William Shakespeare

Introduction

Although there is a great deal of documentary material (baptismal certificates, marriage licenses, property deeds, mortgages, accounts of law suits, death certificates, a will, etc.), of Shakespeare's actual life little is really known. Whether the man identified as the author of the body of work called Shakespeare's even was the Shakespeare who wrote those works is a question still debated by some.

Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon in England. Traditionally, April 23rd is held to be his birthday, for it is St. George's day (St. George is England's patron saint) and Shakespeare died on April 23rd in 1616. Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare was a tanner and a Glover: he cured animal hides and made them into leather goods like gloves and purses. He was the son of a tenant farmer, Richard Shakespeare, who lived four miles northeast of Stratford in the village of Snitterfield, working for a wealthy landowner, Robert Arden. John Shakespeare married Robert Arden's daughter Mary, and she brought considerable wealth to him. During his first years in Stratford, John Shakespeare grew prosperous and served the town in a number of elected offices including as ale-taster, alderman, and high bailiff, or mayor. In 1570, he applied for a coat-of-arms and for the privilege of writing "Gentleman" after his name. But soon after—it is not known why—his fortune and his public reputation took a turn for the worse. He withdrew his application. In 1580, he had to mortgage his wife's property to pay debts; of the three houses he had once owned, now only one still belonged to him. His name later appears on public records when he was fined for not attending council sessions, not appearing in court, and not attending church. Evidence of the widespread and deep effect of Shakespeare's plays on English culture can be found in the number of words and phrases from them that have become embedded in everyday usage: Expressions such as “star-crossed lovers” are used by speakers of English with no consciousness of their Shakespearean source.

Discussion

The two portraits of Shakespeare portray the two parts of his nature. On one hand, he possessed immense intellectual curiosity about the motives and actions of people. This curiosity, plus his facility with language, enabled him to write his masterpieces and to create characters that are better known than some important figures in world history (Danson, 20).

On the other hand, reflecting his middle-class background, Shakespeare was himself motivated by strictly bourgeois instincts; he was more concerned with acquiring property and cementing his social position in Stratford than he was with preserving his plays for posterity. If his partners had not published the First Folio, there would be no Shakespeare as he is known today: still acted and enjoyed, the most widely studied and translated writer, the greatest poet and dramatist in the English and perhaps any language (Ackroyd, 25).

Besides his ability to create a variety of unforgettable characters, there are at least two other qualities that account for Shakespeare's achievement. One of ...