SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM
(1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Considered the greatest of all playwrights. He was the son of a
Stratford businessman and probably attended the local grammar school, acquiring
a grounding in the classics. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. They had three children.
Little else is known of his life before 1592, when he appeared as a playwright in London.
He may have been a member of a traveling theater group, and some evidence in his early
style suggests he may have been a schoolmaster. In 1594 he became an actor and playwright
for the Lord Chamberlain's Men (the King's Men under James I). It is thought that he
played supporting roles, e.g., the Ghost in Hamlet. In 1599 he became a part owner of
the Globe Theatre, and in 1608 of the Blackfriars Theatre. He retired to Stratford in 1613.
Most famous for his plays, which can be separated in three areas.
In the first are history plays, beginning with the three parts of Henry VI, and comedies.
At this stage Shakespeare's historical tragedies (Titus Andronicus) lack depth of
characterization and are somewhat bombastic. The comedies are essentially classical
imitations, with strong elements of farce (The Comedy of Errors). The last play in
this first period, Romeo and Juliet (c.1594), evidences Shakespeare's maturing talent.
The versification is more complex, and rhythms reflect the speaker's state of mind, a
technique he developed with increasing subtlety.
In the second period, from Richard II (c.1595) through Twelfth Night (c.1599),
Shakespeare produced histories and tragedies in which characterization and practical
elements are successfully blended. In the comedies of this period he moved away from
farce toward idyllic Romance (As You Like It).
The third period, from 1600, saw the appearance of Shakespeare's major tragedies,
beginning with Hamlet, and problem plays. The tragedies, after Othello, present
clear oppositions of order to chaos, and good to evil, on all levels. The style
becomes increasingly compressed and symbolic. Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale,
and The Tempest are tragicomedies, with full tragic potential but a harmonious resolution
through grace, a term with divine as well as artistic implications. Shakespeare has been
criticized for failing to propound a philosophy, but the enduring appeal of his plays lies
in his human vision, which recognizes the complexity of moral questions, and in the
unparalleled richness of his language.
MANICS REFERENCE:
'BEWARE SHAKESPEARE, BRING FRESH AIR, KING CIGARETTE SNUFFED OUT BY HER MIDGETS'
(P.C.P. lyrics)
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
The complete Works of William Shakespeare
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