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Schule > Englisch > Ausarbeitungen, Interpretationen und Zusammenfassungen > Biografie William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was reputed as one of the greatest poets and dramatist of the world; therefore we want to present some facts of his life to you.
William Shakespeare was born in the dreamy town Stratford-on Avon, about a hundred miles north-west of London, in the very heart of England.
He was baptized on the 26th of april 1564 in Stratfort-on Avon and there he died on the 23rd of april 1616.
His father John was a glover and later he was mayor. His mother Mary Arden of Wilmcote was the youngest daughter of an aristocrat.
He himself went to the local grammar- school, where he also learnt a little Latin and less Greek. But he never went to an university. At the age of 18 years in 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, a daughter of a big landowner. She was eight years older than William.
They had three children together. The daughter Susanna was born in 1583 and the twins Hamnet and Judith in 1585. Unfortunately his son died with only eleven years.
Soon after his marriage, about the year 1587, William left his wife and family behind in Stratford and went to London.
London in Shakespeare's time was only a small place compared to what it is today.
There he joined a company of actors –The Lord Strange' s Men- and later he formed his own company –The Lord Chamberlain`s Men-.
As a rule, he played only small parts and he did not became famous as an actor. But then he wrote three dozen plays during the next twenty years, plays about kings and commoners, with characters from English and Roman history.
The dramatist Graham Greene was an envier because of the quick success of Shakespeare; he wrote: “There is an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers heart wrapt in a Players hide supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you; and, being an absolute Johannes Factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country.”
Some people refused to believe, that the actor Shakespeare composed such famous dramas, but for that it never gave any evidence.
Shakespear`s plays still lift audiences to the highest peaks and plunges them to the lowest depths of human feeling and his humour still engages the spirit. Shakespear`s understanding of human nature, characters, conditions and relationships was profound and his messages still speak to the people of the 20th century.
Although the language he used is a little difficult to our ears it is well worth the effort to become attuned.
The richness and passion of his language is brought to life again each time the curtain rises.
His plays have made his name immortel.
He got professional standing and prosperity as dramatist and poet. Besides he was one of the owners of the Globe Theatre in London.
Shakespeare inspired with his verse narration in the style of poetry of the renaissance. His 154 sonnets followed the contemporary liking. Some of them are the best love-poems of the world.
The first performance of the tragedy “ Romeo und Julia” about the year 1595 was a big success. This tragedy and “Hamlet” were the famoust acts of Shakespeare, which were given over and over again.
When William returned to his home town in 1610 he was a rich and famous man.

Shakespeare died on 23rd of april 1616 and was buried in the local church –The Holy Trinity-. On his gravestone you don’t find his name, but the following epigraph:
“Good frend, for Jesus` sake forbeare -To digg the dust encloased heare.
Blest be the man that spares thes stones, -And curst be he that moves my bones.”
639 words

Literatur:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/shakespeare
Snapshots of Britain v. Joy Browning
Kaurs Lexikon der Weltliteratur
Vokabeln
To be reputed- gelten als
baptized- getauft
Glover- Handschuhmacher
commoner- Bürger
envier- Neider
upstart - Emporkömmling
beautifide- verschönern
feather- Feder
conceit- Einbildung
to refuse- weigern
evidence- Beweis
peake- Gipfel
to plunge- stoßen
profound- gründlich
to attune- anpassen
professional standing- berufliches Ansehen
prosperity- Wohlstand
besides- außerdem
to inspire- begeistern
contemporary- zeitgenössisch
trinity- Dreieinigkeit
epigraph- Inschrift
to forbear- unterlassen
spare- erübrigen
to curse- verfluchen
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