeare irrelevant?
• Is Shakespearean language unnecessarily difficult to understand?
• Have you ever seen a film based on a Shakespearean play - perhaps Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet or Othello?
• Do you think that Shakespeare was a genius?

You will have heard some of the above issues discussed or commented on. In fact, throughout your studies of Shakespeare you will be surprised by how much you know about Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare is widely considered to be the greatest writer in the English language and is generally seen as the greatest dramatist (or playwright) the world has known. His plays have been translated into most major languages and are studied in schools and universities around the world.

One of the reasons for his popularity and for his critical acclaim is the complexity, yet clarity, of his texts and characters. Perhaps most important is the fact that the themes that Shakespeare develops, with great insight, are still relevant to modern-day life.

Shakespeare's influence is perhaps best demonstrated through the long list of phrases that are neologisms, or new words, that are commonly used in everyday language in modern times. You may even use some of the following yourself without realising that they came from Shakespeare.

Just a few Shakespearean neologisms Excellent, countless, cranny, critical, aggravate, brittle, obscene, fragrant, hint, homicide, gust, fore-father, lacklustre, leap-frog.

 

Amazing isn't it? In fact, according to Alec Gill of Hull University in England, Shakespeare invented one in ten of the words that he used. Shakespeare invented words by combining words from Greek and Latin as well as by modifying nouns and verbs into different forms. These words so effectively expressed the intended idea or concept that they came into common usage.

Personal life

Shakespeare's life is not very well documented. There are, however, a number of factors that are generally agreed upon. Historians have had to piece together his life. It is accepted that Shakespeare was born in April of 1564, due to the fact that there is evidence that he was baptised in this month. Generally Shakespeare's exact birthday is thought to have been 23 April. Given that this was both the day of his death in 1616 as well as being St. George's day, there is speculation as to the validity of this date. Shakespeare was born in a small town in England called Stratford-upon-Avon, which had a population of approximately 1500.

Although there are no records as to Shakespeare's official schooling, it is assumed that Shakespeare attended a local grammar school in Stratford called King Edward VI Grammar school. Scholars believe this to be the case because Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, was a prominent town official which would have given him the opportunity to send his son to a school of such high status. It would also explain Shakespeare's extensive and detailed knowledge of Latin and Greek literature as well as instilling in him an affinity with language.

In 1582, when Shakespeare was 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who was 26 years old. They had three children, Susanna, and twins, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet died at the age of eleven. All this information has been amassed by scholars who have recovered some signatures and papers as official evidence. There are large gaps in Shakespeare's life story and much of what we know has been pieced together.

The next evidence of Shakespeare's life involves his time as a playwright and actor in London. Shakespeare was popular in his own time. Shakespeare's popularity is evidenced by his involvement with a company of actors and playwrights known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was very important during Elizabethan times for creative artists to have wealthy benefactors. The Lord Chamberlain's Men were popular enough that the monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, had them perform for her at Christmas on more than one occasion. After Queen Elizabeth's death in 1603, the new king, James I, adopted the group and changed its name to The King's Men.

As accurately as scholars can determine, Shakespeare wrote his last two plays in 1613 after which he returned to Stratford, and died on 23 April in 1616. He is buried in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. In the church there is a bust (a statue consisting of the subject's chest and above) of Shakespeare writing. Each year on his supposed birthday a new quill (an old-fashioned pen) is placed in his hand.

Wider context

The bulk of Shakespeare's life was spent in Elizabethan England. This is a period in British history that is defined by the rule of Queen Elizabeth I from 1558 to 1603. The Elizabethan period is remembered as a prosperous time for Britain and is most often defined by the flourishing writers of which Shakespeare was the greatest name. Among his contemporaries are other extremely famous names that if you have not heard of yet you will in your future study of English. They include: Edmund Spenser, Walter Raleigh, Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon and Ben Johnson.