William Shakespeare
Vital dates: April 23, 1564 to April 23, 1616 in Stratford
Nationality: English
Quote: “In itself nothing is neither good nor bad, thinking makes it so.” (Into Hamlet)
William Shakespeare is probably the most famous playwright in the world. He wrote famous plays like “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet”.
The English writer is one of the greatest poets of all time, especially as a playwright. His creative language power, his masterful psychological design in the characterization of characters and his further development in the literary form justify his timeless importance and his world reputation as a playwright. The characters in his later plays are characterized by a psychologizing way of representation, which is made clear in a pictorial language as well as poetic genius. His literary characters and stories often follow contemporary or historical models. His historical dramas like “King John” (1595/96), his comedies like “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1595/96) or “The Merchant of Venice” (1596), his romances like “A Winter’s Tale” (1609) and his tragedies ” Romeo and Juliet” (1595), “Othello” (1604) or “King Lear” (1605) mark highlights of world literature…
According to the church register, he was baptized on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. His father, John Shakespeare, was a farmer and trader who was elected councilor in 1565 and later city manager. The mother, Mary Arden of Wilmcote, came from an old but impoverished nobility. Shakespeare attended the Latin School in Stratford, which was free because the upkeep was funded by the county. His education was mainly related to Latin, as was customary at the time, poetry and history. He did not attend a university. At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway (1556-1623). On May 26, 1583, his daughter Susanna was baptized in Stratford. On February 2, 1585, his twins Hamnad and Judith. His only son Hamnad died at the age of 11. Shakespeare went to London, but the exact date of his move is not known. It is not certain what activity he initially pursued there. Records state that he hired himself out as a schoolmaster and with other ancillary services. In 1592 he is mentioned there as an actor. In the same year the playwright Graham Green mentions him as “a crow that adorns itself with our feathers”.
Already at this time Shakespeare was stirring up envy in these circles by his rise as a poet. In central London, he knows how to make important connections. In 1593 and 1594 he dedicated the first published poems to his friend Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd Earl of Southhampton, such as the erotic little epic “Venus and Adonice” and “The Rape of Lucrecia”. They are the first sign of his mastery of the poetic form of the Renaissance. Most of his sonnets, printed in 1609, also came into being during this period, and their striking characteristics are their emotional strength and bold mode of expression, the pinnacle of English sonnet art. In the years 1591/92 he created what is probably his earliest drama, the three-part historical play “Henry VI.”, in which he still follows the tradition of the Elizabethan atrocity and revenge tragedies with the character type of the criminal and scheming villain. Already in the 1592/93 work “Richard II.” it can be seen that Shakespeare left this line of tradition and no longer realized the type characterization in atrocities, but in the cynicism and sarcastic irony of their language. Shakespeare goes beyond the Elizabethan historical drama in that he no longer presents a basic political and moral point of view, but allows his characters to tragically fail.
From 1594, William Shakespeare was an actor in the “Lord Chamberlain’s Men” troupe, which was allowed to call itself “King’s Men” from 1603. As a dramatist, he brought the acting troupe great fame, and their “Globe” theater, of which there were five or six “playhouses” as permanent venues in London at the time, became the most important venue. Plays began in 1599. Shakespeare was also a private partner in this playhouse, which proves his economic skill. His prosperity is documented by his own family coat of arms, which was approved in 1596. In his plays such as dramas, tragedies, comedies and fairytale plays, he proves his unique genius in terms of pictorial expressiveness, linguistic diversity, psychological depth, poetic imagination and, above all, the stage-effective processing of human and historical conflicts. The pieces excitingly combine the range of literary elements from tragic pathos to grotesque comedy to the finest character drawings. Following the example of the fable, Shakespeare develops the plot and the characters, to which he realistically adapts the language and situation. In the two parts of “Henry IV.” Shakespeare’s further achievement is revealed in the development of the drama, which he makes open by adding elements of comedy.
