Category William Shakespeare

       Romantic lovers are often compared to Romeo and Juliet. They are celebrated for their steadfast love for each other and their sacrifice. Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet presents the story of two lovers whose fate does not allow them to live a life together.

      The ‘balcony scene’ in the play where Romeo meets Juliet for the first time is one of the most celebrated scenes in all of Shakespeare’s plays. He compares the balcony to the east and her, to the sun! Lines such as ‘Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs’ and ‘O teach me how I should forget to think’ are some of the most memorable lines of the play.

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      The story of these two lovers was popular in England and other parts of Europe long before Shakespeare wrote the famous play. Shakespeare’s chief source was a poem written by Arthur Brooke in 1562, titled ‘The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet’. Brooke’s poem was in fact a free translation of a French story by Pierre Boaistuau (1566). The source for this story, in turn, was another story by an Italian writer named Mateo Bandello. Several variations of this tale existed long before that, but it was a writer named Da Porto who first named the lovers as Romeo and Giulietta, and set the action in Verona.

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     Macbeth was probably written between 1603 and 1606. It was penned during the reign of James VI, and Shakespeare’s relationship with sovereign nobility is best reflected in this play, which is also one of Shakespeare’s shorter tragedies.

      In Verona, Italy, there were two families who were sworn enemies: the Capulets and the Montagues.

     Romeo, a young man in the Montague family, was sad because a woman named Rosaline would not return his love. Meanwhile, Juliet, a Capulet, was asked to marry a Count named Paris, although she was not in love with him. Her parents prepared for a huge party that night.

      Romeo’s best friend Mercutio wanted to cheer him up, and suggested that they go to the Capulet party. Romeo agreed, though reluctantly. He knew they would not be welcome by the enemy family.

     At the party, Romeo and Juliet saw each other and fell in love. When the party was over, Romeo stood below Juliet’s balcony and called to her. They made ardent vows of love. Juliet’s trusted nurse and Friar Laurence, a priest, helped them to get married in secret.

     Unfortunately Romeo got involved in a fight between the two families, and he happened to kill Juliet’s cousin Tybalt. Romeo fled the scene, but the Prince ordered that Romeo should be exiled and should never return to Verona. Then Juliet’s father told her that marriage with Count Paris would take place soon. Filled with sadness, Juliet visited Friar Laurence, who gave her a special potion. It would put her into a deep sleep, making her appear to have died. The plan was that Friar Laurence would send word to Romeo about this fake death. Once Juliet was entombed, the marriage to Paris would be called off. Then Juliet would awaken, Romeo would find her, and both could live happily ever after.

      However, the message about the fake death could not reach Romeo. All he came to know was that Juliet had died. He got some poison himself and visited the tomb. Thinking she was dead, Romeo drank the poison and died next to her. When Juliet woke from her deep sleep, she was horrified to see Romeo lying dead. She took Romeo’s dagger and stabbed herself.

      Later, both the families repented their enmity, and decided to live in peace.

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       There really was a king of Scotland named Macbeth, who died in 1057. Shakespeare’s play is based on the legend of his life. The real Macbeth was a ‘mormaer’ or chief, in the province of Moray, in northern Scotland. He later ascended the throne after killing his cousin King Duncan in a battle (not by murdering him in bed, as in the play). Shakespeare seems to have got the story from a book titled ‘Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland’ by Raphael Holinshed, and he was more interested in drama than historical facts. So, Shakespeare’s depiction of the character of Macbeth is entirely fictional.

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       Macbeth was a brave general, serving under King Duncan of Scotland. Once he was returning from a victorious campaign, with another general named Banquo. Three witches met them on the way, and prophesied that Macbeth would become thane (baron) of Cawdor, and also King of Scotland.

       The witches then vanished. Soon after, word reached them that Macbeth was to assume the title of the thane of Cawdor. Part of the witches’ prophecies had come true. This set Macbeth dreaming of ascending the throne.

       King Duncan welcomed Macbeth and Banquo with all praise, and he spent the night at Macbeth’s castle. Macbeth shared the witches’ prophecies with his wife, and her mind was filled with greed. Macbeth stabbed Duncan, and the servants were framed for the murder. The king’s sons fled in fear, and Macbeth assumed the throne. Banquo became suspicious, remembering what the witches had said.

       Macbeth soon had Banquo killed. He was indeed descending into madness. He visited the three witches again, who assured him he was safe – “none of woman born” would harm him; and he would be safe until he sees the forest of Birnam Wood rise against him. Macbeth then ordered the murder of Macduff, the nobleman who had first seen Duncan dead. But Macduff had fled to England, and his entire family was killed, instead.

       Lady Macbeth’s conscience was ridden with guilt, and she killed herself in madness. Macduff and Duncan’s son Malcolm rode back to Scotland with an English army to take revenge, The English soldiers held up branches from the Birnam Wood to hide their real numbers, and it really looked like the forest was moving. And Macduff was not naturally born of his mother. Macbeth was struck down and beheaded by Macduff, and Malcolm inherited his rightful throne.

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   ‘The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark’ is a great revenge tragedy. In this play Shakespeare strongly brings out the complexity of the human mind. Prince Hamlet is given the task of revenge, but he is not naturally suited to it. This leads to an inner turmoil which is unveiled brilliantly by Shakespeare. Combined with this is the power of the story itself.

