Shana furlow biography of william shakespeare

In , Puritans outlawed all theaters, including the Globe, which was demolished two years later. Centuries passed until American actor Sam Wanamaker began working to resurrect the theater once more. The third Globe Theater opened in , and today, more than 1. Some plays blur these lines, and over time, our interpretation of them has changed, too.

However, Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the traditional style to his own purposes and creating a freer flow of words. With only small degrees of variation, Shakespeare primarily used a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse, to compose his plays. At the same time, there are passages in all the plays that deviate from this and use forms of poetry or simple prose.

Download our complete William Shakespeare Study Guide for free to explore the key themes and characters from three of his most important plays. Download Free Study Guide. Character in Othello , King Lear , and Macbeth present vivid impressions of human temperament that are timeless and universal. Possibly the best known of these plays is Hamlet , which explores betrayal, retribution, incest, and moral failure.

Shakespeare wrote comedies throughout his career, including his first play The Taming of the Shrew. Some of his comedies might be better described as tragicomedies. Although graver in tone than the comedies, they are not the dark tragedies of King Lear or Macbeth because they end with reconciliation and forgiveness. Additional Shakespeare comedies include:.

Shakespeare is known to have created plays with other writers, such as John Fletcher. They also collaborated on Cardenio , a play which was not preserved. When including these works, Shakespeare has 41 plays to his name. Around the turn of the 17 th century, Shakespeare became a more extensive property owner in Stratford. When his father, John, died in , he inherited the family home.

Then, in , he purchased about acres for pounds. In , Shakespeare purchased leases of real estate near Stratford for pounds, which doubled in value and earned him 60 pounds a year. This made him an entrepreneur as well as an artist, and scholars believe these investments gave him uninterrupted time to write his plays. He likely spent the last three years of his life in Stratford.

Tradition holds that Shakespeare died on his 52 nd birthday, April 23, , but some scholars believe this is a myth. These ventures likely allowed him the leisure and financial security necessary to dedicate more of his time to writing, leading to some of his most acclaimed works. Tradition holds that Shakespeare died on April 23, , which interestingly falls on the same date as his birth.

However, while church records confirm he was interred at Holy Trinity Church on April 25, the exact cause of his death remains uncertain, with speculation ranging from a sudden illness to other unforeseen health issues. In his will, Shakespeare bequeathed the bulk of his estate to his eldest daughter, Susanna, while notably leaving his wife, Anne Hathaway, his "second-best bed.

William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, , in Worcester, while she was already pregnant. At the time, Shakespeare was just 18 years old, and Anne was Their union was somewhat unconventional, and they had their first child, Susanna, just six months later, born on May 26, Two years later, on February 2, , they welcomed twins, Hamnet and Judith.

Sadly, Hamnet passed away at the young age of 11, leaving a profound impact on the family. Shakespeare's family life remains largely obscured by time, yet records indicate that his children played vital roles during and after his life. Susanna, the eldest, married John Hall, a physician, and had one daughter, Elizabeth. Shakespeare's two daughters, along with his wife, Anne, were crucial figures in his life, especially as he dealt with the pressures of his career in London.

While little is known about the dynamics of their marriage, Anne received a relatively modest bequest in his will, leading to speculation about their relationship; yet, this suggests a complexity often typical of marriages during that era. Although exact figures are difficult to determine due to the lack of extensive financial records from that time, it is estimated that Shakespeare amassed a considerable fortune during his career.

His successful investment in the Globe Theater further contributed to his wealth, allowing him to enjoy a prosperous lifestyle. The disputed authorship of particular works. The unlikelihood that someone with the bard's background would rise to greatness. The controversy has even found its way into the U. Supreme Court as the subject of a moot debate.

One of the bard's most enduring influences is on the English language. Not only are many quotes from his plays, such as Polonius' advice to Hamlet, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be," a part of the English lexicon, but the way in which Shakespeare shaped the language to suit his own artistic purposes would influence future writers and poets throughout subsequent history, from Charles Dickens to Maya Angelou.

Charles Dickens drew upon the bard's writings for many of his titles as well as numerous quotations he used within his novels. Shakespeare also enriched the language with the addition of approximately 2, new words and numerous new usages of existing vocabulary. Some of the words attributed to the bard include "auspicious," "dwindle" and "sanctimonious.

The bard's masterful characterizations have become archetypes for social standards. Such larger-than-life characters as Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Ophelia and a host of others inform contemporary social standards in ways that are inextricably woven into the fabric of modern society. They not only appear as standard icons in the theater, movies, literature and visual arts, but also have established themselves as cultural norms, particularly in English-speaking societies.

It is not even necessary to have read the works of Shakespeare to be familiar with his well-known quotations and characters. Even the controversy surrounding the authorship of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets serves to keep the bard very much a vital figure in contemporary lore. The probability that the mystery will probably never be resolved, given the lack of hard evidence, means that Shakespearean scholars, school teachers and their students will be reading and discussing the 16th-century master far into the future.

William Shakespeare Biography. On his father's death in , William Shakespeare inherited the old family home in Henley Street part of which was then leased to tenants.

Shana furlow biography of william shakespeare

Further property investments in Stratford followed, including the purchase of acres of land in Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23 April at the age of He is buried in the sanctuary of the parish church, Holy Trinity. This means there is the possibility of you seeing more adverts from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust on other websites that you visit.

An Introduction William Shakespeare was a renowned English poet, playwright, and actor born in in Stratford-upon-Avon. For more about Shakespeare's patrons and his work in London see; Shakespeare's Career Shakespeare's Works Altogether Shakespeare's works include 38 plays, 2 narrative poems, sonnets, and a variety of other poems.

Watch our video for more about Shakespeare as a literary commuter:. Help keep Shakespeare's story alive. More like this.