Kevin reilly historian biography of william shakespeare

Life for the growing family in Stratford-upon-Avon must have been both busy and challenging, particularly with Shakespeare balancing his family duties while nurturing his developing talents. The cause of his death is not clearly documented, though it is believed to have been the result of the frequent outbreaks of disease that occurred during the period.

The loss of Hamnet is thought to have deeply affected Shakespeare and gave the budding playwright a first-hand personal experience of suffering and grief. Such themes would later appear in many of his works, such as Hamlet and King Lear. The lack of detail has birthed various conspiracies and theories about what Shakespeare was doing during this time.

Some believe he worked as a schoolteacher, while others think he spent some time extensively traveling around Europe. Whatever the case may be, sometime in the late s, William Shakespeare left Stratford-upon-Avon and moved to London, leaving behind his wife, Anne Hathaway, and their children. His family life, rural upbringing, and experiences during this unknown period offered him themes of relationships, power, and society, which would become central to his future works.

His ability to transform these observations into art is what ultimately set him apart from many of his contemporaries. The exact reasons for his departure from Stratford remain uncertain, but many scholars believe the move was driven by a combination of ambition and necessity. As he prepared for the next chapter of his life in London, the stage was set for Shakespeare to leave behind his family in Stratford and pursue his ambitions in the world of theater.

Ready to discover how he conquered the stage in London? Continue reading this William Shakespeare biography to explore the rise as one of the most celebrated playwrights of all time! In , the Globe Theater was built, with Shakespeare as one of the shareholders.

Kevin reilly historian biography of william shakespeare

The atmosphere of the Globe is always swinging, with audiences vocally voicing their reactions to the action on the stage. Greenblatt, Stephen. New York: Norton, Potter, Lois. Chichester, UK: Wiley, DOI: Schoenbaum, Samuel. Oxford: Clarendon, London: Faber and Faber, Thomas was ordered by the church court to do public penance, which would have caused much shame and embarrassment for the Shakespeare family.

Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones. Some time before , a funerary monument was erected in his memory on the north wall, with a half-effigy of him in the act of writing. Its plaque compares him to Nestor , Socrates , and Virgil. Shakespeare's plays are difficult to date precisely, however, [] [] and studies of the texts suggest that Titus Andronicus , The Comedy of Errors , The Taming of the Shrew , and The Two Gentlemen of Verona may also belong to Shakespeare's earliest period.

By William Blake , c. Shakespeare's early classical and Italianate comedies, containing tight double plots and precise comic sequences, give way in the mids to the romantic atmosphere of his most acclaimed comedies. Whatever the answer, by Shakespeare had begun working as an actor, penned several plays and spent enough time in London to write about its geography, culture and diverse personalities with great authority.

Even his earliest works evince knowledge of European affairs and foreign countries, familiarity with the royal court and general erudition that might seem unattainable to a young man raised in the provinces by parents who were probably illiterate. For this reason, some theorists have suggested that one or several authors wishing to conceal their true identity used the person of William Shakespeare as a front.

Most scholars and literary historians dismiss this hypothesis, although many suspect Shakespeare sometimes collaborated with other playwrights. Shakespeare was likely affiliated with several different theater companies when these early works debuted on the London stage. His works weave together and reinvent theatrical conventions dating back to ancient Greece, featuring assorted casts of characters with complex psyches and profoundly human interpersonal conflicts.