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       The story of Hamlet is actually much older than Shakespeare’s play. The earliest presentation of the story in a still existing literary form was in the 12th century, by Dane Saxo Grammaticus. This version was expanded by Francois de BeIleforest in ‘Histories Tragique’, in 1582. It is generally believed that this book is the source of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

       Shakespeare’s Hamlet was played in 1600 or 1601, and it was printed first in 1603.

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     Hamlet was the Prince of Denmark. His father, the king died suddenly. Soon after the king’s death, his brother Claudius married the queen, Gertrude, and started to rule. Hamlet was very sad about these events.

     Then a strange thing happened. The castle guards and Hamlet’s friend Horatio saw the ghost of the murdered king. Hamlet sought the ghost out. The ghost said, “The one that took my life now wears the crown. Avenge this murder! Spare your mother, and let her suffer the punishment of sorrow.”

     Hamlet was shocked to hear this, and he did not want anybody to know about it. So he started to act like a mad man so as to hide his feelings. Hamlet was in love with a girl, Ophelia, the daughter of a wise courtier named Polonius. Polonius and Claudius thought Hamlet’s love for Ophelia had caused his madness. At the same time Hamlet’s mind was full of confusion: can evil undo evil? Was the ghost actually telling the truth? Too many thoughts clouded Hamlet’s mind, and he was unable to do anything.

    To make sure of the truth, Hamlet arranged to stage a play before the court, including in it some scenes that looked like the murder of his father. During the scene of the poisoning, Claudius suddenly stood up and left. Now, Hamlet was sure about what had happened.

     Hamlet and his mother had a bitter argument. Polonius, hiding behind the curtains was shocked to hear Hamlet’s accusations. He made a noise. Hamlet thought it was Claudius and he killed him. Soon after, Hamlet was sent away to England with two courtiers who carried a sealed letter asking the king of England to put Hamlet to death. On the way, Hamlet secretly read the letter and wrote in it the names of the two courtiers, rubbing out his own. Later, some pirates helped Hamlet to return to Denmark. On his return Hamlet was of full grief to learn that Ophelia had taken her own life. Ophelia’s brother Laertes was very angry with Hamlet.

     Claudius made an evil plan to use Laertes to kill Hamlet and arranged a duel between the two. The plan was to give Laertes a poison tipped sword.  If at all Hamlet won, Claudius would be ready with poisoned wine to celebrate the match. In the fight, both Hamlet and Laertes got wounded by the poisoned sword. In the meantime the queen accidentally drank from the poisoned wine and fell dead. Before his own death, Hamlet rushed at the king and stabbed him with the poisoned sword.

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     There are quite a few soulful heroines in Shakespeare’s plays. Desdemona, Lady Macbeth, Juliet, Portia, Ophelia, Rosalind, Cordelia, and Gertrude are some of them. Who played these characters on stage?

     In reality, women were forbidden to perform in plays, as it was illegal for women to appear on stage. Therefore, there were no female actors in the Elizabethan theatre. In fact, women in general considered it beneath their dignity to act in plays. Neither did their guardians allow them to do so, as it was a matter of prestige and status. Shakespeare’s women characters were played by young boys who had not developed masculine features in their faces. Boys between 13 and 19 years of age were selected to play these roles because their voices were still high, and their muscles had not fully developed.

     The costumes for the female roles were very elaborate. There were many layers of clothing, and therefore, it would have taken considerable time, and the help of a dresser, to dress a boy actor in the costume of a female. The make-up used for these boy-artists was lead-based and, hence, was toxic. It was quite normal that such boys were very unhealthy. They had facial skin diseases and many died of lead poisoning! These boys were employed as apprentices; and therefore, were not paid well. In fact, they were the worst paid lot among the crew.

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      Do we have all of Shakespeare’s plays? Is there any play lost to us? Many plays, which were once considered to have been written by Shakespeare, have now been discovered to be written by others. Shakespeare also has written plays in collaboration with others. A couple of his plays, however, are known to us only because they are mentioned by their name by his contemporaries and are lost. They are Love’s Labour Won and Cordenio.

      Francis Meres, an English churchman and author, lists a dozen or so plays by Shakespeare in his book Palladis Tamia. One of them is Love’s Labour Won. An English book-seller, Christopher Hunt also mentions the name of this play as Shakespeare’s work. Both of them were Shakespeare’s contemporaries and knew the bard’s works. Some say that this play was a sequel to Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. There is a reason for this speculation. In the play Love’s Labour Lost, the weddings that were to take place at the end of the play were delayed for a year. Maybe, Shakespeare, scholars think, had a sequel named Love’s Labour Won in mind. There is also another theory that this is the alternative name of an already existing play.

      Cardenio, on the other hand, is thought to be a collaborative effort by Shakespeare and John Fletcher, another Elizabethan writer. Scholars say that this play’s plot was based on a story from Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote. Cardenio is a young man who lives in misery and madness in Sierra Morena, a mountain range in Spain, driven there by the apparent infidelity of his beloved Lucinda and the treachery of Duke Ferdinand. Lewis Theobald, and 18th century British writer, had written a play named Double Falsehood or The Distressed Lovers. Some say that this play is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Cardenio.

