Fiche auteur Shakespeare

William Shakespeare:

Today I’m going to present a biography of William Shakespeare

He was born in April 1564(fifteen sixty four) in Stratford-upon-Avon.

At the age of 18(eighteen) he married Anne Hathaway, he had three children: 
Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.

Between 1585(fifteen eighty five) and 1592(fifteen ninety two) he began a successful career in London as an actor, 
writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, 
later known as the King’s Men.

He produced most of his known work between 1590(fifteen and 1613. First his early 
plays were mainly comedies and histories. Finally, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with 
other playwrights.

Next, he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, 
Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, considered some of the finest examples in the 
English language.

He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613

Where he died three years later

William Shakespeare was born on St George's day, probably the 23rd April 1564. He grew up with his father who was a butcher, a tanner and a glove maker. He certainly influenced Shakespeare in his plays because of his workplace, the blood and the death that he rubbed each day.

In the XVI th century, times were tough. People fought to survive. They didn't live for a long time, the life was nasty and brutish, walking down the street was dangerous. Outside, the plague spread quickly, the men were hung, and the monks were massacred because of the conflict between protestants and catholics.

When Shakespeare began his career, Queen Elisabeth the 1st ascended the throne. She started her reign in England by encouraging drama and music. She made London the theatre capital of the world thanks to the Queens men a theatrical troop. However, there was a mistake: Actors needed patronage because they didn't earn money by acting in public. So Elisabeth the 1st decided to build permanent theatres. In 1594, James Burbage, one of the first impresario, built a permanent theatre called Lord Chamberlain's men. Then, troops became professionals, they acted in permanent theatres and earned more money because they were independent and didn't need a patronage anymore.

Shakespeare became famous, he wrote and acted perfomed many tragedies and comedies such as a "Midsummer nights dream", "Much ado about nothing" and "As you like it". In his plays, he loved to turn the world upside down by using irony and humour.

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