William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare - Essay Outline

1. Introduction
2. William Shakespeare
3. Greatest writer in English
4. His works
5. Personal life
6. Shakespeare s tragedies
7. Acclaim throughout the world
8. Shakespeare’s death

English Poet - William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s preeminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon”. His surviving works, including a few collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets two long narrative poems (Epics), and several other poems His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Life

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon at the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway with whom he had three children Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career. In London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later known as the King’s Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613 His early plays were mainly comedies and histories genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet King Lear Othello, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language And In his last phase he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances and collaborated with other playwrights.

Rediscovering Shakespeare's Work

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright: in his day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare’s genius and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence. In the 20th century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

Death of Shakespeare

William Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 according to his monument and lies buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.

While there is little known of her life, Anne Hathaway outlived her husband by seven years, dying in 1623 and is buried beside him it is not clear as to how or why Shakespeare died. Local tradition has it that Shakespeare became ill after a bout of hard drinking with his fellow playwrights Ben Johnson and Michael Drayton, possibly as a result of having caught a chill. But there is good cause to believe that Shakespeare was ill for some time prior to his death. His tombstone is inscribed with the following epitaph;