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     As can be easily imagined, Shakespeare’s plays were written primarily to be performed, and not to be read. Though Shakespeare authored so many plays, he never bothered about printing any of them as books. It was only after his death that his plays were compiled, and were made into respectable books. However, they were available during Shakespeare’s lifetime in the form of flimsy-looking booklets, called Quartos. Quartos were normal papers folded twice to make four pages. The people who printed these quartos did not have access to Shakespeare’s texts. Therefore, they were poorly printed, and contained many mistakes. Parts of these printed plays contained wrong passages or paraphrased texts. Some of them were adaptations. Shakespeare had not approved of them at all.

     It was not common for writers to publish their works in folios. Ben Jonson defied this convention, and published a folio collection of his own plays and poems in 1616, the year of Shakespeare’s death. Had Shakespeare’s friends not stepped in, and performed the most gracious act they could ever have done for the writer, probably, Shakespeare and his plays would have faded into oblivion! John Heminges and Henry Condell, two of Shakespeare’s close friends from the King’s Men collected 36 texts of Shakespeare’s plays in 1623, seven years after the bard’s death. This collected edition is known as the First Folio. The Second Folio appeared in 1632 and the Third Folio in 1663. Seven more plays were added to Shakespeare’s name in the Third Folio. The Fourth Folio was published in 1685 and retained all 43 plays. However, later scholars discovered that some of these plays were not, in fact, authored by Shakespeare.

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     Did all the wonderful tales that Shakespeare told through his plays have their inception in Shakespeare’s brain? Did he fashion all those tales from scratch? In fact, the plots of most of his plays are borrowed from various sources. This, however, does not diminish his brilliance. The bard’s genius lies more in the fabulous way he presented those tales than his originality.

     The sources of his plays with Greek and Roman themes such as Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Timon of Athens are Plutarch, a Greek biographer, and Ovid, a Roman poet. Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, written probably in the second century, has many biographies of famous men. Ovid’s Metamorphoses, on the other hand is a series of mythical stories.

     Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, meaning a historian, who lived in 16th century England. He undertook an ambitious project of writing the history of the world and was successful in completing only a small portion, which he published in 1577 as The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland. Shakespeare borrowed the themes of most of his historical plays and the plots of Macbeth, King Lear and Cymbeline from Holinshed’s Chronicles.

     The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio was another major source of Shakespeare’s plays. Boccaccio was an Italian writer and poet, whose Decameron is a collection of hundred stories told by seven young women and three young men. Many of Shakespeare’s comedies and romances have been inspired from the stories of this book. He has borrowed tales from Arthur Brooke, a 16th century English poet, and Saxo Grammaticus, a 12th century Danish historian, too. Another great book that inspired Shakespeare was, certainly, the Holy Bible.

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     Harold Bloom, one of the most celebrated Shakespeare scholars, thinks that the Bard of Avon invented the ‘modern man’. Shakespeare’s canvas was so wide that there was scarcely any kind of human being that does not appear in his plays. No character, not even the one that appears and disappears for a single scene, is a lifeless flat character in them. He has explored the human mind so thoroughly that the entire work of the writer is an extensive examination of diverse human emotions in their varied hues and tones. And we have internalized Shakespeare and his characters so much that all events of our lives are mirror images of Shakespearean lives.

      Shakespeare’s plays have been classified in many ways. The traditional classification falls into four categories: the comedies, the histories, the tragedies and the romances.

     Today, a comedy means an entertaining laugh-riot movie. However, the word ‘comedy’ had a very different meaning in the Elizabethan times. A comedy was a light-hearted, happy-ending play in which young men and women marry each other promising a successful life thereafter.

     A Comedy of Errors, Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love’s Labours Lost, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline, Pericles, All’s Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are some of Shakespeare’s comedies.

     In Shakespeare’s tragedies, the heroes undergo certain difficult situations, all the while suffering from internal conflicts. They all have a ‘tragic flaw’ that ultimately leads them to their own destruction. Othello, who was intensely in love with his wife Desdemona, was jealous of her because of the lies told to him by his enemy lago. His jealousy led him to kill his dear wife and commit suicide. Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Hamlet, Othello, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus and Timon of Athens are Shakespeare’s tragedies.

     There are ten history plays by Shakespeare. They are Henry VI, parts one, two and three, Richard III, Richard II, Henry IV, Parts one and two, Henry V, King John and Henry VIII. Shakespeare’s history plays centre around actual events and monarchs from Britain’s history. The Gain and loss of power and the divine rights of kings are the main themes of these plays.

    The fourth category is a recent addition. The romances were previously grouped with comedies. However, today, these plays are considered more mature plays of Shakespeare as he wrote them all after the success of his tragedies. They have characters of comedies and tragedies. He mixes them with mystical and fantastic elements in them. His romances are Pericles: Prince of Tyre, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. Some scholars believe that Shakespeare wrote more plays, while these plays are not part of the Shakespearean canon currently. They are called Shakespeare’s Apocrypha. The names of the 12 apocryphal plays of Shakespeare are Locrine, The London Prodigal, The Puritan, Thomas: Lord Cromwell, Sir John Oldcastle, Arden of Feversham, A Yorkshire Tragedy, The Birth of Merlin, Edward III, Fair Em, Mucedorus and The Merry Devil of Edmonton.

