William Shakespeare
English I
What Is So Great About Shakespeare Anyway?
Shakespeare is the most famous playwright and poet in the world.
There are two primary reasons that Shakespeare is held in the esteem
that he is:
the emotional impact of the stories that he tells
his use of language
II. Birth and Early Life
William Shakespeare was born on April 23,
1564 in Stratford-on-Avon to parents John
Shakespeare and Mary Arden.
II. Birth and Early Life
His father, John, was a glovemaker,
shopkeeper, landowner, and the bailiff
(essentially, mayor) of the community. In
other words, he was considered to be welloff. He did, however, fall into financial straits,
influencing William’s later dealings with
money.
II. Birth and Early Life
William attended free grammar school until he
was fifteen years old. School ran from 7:00
AM to 5:00 PM and he studied Latin, Latin
grammar, and mythology.
III. Young Adulthood
At age 18, Shakespeare married Anne
Hathaway (who was 26). This was likely
what we would call a shotgun wedding, as
they had their first child, Susanna, six
months later. When Shakespeare was 20,
he and his wife had twins - Judith and
Hamnet, who died at age 11.
III. Young Adulthood
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The eight years from the time the twins were
born to the time he was 28 are frequently
referred to as the “lost years”, because no
record exists as to what Shakespeare was
doing during this time. As such, the way in
which he found his way into theatre remains
a mystery.
III. Young Adulthood
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The next record of him finds him in London
at age 28, acting and writing plays.
IV. Career

He was a member and shareholder of a
theatre troupe called The Lord
Chamberlain’s Men, which was later
renamed The King’s Men. This indicated
that the group was commissioned/supported
by the position for which it was named.
Shakespeare earned a large amount of his
money from being an actor. He acted for 20
years, earning roughly $40 a day.
IV. Career

He worked out of the Globe Theater for
many years, and his plays were written to be
performed in that space.
IV. Career
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He wrote a total of 38 plays, which fell under
one of four categories: tragedy,
comedy, history, and
tragic-comedy.
Some of his most famous plays include
Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar,
Macbeth, Hamlet, and A Midsummer
Night’s Dream. In addition, he wrote
poems, and is famous for his sonnets.
IV. Career

Most of Shakespeare’s ideas were not
original. Romeo and Juliet, for example,
came from a poem by Arthur Brooks named
“Romeus and Juliet”. In fact, only 2 of
his 38 plays seem to have been completely
invented by him.

Shakespeare was both a public and a critical
success during his lifetime, something that
cannot be said of many famous authors.
Debate exists as to whether or not
Shakespeare actually wrote his plays.
However, the people of Shakespeare’s day
attributed the plays to Shakespeare.
V. Shakespeare’s Language
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The question always arises: Did people REALLY
talk like that in Shakespeare’s time? NO.
Shakespeare wrote the way he did for specific
dramatic and poetic purposes – to create a specific
rhythm or rhyme, to emphasize a certain word or
idea, to give a character a specific speech pattern,
etc. Let’s break down some of the confusing things
about Shakespeare’s language:
A. Unusual Work Arrangements

There are many cases in which Shakespeare
arranges words in odd ways that do not
necessarily make sense to us (i.e., “I the sandwich
ate,” as opposed to “I ate the sandwich.”). In order
to “decode,” you must be able to locate the
subject, verb, and object of the sentence. Then
you will be able to rearrange the words in your
mind into a sentence that makes sense to you.
B. Omissions
Shakespeare also frequently left out letters, syllables, or whole words for
the sake of his poetry. However, this is not all that different from what
we do today. For example, we may say, “Wanna have lunch?” instead
of “Do you want to have lunch?”
Here are a few common Shakespearean omissions/contractions to help
you out.
‘tis: it is
i’:
in
ope: open
e’er:
ever
o’er: over
oft:
often
gi’: give
a’:
he
ne’er:
never
e’en:
even
C. that Shakespeare Made Up
Shakespeare used over 21,000 different words!
Of these, he made up many of them. Words
such as assassinate, critic, bump, gloomy,
hurry, and star-crossed all come to us from
Shakespeare.
VI. Poetic Devices in Writing
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Shakespeare wrote in blank verse, which is poetry
written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Iambic pentameter means that each line of poetry
consists of five iambs, which are units of measure
involving two syllables. In this case, the first syllable
is unstressed and the second syllable is stressed.
Ex. “But soft! What light through yonder
window breaks?”
Shakespeare frequently makes use of sonnets in
his plays, working poetry into the very text.
VII. Death and Legacy
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William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 at the
age of 52 in Stratford-on-Avon.
In his will, he specifically left his wife the second
best bed, though she was entitled to a third of his
estate as his widow. Principal bequests were to his
daughter, Judith, and he also left a substantial
amount to Susanna .