WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
English Renaissance gave birth to an amazing galaxy of writers. But W.Shakespeare outshined them all. He had a great influence on the development of the world literature. He was a great poet, dramatist, a psychologist. Many periods in his life remained unknown to us.
W.Shakespeare was born in 1564 in April, 23 in the town of Stratford-on-Avon. His father John was a prominent citizen, who became a member of в city council. In his childhood William probably attended the Stratford grammar school, where he got good knowledge of Latin.
When William was a young man, there were no theatres in England. Groups of actors travelled from town to town and played in different places, usually out-of-doors. Sometimes actors came to Stratford. Young boy went to see all their shows and liked them very much. He wrote little plays himself and staged them with his friends.
In 1582 when he was eighteen he married to Anne Hathaway. There were three children in the family: a daughter and twins (a boy and a girl). By that time his father John Shakespeare had been ruined and was quite poor. The life in Stratford was hard. When he was 21 he went to London. Here he joined a group of actors. He wrote his famous poem "Venus and Adonis". At that time Shakespeare became closely connected to the theatre company. He became an actor and staged his own plays at the Globe Theatre.
Soon he was mentioned as a dramatist.
W.Shakeseare is the greatest playwright in the history of English and world literature.
His plays remain famous for centuries.
The poet wrote about the eternal things in the life: love, death and high human aspirations. He reflected the spirit of the Renaissance. He taught to understand the human relations, social conflicts and great tragedies.
W.Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, two poems and 154 sonnets.
He was famous by his comedies, tragedies Such as "Much Ado About Nothing”, "Twelth nights", "Romeo and Juliet", Hamlet", "Othello", "King Lear", "Macbeth", "The Winter's Tale" and many others; historical dramas such as Henry IV, Richard III. His sonnets occupy a unique place in the Shakespearian heritage, because they are his only lyrical pieces, written about himself.
During the last years of his life Shakespeare wrote less and less. In І613, after the Globe had been destroyed by fire, he retired to Stratford and stopped writing. By that time he was a very ill man. On April, 1616 he died and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church of Stratford.
Shakespeare is one of the best English playwrights in the world. His plays are immortal.
QUESTIONS
1. What place does Shakespeare take in world literature?
2. What time is called the age of Shakespeare?
3. Where did he live?
4. What do you know about his family?
5. What helped him to write such wonderful plays?