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The question might seem absurd, but many scholars believed, and some still hold, that Shakespeare was either not real or too incompetent to have written so many great works of literature.

            The conspiracy theories took birth almost two centuries ago. One of their chief arguments is that the plays contain too much knowledge of foreign and distant places and too much familiarity with court life and the affairs of court to have been written by someone who had minimum educational qualifications and who was so low down in the social ladder. They also say that the plays of Shakespeare have too wide a range of style that makes it impossible for someone without advanced education to write them.

According to these theories, Shakespeare had no education in the classics, or the Latin language. There is no evidence of his handwriting in a letter or other documents. The six signatures that are available today are nothing more than the scrawl of an illiterate man.

Moreover, nowhere is Shakespeare mentioned as a writer. Instead, he is described as a businessman and property owner. To top it all, his will says nothing about his writings, and is phrased in ordinary uninspiring language.

So, who wrote in Shakespeare’s name? There are many names. The most prominent figure among them is Francis Bacon, the essayist and scientist. There are others such as Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, Christopher Marlowe, William Stanley, the 6th Earl of Derby, and Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke. There is another conspiracy theory too, that Shakespeare’s works were written by a group of collaborators led by Sir Francis Bacon and Sir Walter Raleigh.

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     Although we have no conclusive evidence, scholars think that Shakespeare had a very brief illness that led to his sudden and unexpected death. The great writer had retired to his old town Stratford some years prior to his demise. Shakespeare was still working in 1606; however, the spreading of the bubonic plague had caused long spells of closure of theatres. This meant that work was scarce. However, the bard was reportedly visiting London until 1612. He wrote fewer plays after 1610 and after 1613, no plays are attributed to his name. Shakespeare probably knew he was inching towards death. In his final play, The Tempest, he gives away hints about his signing off from the stage and the world. The great artist passed away on 23th April 1616 at the age of 52.

       How did Shakespeare die? His will, which had been written just two months prior to his death, said that he was in perfect health. John Ward, who was the Vicar of Stratford from 1662 to 1681, wrote in his diary some anecdotes that shed light into Shakespeare’s life.

       In one of his diary entries he noted that Michael Drayton, a poet, and Ben Jonson had visited Shakespeare once and they had a merry meeting. Shakespeare drank too hard. Subsequently, he died of a fever that lasted a few days.

      For the literary titan that he was, the inscription on Shakespeare’s tomb was not very inspiring. In fact, a curse was left on his tombstone as the epitaph. It read, “Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare To dig the dust enclosed here.

     Blessed be the man that spares these stones And cursed be he that moves my bones”.

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Shakespeare was no ordinary mortal. His tales and poems have travelled to the ends of the world and his name is familiar even to toddlers. What would such a great soul have written in his will, the document that he wrote to his near and dear ones as he was nearing death? Does the man, who wrote about kings, battles, courts, courtships, jealousy, pride, avarice, wealth and romance, say anything about his greatest assets, his plays and poems? Has he left any message to the world though his will?

For all those who love literature and especially Shakespeare’s works, his will is a huge disappointment. The document is nothing more than any other ordinary will written in the most boring legal language. No exquisite witticisms, no extravagance of expressions and no inspiring epigrams!

All that is said is about money and some of his immovable assets and whom he bequeaths it all. In fact, the will was made immediately after his daughter Judith’s marriage.

However, with the help of his lawyer, he kept altering his will until he was fully satisfied with it before his death. Shakespeare was concerned about his daughters. He was disturbed by the plight of his second daughter Judith, whose husband Thomas Quiney was an immoral man. Shakespeare did not like him and did not want his wealth to go to Quiney. However, his first son-in-law, John Hall was dear to him. Shakespeare’s wealth was divided among his wife, daughters and his colleagues.

Shakespeare’s will have been closely scrutinized by scholars to determine his personal opinions and beliefs. It also sheds light on his religious beliefs, moral values, attitude towards his two daughters and relationship with his colleagues.

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     Shakespeare is a colossal figure when it comes to his contributions to literature. As is expected from any writer of such magnitude, Shakespeare’s contribution to language is huge. Many words that we use today have been in some way or other were modified or used with a distinct meaning by Shakespeare. He has invented over 1700 words that we commonly use. Shakespeare achieved this by changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting word never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes and devising words wholly original. Several phrases that are still very much a part of our language and conversation such as ‘full circle’, ‘a sorry sight’, ‘strange bedfellow’ and ‘seen better days’ are coined by Shakespeare.

     Shakespeare turned the word ‘gloomy’, which was formerly used as a verb, into an adjective. The word is found in his play Titus Andronicus. In Merchant of Venice, he used the word ‘laughable’ for the first time. It was Shakespeare, who used the word ‘majestic’ for the first time in his play They Tempest. During the 15th century, the word ‘alone’ was shortened to ‘lone’ in common parlance. Shakespeare created the word ‘lonely’ from this word and used it in his Coriolanus. Shakespeare introduced the word ‘radiance’, in King Lear. The word was not in use formerly in English language as he modified the Latin word ‘radiantem’, meaning ‘beaming’. There are many others such as ‘hurry’ in Henry VI Part I, and ‘generous’ in Hamlet. ‘Critical’ was first used in Othello. Shakespeare created the word ‘courtship’ and used it in The Merchant of Venice. In his comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare used the word ‘undress’ for the first time.

