William ShakespeareMeet one of the greatest

OutlineI. Introduction

II. Do you think you know the bard? (5 facts about Shakespeare to know)

III. Shakespeare’s Life (Childhood, Family, Career, Latter years, Death)

IV. Shakespeare’s Works (Top 10 most important works, Insults by Shakespeare, Authorship debate)

V. Conclusion

VI. References

I. Introduction

Who was Shakespeare? One of the greatest poet the Western world has ever seen. However, this simple question has a complex answer! In asking “who was Shakespeare?” we discover the Bard’s eventful life, the reasons for his popularity and reveal the authorship controversy: Exactly who was Shakespeare?

II. Do you think you know the bard?

1. Shakespeare Was Born in Stratford-upon-Avon

2. Shakespeare was Catholic - an idea that has caused controversy amongst critics for centuries. Discover the reasons here

3. Hamlet Was Written about Shakespeare's Son, Hamnet who died at a young age. Shakespeare was devastated by the death of his only son, and it is argued that the character of Hamlet is evidence of this

4. Shakespeare’s plays are not original! Rather, Shakespeare sourced his plots and characters from historical accounts and classical texts

5. Shakespeare’s Grave Is Cursed! His grave has a curse engraved upon it to ward off anyone that might want to move his bones

Here are 5 facts about Shakespeare to get you thinking. How many of them did you know?

III. Shakespeare’s life

III/I. Early Years • Parents: John Shakespeare and Mary Arden; moved to

Stratford-upon-Avon from the surrounding villages. His father became a wealthy town official 

• Shakespeare was probably born on April 23, 1564, but this date is an educated guess because we only have a record of his baptism three days later

• Shakespeare attended the local grammar school where he would have studied Latin, Greek and classical literature. His early education must have made a huge impact on him because many of his plots draw on the classics.

III/II. Shakespeare’s Family

• At 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway from Shottery who was already pregnant with their first daughter

• The wedding was arranged quickly to avoid the shame of having a child born out of wedlock

• Shakespeare fathered three children: Susanna born in May 1583, but conceived out of wedlock; Judith and Hamnet, twins born in February 1585; Hamnet died in 1596, at age 11

III/III. Theatre Career • In the late 1580s Shakespeare moved to London

• By 1592 he had established himself as a writer

• In 1594 joined Richard Burbage’s acting company and became its chief playwright for the next two decades

• Shakespeare also worked as an actor in the theater company, although the lead roles were always reserved for Burbage himself

• In 1603 James I granted his royal patronage to Shakespeare’s company, which became known as The King’s Men

III/IV. Latter years• Retired to Stratford in 1611 and lived comfortably

off his wealth for the rest of his life

• Died on April 23, 1616 (this date is an educated guess because we only have a record of his burial two days later)

• In his will, he bequeathed most of his properties to Susanna, his eldest daughter, and some actors from The King’s Men

• Bequeathed his “second best bed” to his wife, the meaning of which has caused many disputes and guesses

IV. Shakespeare’s works

IV/I. Top 10 Most Important Plays (in chronological order)

• Romeo and Juliet (1594-1595)

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595-1596)

• Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1599)

• Henry V (1598-1599)

• Twelfth Night (1599-1600)

• Hamlet (1600-1601)

• Measure for Measure (1604-1605)

• King Lear (1605-1606)

• Macbeth ( 1605-1606)

• The Tempest (1611-1612)

IV/II. Insults by Shakespeare

IV/III. Shakespeare authorship debate

1. The William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon and the William Shakespeare of London were two separate people. They have been falsely connected by historians

2. Someone called William Shakespeare did work with Burbage’s theater company, but did not write the plays. Shakespeare was putting his name to plays given to him by someone else

3. William Shakespeare was a pen name for another writer or a group of writers

Shakespeare’s identity has been in dispute since the 18th Century. There are a number of theories surrounding the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays, most are based on one of the following ideas:

To be or not to be?

V. ConclusionHopefully you managed to discover:

• the Bard’s eventful life

• the reasons for his popularity

• the authorship controversy

But there is still much to know about this outstanding person. To do this you can follow some references, given at the References list at the end of presentation, and, what’s more important, read some of Shakespeare’s works. This is how you will be able to give your own answers to the majority of the questions connected to William Shakespeare

VI. References• Shakespeare online: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/

• 5 facts about Shakespeare: http://shakespeare.about.com/od/triviaquizzes/tp/Shakespeare-facts.htmhttp://shakespeare.about.com/od/triviaquizzes/tp/Shakespeare-facts.htm

• Shakespeare Authorship Debate: http://shakespeare.about.com/od/authorshipdebate/a/authorship.htm

• Insults by Shakespeare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdCjKH5IKJ8

This presentation was made by Guseva Valeria. You can contact me via my e-mail guselera@yandex.ru