Who Was William Shakespeare?

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

The sayings above are just a small sample of Shakespeare's influence on English.

In this lesson, you'll learn about Shakespeare's life, work, and impact on the world.

Shakespeare's Life

First, watch this short biography.

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in a little country town called Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

In school, he studied Latin and the Roman poet Ovid, influencing his love of writing. However, he had to quit school at 15 to help his father in the family business — making gloves.

• How did he get interested in the theater?

It's not known, but he probably went to public festivals and saw performances by roaming groups of actors called troupes.

At 18, he married an older woman named Anne Hathaway (she was 26). The couple eventually had three children: a girl named Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet died at the young age of 11.

Shakespeare spent many years in London, working in the theater. His troupe was known as Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was also later known as The King's Men.

Around this time, the production of plays had gotten very popular. This brought about a lot of competition between the various acting troupes, and Shakespeare became popular because he could work both as an actor and a playwright.

His first plays were about history, but his popularity took off when he began to write some comedies.

After Shakespeare had some years of success, a plague caused the theaters to close down. Actors went back to performing in traveling troupes, and Shakespeare probably joined one of these, though there's no historical record to prove that.

During this time, he also began to write poetry.

• How could someone make a living just writing poems?

An artist, writer, or poet could continue to work on their art if they found a wealthy person to support them. This is called patronage. Shakespeare wrote under the patronage of Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton.

In 1599, Shakespeare's troupe built a new Globe Theater theater. It became very popular, and they performed there for many years. The theater burned down in 1613 but was rebuilt in 1997 and is still used today.

From 1595 to 1605, Shakespeare wrote some of his greatest plays. Then, sometime between 1611 and 1613, he returned to Stratford and spent the rest of his life there. He wrote more plays and even took on an apprentice to help him.

He died early, at the age of 52. The cause of his death is not known, but some speculate that he contracted the disease called typhoid.

Shakespeare's Career

Shakespeare is known to many as the greatest English writer.

Let's briefly look at some of the things Shakespeare wrote, and you'll get a taste of his genius and talent. We'll focus on the three types of plays he wrote (histories, comedies, and tragedies) and his favorite poem type (sonnet).

History Plays

History plays tell a historical narrative.

An example of one of Shakespeare's history plays is Richard III.

Watch as the evilly ambitious hunchback brother of King Richard, as played by Sir Lawrence Olivier, delivers his opening speech in this scene.

Tragedy Plays

Tragedies usually center on a noble person with a tragic flaw, ending in sadness and death.

An example of a Shakespearean tragedy is Macbeth.

Macbeth is a Scottish general who has just won a victory when encountering three witches in the woods. It's probably not a good sign when witches foretell your destiny.

Comedy Plays

Comedies are meant to be funny. They always end happily, usually with a wedding.

An example of Shakespeare's comedy is Twelfth Night, in which disguises and mistaken identities drive the plot.

A young lady named Viola disguises herself as a man, falls in love with a duke, and is asked by the duke to deliver love messages for him to another young lady named Olivia. Impressed with the romantic messages, Olivia falls in love with Caesario (really Viola)!

• How will this all work out?

Sonnets

Shakespeare also wrote many beautiful sonnets. A sonnet is a 14-line poem.

Listen to Sonnet 18, one of Shakespeare's well-known sonnets.

Now that you've met Shakespeare and some of his works, move to the Got It? section and test your knowledge!