    Considering the fact that English as a language was only evolving into its modern form, much scope existed for the kind of innovations Shakespeare made. Words were not sufficiently available for the bard in his creative ventures. Therefore, he had to invent!

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     Have you read Shakespeare’s plays or poems in its original language? It is highly likely that we understand hardly half of what is written. Some words and sentences do not have any resemblance to the modern English we are familiar with today. We may even wonder if Shakespeare wrote in the English language or some other tongue!

     It is indeed true that Shakespeare wrote in the English language. However, as all languages undergo evolution as time passes, the English language too has gone through considerable changes to become what it is today.

     The origins of English can be traced back to the beginning of the second millennium. To understand the evolution of English easily, the periods have been divided as Old English, Middle English and Modern English. Old English was spoken and written in Britain from the 5th century to the middle of the 11th century and is really closer to the Germanic mother tongue of the Anglo-Saxons.

     With the arrival of the French-speaking Normans in 1066, Old English underwent dramatic changes and by 1350, it had evolved into Middle English.

     By about 1450, Middle English was replaced with Early Modern English, the language of Shakespeare, which is almost identical to contemporary English. Shakespeare’s works were written in Early Modern English.

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     Shakespeare was born into not so rich circumstances. Although his mother was from an affluent family, his father had a business that did not fetch the family much. In the 1580s, Shakespeare’s father suffered failure in business. Circumstances were such that the bard had to marry at the age of 18 and thus had three extra mouths to feed. That must be the reason for his leaving for London for better fortune.

     However, soon his popularity and the acceptance of his plays made him a well-to-do man. Moreover, Shakespeare knew how to manage the money he received from his well-earned reputation. In his early years, Shakespeare did well as his plays were successful.

      Would you believe that Shakespeare ventured into the real estate business with his wealth? In fact, the bard did invest 900 pounds in a series of ambitious purchases of real estate. A good-sized house in Stratford could be resold for thirty pounds profit. The annual salary of a Stratford headmaster was just 20 pounds then. From these investments, Shakespeare must have made a return of around 75-80 pounds per year. However, did it make him extremely wealthy? It is difficult to say.

      Shakespeare did not even manage to break into the ranks of the minor local gentry in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. This is most obvious in the marriages of his two daughters, Susanna to John Hall, and Judith to Thomas Quiney. These men were the sort of marriage partners thought inappropriate for the daughters of an aspiring gentleman. After Shakespeare’s death, neither of his sons-in-law, whose wives had inherited almost all of Shakespeare’s real and personal estate, lived out his life as a man of independent means.

     It was in 1605 that he made his highest purchase of real estate. This investment was of around 440 pounds and it doubled in value and earned him 60 pounds income each year.

     Some academics speculate that this investment gave Shakespeare the time he needed to write plays uninterrupted. However, this was also his last as he did not earn much after this.

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     Art and literature have been greatly appreciated and encouraged in societies for ages as they gave direction and shape to civilization and culture. Art and literature thrived, unfortunately, not in affluence; and therefore, artists and writers had to seek help and support from the wealthy and the aristocratic.

     There were patrons who volunteered to assist artists from time to time. In fact, during the medieval and Renaissance periods in European history, the structure of society itself was built on patronage. Shakespeare had patrons too. They helped him establish himself as an actor, playwright and poet.

     Edward Manners, the third Earl of Rutland, was Shakespeare’s first patron. The Earl was Shakespeare’s friend too. This patron was interested in Shakespeare from his teenage and encouraged him to write as the bard wished.  Maybe, Rutland also helped Shakespeare in building the stage in which his earlier plays were staged.

    Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd Earl of Southampton, was probably the most important patron of Shakespeare. Some say that the ‘fair youth’ in Shakespeare’s sonnets is, in fact, this Earl of Southampton. However, some others say that William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, was the ‘fair youth’. Among his other patrons Queen Elizabeth 1 and King James I are the most prominent. Both of them loved drama. Queen Elizabeth enjoyed poetry greatly and devoted herself to the study of the ancient classical period. Many times did the Queen attend the plays of Shakespeare in person?

     King James too encouraged art and drama and was often in the audience watching and enjoying Shakespeare’s plays. Both of them contributed greatly directly and indirectly in aiding the culture of art and literature in England and thus promoting Shakespeare who we see today as the epitome of theatre and poetry.

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    Shakespeare is best known to the world as a playwright. However, Shakespeare’s reputation as a writer was established in society through his poems first. During the Elizabethan times, it was hardly profitable to write poems. However, as it is today, attempting poetry was fashionable and poetry helped the author to enhance his social status. For Shakespeare, poetry was not only something he greatly enjoyed, but also a platform to express his most personal and intimate thoughts and desires.

