Author and His Works

2.1 Author and His Works

William Shakespeare baptised 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet and the Bard of Avon. His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems, including the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. 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 Chamberlains Men, later known as the Kings Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeares private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others. 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, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognized as Shakespeares. Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616[55] and was survived by his wife and two daughters. Susanna had married a physician, John Hall, in 1607, and Judith had married Thomas Quiney, a vintner, two months before Shakespeare’s death. William Shakespeare’s Works : Poetry It is generally agreed that most of the Shakespearean Sonnets were written in the 1590s, some printed at this time as well. Others were written or revised right before being printed. 154 sonnets and “A Lovers Complaint” were published by Thomas Thorpe as Shakespeare Sonnets in 1609. Tragedies Some of tragedies which are made by William Shakespeare are based on English or Roman history. The famous Shakespearean’s tragedies, such as, Titus Andronicus which is first performed in 1594 , Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra 1623, and Macbeth. Histories Shakespeares series of historical dramas, based on the English Kings from John to Henry VIII were a tremendous undertaking to dramatise the lives and rule of kings and the changing political events of his time. No other playwright had attempted such an ambitious body of work. Some were printed on their own or in the First Folio 1623. Comedies William Shakespeare also creates some of comedies. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeares other plays. By the end of Shakespeares life, he had written seventeen comedies. A Midsummer Summer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure and Alls Well That Ends Well are some of the famous comedies made by William Shakespeare.

2.2 Synopsis of the Story