William Shakespeare

## Overview

William Shakespeare was a playwright in England in the late 16th and early 17th enturies. Many hail him as the greatest writer of all time.

## Early Life to Adolescence

William Shakespeare was born on the 23rd of April, 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. Not much survives of Shakespeare's childhood, but most scholars agree that he was educated at King's New School in Stratford, near his home. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was 26 at the time. The couple raised three children together. The firstborn was susanna, a daughter. Next Anne gave birth to twins, Judith, a baby girl, and Hamlet, a baby boy. Hamlet tragically died of unknown causes at the age of 11.

## Career in the Theater

There is no exact moment that Shakespeare began working in the theater, but several of his plays began being shown in London in 1592. After 1594, Shakespeare's plays were performed only bt the Lord Chamberlain's Men, a company owned by a group of playwrights, including Shakespeare himself. This company quickly became the leading playwright company in London. However after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the company name was changed to the King's Men, awarded by the new King James I. In 1599, the company built their own theater on the bank of the River Thames. This new theater was named the Globe. This theater is generally associated with being the most famous Shakespearean theater. Due to the success of the globe, Shakespeare became a wealthy man. In 1597 he bought the second largest house in Stratford, named New Place.

## Later Life

Shakespeare retired to New Place several years before his death. He remained very relevant and somewhat involved in the theater environment. Sometimes assisting another playwright, or being called upon for his expertise on a situation. William Shakespeare died on the 23rd of April, 1616, at age 52. It was documented that he was in "perfect health" at the time of his death, so the cause of his death remains unexplained.

## Shakespeare and Christopher Moore

Christopher Moore's book, The Serpent of Venice, involves two Shakespearean plays. These two are *Othello* and *The Merchant of Venice*. Moore incorporates many aspects of the two plays in his novel, including characters, plot points, and settings. In the afterword of his book, Moore speaks about Shakespeare. He also discusses Shakespeare in several interviews that he has been in. Moore describes Shakespeare as his inspiration, and is glad that he could play a part in keeping Shakespeare popular even in modern times. He mentioned that one of that hardest parts about writing The Serpent of Venice was the language barrier that the original Shakespearian plays represent. Moore said that to overcome this obstacle he created speech patterns that would seem "British" to the American ear, but were in reality just a mix of modern American English, modern British English, and a few archaic words mixed in to create an aged effect.

## External Links

http://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323

http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/plays\_alpha.php

https://www.utdallas.edu/ah/reunion/pdf\_documents/Moore\_Interview.pdf

http://shakeprearesworldjb.weebly.com/uploads/2/1/9/5/21952884/2334146\_orig.jpg

## Gallery

A picture of William Shakespeare during his years at the Globe

Below is a drawing representation of Shakespeare's Globe Theater