      There was an interim during Shakespeare’s busy life of acting and writing plays. There was an attack of a plague in England between 1593 and 1594; and as a result, theatres had to be closed down for controlling the spread of the disease. It was during this period, Shakespeare turned to writing poems. The first of his long poems was ‘Venus and Adonis’, written in 1593 and ‘The Rape of Lucrece’, written in the next year. Both poems deal with passion and violence. ‘A Lover’s Complaint’, ‘The Phoenix and the Turtle’ and ‘The Passionate Pilgrim’ are some of his other narrative poems.

     However, Shakespeare’s reputation as a poet lies in his sonnets. They were published in 1609. There are 154 sonnets in total. The first 126 are addressed to a young man; whereas the last 28 are addressed to a young woman. While Shakespeare’s plays made him a popular dramatist, his poems cemented his place in the literary world.

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            A London theatre was not as disciplined as a theatre of the modern times. The groundlings, those poor people who paid one penny to watch the play, made up the majority of the audience. These groundlings were composed of tanners, butchers, iron-workers, millers, seamen from the ships docked in the Thames, glovers, servants, shopkeepers, wigmakers, bakers, and countless other tradesmen and their families. They would keep standing throughout the play. If anyone wanted to sit, they had to pay an extra penny. If a person wanted to sit comfortably on a cushion, then he would have to pay an additional penny again.

            One penny in Elizabethan times, it should be remembered, was the wage of an entire day! There were other galleries where one, if you paid more money, could sit more comfortably, and save himself from the jostling of the crowd below.

            The atmosphere inside the theatre would be deafening. The groundings were more boisterous and uproarious than any modern day audience.

            After all, their purpose of watching, the play was to relieve the tension and tedium of the entire day. They would shout, jostle about, be angry at each other, and get into brawls and even pickpocket the one in front. Loud and hot-tempered, they would, in all probability, refuse to calm down when the play started. It was often in the midst of such an undisciplined crowd that Shakespeare performed his plays.

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            Like the superstars in movies today, there were heroes who had cut out larger than life images in Shakespeare’s time. Richard Burbage, an English stage performer, was the most famous actor during the late I 6th century. Burbage was not only an actor, but also a theatre owner, entrepreneur, and painter.

            By the age of twenty, Richard Burbage achieved success as a performer. He played the major Shakespearean characters, including Othello, Hamlet, Lear, and Richard Ill. Richard Ill was the most popular of his roles with the Elizabethan public. The performance of the character of Richard III gave Burbage a superstar image. He had also performed in the plays of leading playwrights of the time such as Ben Jonson, Thomas Kyd, Beaumont and Fletcher, and John Webster.

            The only image of Richard Burbage available to us today is often considered a self-portrait. He is also credited with painting a portrait of Shakespeare. When Burbage died, it was a huge event. People believed that Burbage was the true sound of Shakespeare’s lines. Writers of the Elizabethan period wrote eulogies about him. All of London fell into a great gloom at the great actor’s departure. There was so much grief that, it is said, the official mourning for Queen Anne was overshadowed by Burbage’s death.

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            During Shakespeare’s time, the Globe was the leading theatre in all of England. The name ‘Globe’ derives not only from its circular shape, but also because the owners had a cosmic vision of the world. The motto of the theatre was ‘because all the world is a playground’. The theatre was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.

            Shakespeare’s historical play, Henry VIII, was being staged then. Theatrical cannons, which were set up as a surprise for the audience, exploded during the play. While the cannon ball was meant to harmlessly fly over the stage, nobody gave much attention to the smoke and fire it had ignited at the top of the theatre. The cannons misfired and set the entire theatre on fire. The wooden beams and thatch of the theatre caught fire immediately. Suddenly, people started running out of the building, leaving behind their cloaks. One or two people sustained minor injuries. Although no one was reported to have lost life, the conflagration marked the end of the leading theatre of England. The fire was so fierce that it consumed a house next to the theatre too.

            However, the theatre was rebuilt the very next year. It went on to perform for some more decades until it was closed down, along with many others, in 1642 by the Puritans. Puritans were the English Protestants who were rigorous practitioners of their faith and believed all kinds of celebrations and revelries were immoral. In 1644 or 1655, the theatre was pulled down and dismantled.

            Centuries later, the theatre was reconstructed in 1997. Today, it is known as Shakespeare’s Globe. The theatre performs plays regularly even today.

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            Since there are hardly any documents from the 16th century suggesting the dimension of the theatre, it is difficult to say conclusively what exactly the theatre looked like. However, over the last couple of centuries, there has been extensive research on the shape and size of the theatre and we know something about it today. The Globe was an open-air amphitheatre around 30 metres in diameter in a polygon shape with twenty sides. Around 3,000 spectators could be accommodated in the theatre.

            The theatre had three storeys. Much like our modern movie theatres, the ticket charges differed according to where one preferred to sit. The commoners who could not afford to pay more than a penny had to stand on the ground at the base of the stage. This area was known as the ‘pit’. The people who paid a penny to watch the play were known as ‘groundlings’. Groundling, in fact, is the name of a kind of a small fish with a gaping mouth. All that the actor at the centre of the stage looking down to the ‘pit’ could see was the ocean of faces of men that looked like a swarm of open-mouthed groundlings!