His dramatic work is divided into three sections, although the dates are uncertain. The first section up to 1594 contains, among other things, “Henry VI.” and Richard III. The second section lasts until 1601 with the pieces “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Much Ado About Nothing”, “As You Like It” or “What You Want”. The third section mainly includes tragedies, ends in 1609 and contains works such as ” Hamlet”, “All’s Well That Ends Well”, “King Lear”, “Macbeth” or “Pericles”. The last section extends to 1613 with “Cymbeline”, “Winter’s Tale”, “The Tempest” and “Henry VIII.”. He also developed his own style in the form of comedy, as the example “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” shows. Not only is the scene of action shifted from the courtly environment to the world of fantasy, but the emotional and psychological depth is also precisely worked out. In romantic features, reality is only mirrored, moral instructions are intentionally missing. Nevertheless, the games show the threat and dangers of failure. The “Merchant of Venice” is also an example of the comedic Shakespearean theme of the contradictions and contradictions of life. As a writer of tragedies he also creates unrivaled achievements in changing genres.
The well-known love drama “Romeo and Juliet” (1595/96) is part of the development series, in which the protagonists no longer die through revenge and intrigue, but perish as a result of fate, determined by blind chance. The series of great tragedies begins in 1599 with “Julius Caesar” or “Antonius and Cleopatra”. “Hamlet” (1600/01) and “Othello” (1603/04) are among the later tragedies with their human tragedy in subject-oriented depictions such as melancholy world despair, contempt or rigorous delusion. His tragic heroes are at the mercy of an incomprehensible power that points beyond human life to an insurmountable cosmic order. Some of Shakespeare’s late dramas, such as “The Tempest” from 1611/12, are referred to as romances. In 1611 he returned to Stratford-on-Avon, where he had bought a house. He lived there until his death.
William Shakespeare died in Stratford-on-Avon on April 23, 1616.
His works have been translated many times, for example the well-known edition by Christoph Martin Wieland (1762 to 1766), by A.W. Schlegel (1797–1810), continued by Dorothea Tiek and W.H. by Baudissin, or more recently by E. Fried (1952). His works have often been filmed, such as “What you want”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Othello”, “The Merchant of Venice” or “Hamlet”.
How William Shakespeare lived
William Shakespeare’s date of birth is not certain. Church records say he was born in Stratford, England, on April 23, 1564, and was baptized three days later. His parents, John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, were wealthy, so they could pay for their son to get a reasonably good education at a Latin school.
But Shakespeare never went to university. At the age of 18, as was customary at the time, the young Englishman married Anne Hathaway, a farmer’s daughter he was a friend of. The couple had three children together: daughter Susanna and twins Judith and Hamnet.
Researchers call the following years between 1584 and 1592 “Shakespeare’s lost years”. Nowhere is it written down what he did during this time. But it is assumed that he worked in the theater. He is said to have started his career there as an actor and playwright. The theater of his time was different from today. Those who went to the theater primarily wanted to be well entertained – and they paid a lot for it.
How William Shakespeare changed the world
Shakespeare’s first official work, Venus and Adonis, appeared in 1593. By then he had already moved to London and was appearing as an actor and poet in the drama group Chamberlains Men, later King’s Men. His dramatic works gained increasing recognition around the world and the famous tragedies “Hamlet” and “Macbeth” had a major impact on contemporary theatre. Shakespeare has received several awards for his variety of topics and is highly praised as a linguistic genius.
He possessed the ability to write down his stories in poetic images. He also turned to poetry. His most famous, the sonnets (sound poems), were later published as a volume. From 1599 Shakespeare worked as a co-owner at the London Globe Theater and earned a lot of money there. He was now famous and not infrequently played at the court of the then Queen Elizabeth.
At the age of 46, in 1610, the already famous poet and actor returned to his native city. He now had enough of the theater life and increasingly turned to his family. He spent the years leading up to his death at his home, New Place, the second tallest building in Stratford. William Shakespeare died unexpectedly at the age of 52 and probably on his own birthday. The cause of death is still a mystery today.
His works first appeared in a complete edition in 1623. To this day, they are recognized on theater stages around the world.
