William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Shakespeare is renowned as the English playwright and poet whose body of works is
considered the greatest in history of English literature. He wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets.
Surprisingly for the world's greatest playwright, we actually know very little about Shakespeare's life.
It is thought that Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. We also know that
in 1582 at age eighteen, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, an older woman who was 26 at the
time. Shakespeare went to London sometime in 1586 because there was an established community
of playwrights.
Shakespeare wrote sonnets and plays. He wrote 154 sonnets mostly in the 1590s. Sonnets are short
poems that deal with issues such as lost love. His sonnets have an enduring appeal due to his
remarkable skill with language and words.
However, it is the plays of Shakespeare that have been studied more than any other writing in the
English language and have been translated into numerous languages. He was rare as a playwright
for excelling in the multiple genres of tragedy, comedy and history. He cleverly combined popular
entertainment with an extraordinary capacity for expression.
During his lifetime, Shakespeare had his share of controversy, but he also received lavish praise for
his plays which were very popular and commercially successful. His early plays were mainly
comedies such as Much Ado about Nothing and A Midsummer’s Night Dream and histories such as
Henry V. By the early 17th century, Shakespeare had begun to write plays in the genre of tragedy.
These plays, such as Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet, often hinge on a fatal error or flaw in
the lead character and provide fascinating insights into the darker aspects of human nature. These
later plays are considered Shakespeare’s finest achievements.
All of Shakespeare’s plays are written in 5 acts. They all follow a similar form with the action rising in
the 1st and 2nd acts, the play’s climax in the 3rd act, and falling action and resolution in the 4th and 5th
acts. This structure is still used today by the majority of playwrights and even many movies follow this
form.
Many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed in the Globe Theater in London which became the
place to be in London. It could house an audience of up to 3,000 people and had a uniquely
designed stage with a painted ceiling, columns, and stage wall. They had specially trained musicians
who made special effects noises during the plays. They even had a cannon that fired blanks.
Shakespeare is considered by many to be the greatest writer of the English language across all
categories. He is also one of the most influential. Through his works he is credited with introducing
nearly 3,000 words to the English language. In addition, his works are the second most often quoted
after the Bible. His skill for language, imagery, and pun have set Shakespeare apart as arguably the
greatest playwright of all time.
These are words you will need to help you understand Shakespeare. The definition of each word is
as it relates to theater and Shakespeare.
Glossary of Terms
Term
Definition
acts
A major division of a play or other work of theater.
audience
The people who watch the performance or the type of people for whom the play is
intended.
character
A person, animal, being, creature, or thing in a story who performs the actions and
speaks dialogue in a play to move the story along.
climax
The key moment in a play when the rising action of the play is reversed to falling
action.
comedy
A play that is full of fun, irony and clever wordplay that uses disguises and mistaken
identities with plots that are difficult to follow with very unnatural endings.
genre
A way to categorize music or literature that has similar form, style, or subject matter.
history
A play about English history from the 12th to the 16th centuries and is named after,
and focuses on, the reigning king of the period.
imagery
A description that appeals to a readers' senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing, smell) to
create an image or idea in their head.
language
The words that are spoken in a play which are carefully chosen to create characters,
communicate ideas, and create drama.
playwright A person who writes plays.
pun
A play on words in which a humorous effect is produced by using a word that
suggests two or more meanings or involving words with similar sounds.
sonnets
A poem of 14 lines that expresses a thought or idea and utilizes an established
rhyme scheme.
tragedy
A play of a heroic figure whose major character makes a mistake and causes the
story to end with his downfall.