            The theatre had a backstage area or tiring-house, which contained the dressing rooms, the prop room, the musician’s gallery and connecting passage-ways. There were an inner stage, a central balcony stage and a central music gallery within it. The shape and structure of the theatre determined some of the important features of Shakespeare’s plays too.

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           The Lord Chamberlain’s Company was the leading drama company in London during the final years of the 16th century. The company was founded during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1594. As was the custom then, any enterprise of great magnitude such as a theatre needed a powerful patron and this company’s patron was Henry Carey, the Lord Chamberlain of Royal Court. Lord Chamberlain is the most senior member of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. Henry Carey was in charge of the court entertainment then. The company changed its name a couple of times; first to the Lord Hunsdon’s Men when Henry Carey succeeded him and then to the king’s Men, when the king James ascended the throne and became the company’ patron.

            In 1599, the company built a theatre called the Globe Theatre. They had already another theatre in place, called ‘the Theatre’. However, due to certain disagreements between the players and the owner of the land on which the theatre stood, the group built the Globe Theatre, on the bank of the Thames River. The Globe Theatre, in fact, was built with the wooden planks of old theatre. It was bigger and better than the one it replaced.

            There is a general disagreement over the inaugural play in the Globe Theatre. Some say it was Shakespeare’s Henry V; some others, Julius Caesar or Ben Jonson’s Every Man out of His Humour. The theatre was destroyed in a fire in 1613 and was rebuilt in the next year.

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            Imagine if Shakespeare did not exist! Then, the age would be known probably by another great dramatist’s name, that of Ben Jonson.

            Jonson was one of the most respected writers of Shakespeare’s time. He was Shakespeare’s closest friend too. In fact, Shakespeare was the god-father of Jonson’s son. They both used to frequent each other’s homes.

            Ben Jonson was eight years younger than Shakespeare. Although we do not conclusively know how both came to meet each other, Jonson is thought to have submitted a play to Shakespeare’s company for performance. Shakespeare even acted in Jonson’s play, ‘Every Man in his Humour’.

             Like Shakespeare, Jonson too did not have university education. Although Ben Jonson was considered a fine person, he was reported to have killed a fellow actor in a duel in 1598. His major plays include Every Man in His Humour, Eastward Ho, The Alchemist and Bartholomew Fair.

            Another of Shakespeare’s contemporaries is John Webster. He wrote only a few plays, of which ‘The White Devil’ and ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ are considered classics.

            Francis Bacon Edmund Spencer, Sir Philip Sidney, Thomas Campion, Thomas Middleton, William Rowley and Thomas Dekker are some other writers of the era.

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            During Shakespeare’s time, there were many other popular writers in London. Drama being the most sought-after form of entertainment of the period, many of these writers was playwrights whose plays were regularly performed on stage, while others were pamphleteers.

            Writing pamphlets expressing a social or political argument was a popular literary form in England from the mid-16th century onwards. Unlike Shakespeare, these writers were educated in universities.

            Do you know the story of Doctor Faustus, a man who sold his soul to the devil for all the knowledge in the world? This popular play was written by Christopher Marlowe, a University Wit.

            Other prominent University Wits were Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, John Lyly, Thomas Lodge and George Peele. All these writers were educated in either Oxford or Cambridge Universities. They are credited with introducing to the English audience many heroic themes in a heroic style. While many of the University Wits wrote and performed some academically interesting plays, the humble playwrights who had no scholarly background such as Shakespeare could relate better with people through their more dramatic, stirring and emotional plots. In fact, the strength of Shakespeare and the group of playwrights he represented was that they barely had any theoretical knowledge, taught in universities. Their plays were rich in emotionally appealing events. Characters expressed their happiness, sorrows and anguish in lengthy speeches, which whetted people’s appetite. And that was the secret of Shakespeare’s popular.

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            Shakespeare reappears in London scene around the late 1580s, and the early 1590s. His name is mentioned in 1592 as part of a theatre production in London. This means that Shakespeare had started his career as a dramatist around the latter half of the 1580s. By this time he is no longer the turbulent youth of old. He is changed and is more mature. Shakespeare may have written and directed some of his earliest plays then.

         In addition, he was important enough to be attacked and criticized by some known writers then! Robert Greene, a popular writer of Shakespeare’s time, called him, ‘an upstart crow’, meaning someone who had a sudden and unexpected rise in social class by means of dishonest deeds. Greene went on to add that Shakespeare was unsuccessfully trying to match the writings of the renowned playwrights of his times, known as University Wits.’ These writers were university educated in classic literature and had the requisite knowledge of ‘how to write.’ However, by a strange twist of fate, some of these writers including Robert Greene went into oblivion while Shakespeare out of the greatest writers the world has ever seen! Robert Greene is known today as merely a detractor of Shakespeare and denigrator of his character.

           By 1594, Shakespeare had cemented his place in the theatre industry of London as his plays were enacted before large audiences. He was also known as a talented actor. After 1594, a drama company known as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men hired him. The company was owned by a group of actors including Shakespeare. All his later plays were performed by this company. Shakespeare’s most renowned plays such as Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth were all produced by them. Richard Burbage handled the lead roles in all these plays and Shakespeare played some secondary roles.

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            For about seven years, there is no trace of what Shakespeare did. Records start after the birth of his twins. The last official record of Shakespeare’s presence in his village is the event of their baptism. Then there is no news of him. This period is known as ‘Shakespeare’s Lost Years’. In 1592, Shakespeare reappeared on the scene. We see him as an actor and playwright in London. However, we do not have any idea when he left Stratford-upon-Avon, why he went to London, or what he was doing before becoming a professional actor and dramatist in the capital. There is so much speculation as to what our great writer was up to during these years in oblivion.

            What was Shakespeare doing all those mysterious years? Maybe, Shakespeare was living quietly in his village, helping his family business. Some, however, say that Shakespeare had some troubles with a local landowner in Stratford-upon-Avon called Sir Thomas Lucy. He was caught poaching deer from Sir Thomas’ estate and was facing a disgraceful prosecuted. He may have fled to London in order to escape the punishment.

            Another account says that Shakespeare worked as a schoolmaster in his village. Some others say that he was a clerk of a lawyer. There are also stories that he became a soldier and fought in wars. A probable explanation is that he joined one of the drama companies that visited his village in the late 1580s. He became an actor and learned the art of writing plays. It is highly unlikely that Shakespeare became a playwright without some initiation and training in it. Whatever be the truth, it is quite natural to find gaps in the records of the lives of people who lived in the distant past.

            Unlike the present day, people did not find it essential to keep records intact. Many official documents may have been destroyed due to negligence or passage of time as well.  Inquisitive minds, however, have built a cult around Shakespeare’s missing years because the magnitude and diversity of human lives Shakespeare portrayed in his plays is testimony to his knowledge and experience of different walks of life, variety of professions and kinds of people.

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            Not much is known about Shakespeare’s youth until his marriage. Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. Anne was 8 years older than William who was merely 18 when the wedding took place. Their first child was Susanna. In 1585, Anne gave birth to twins, named Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of eleven. Shakespeare was devastated at the death of his only son. It is said that his greatest tragedy, Hamlet, took shape from his grief over his boy’s death.

            Susanna and Judith, on the other hand, led rather long lives, although the latter had a bitter and unhappy one. Susanna married John Hall, a prosperous Stratford physician. They were wealthy and ran a business. Their child, Elizabeth Hall, was also a known and successful figure.

            Judith Shakespeare, on the other hand, lived a tragic life. She was married to Thomas Quiney. They could not procure a licence from the church for their wedding before Lent; and therefore, were scandalously excommunicated after a month. Quiney was also convicted for other crimes and led a disgraceful life. They had three children, the youngest being named Shakespeare. The young Shakespeare died in his infancy and the other two in their youth.

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            An ordinary man from an ordinary family, Shakespeare’s childhood was not worthy enough to be carefully recorded. There is scanty information of his schooling. He may have had only a primary education. He learned basic Latin text and grammar, as was the custom then, at King’s New School located at Stratford.

            Shakespeare was no great scholar. He had no degrees from universities. In fact, being the member of a lower-middle class family, Shakespeare could not afford further university education, which was the prerogative of the affluent. Ben Jonson, a great playwright and his contemporary, wrote that Shakespeare had ‘small Latin and less Greek’, meaning the writer probably had no great scholarship. It, however, does not mean that he did not know history and philosophy. His plays and poetry testify that he had deep understanding of the literature of his times.

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            Do you know that Shakespeare’s death is observed on the same day he was born? The great writer died on 23rd April 1616. However, there is still no clarity regarding the date of his birth. Some church documents say that he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptized on 26th April 1564. As was the custom then, children would be baptized on the third day of their birth; and therefore, Shakespeare’s birth is speculated to be on April 23rd. Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare, was a glove-maker. He was also an alderman, a member of the municipal council. His mother, Mary Arden, was the daughter of a wealthy landowning farmer. They had eight children and William was the third and eldest surviving member among the siblings.

            Shakespeare is popularly known as the ‘Bard of Avon’ because he hails from Avon. A bard is a wandering poet, who travels around reciting poems.

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            Probably no writer would have caught the imagination of men and wielded as much influence and impact on writers, scholars and the common folk alike as Shakespeare. There would be hardly anyone who has not had at least some scant acquaintance with his plays or characters that are popular across cultures and have been adapted in various art forms and genres of literature. Shakespeare’s characters such as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Shylock, lago or King Lear have in other names, forms and contexts appeared before us. Such is his influence that we would have used at least one expression from his plays or poems by the time we talked in English for a minute or two!

            The great English playwright and poet has produced several works, including about 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and several other poems, that have stood the test of time. His plays have been translated into all major living languages in the world today. They have been performed more times than the plays of any other writer.

            Theatre during Shakespeare’s time was a monotonous and rigid display of art and was sometimes too academic to suit the taste of the common folk. Shakespeare did not faithfully adhere to the classical norms of drama. His attention was on creating interesting characters. His plays were emotionally intense and insightful. People laughed, wept and were enraged at his protagonists, fools and villains.

            To the Elizabethans of the 16th century, Shakespeare opened a world of passionate romance, hot-blooded rivalry, cold-blooded betrayal and obsessive jealousy.

            Shakespeare made huge contributions to the evolution of the English language too. His plays standardized the language and provided it with new words and phrases. It is said that about 1,700 words were first used in English by Shakespeare!