William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. He married Anne Hathaway at the
age of 18 and had three children. Eventually, he left Stratford and moved to London. He was
accepted into one of the acting companies, in a very minor role; he wasn’t a good actor but was an
excellent playwright. Later, London theatres were closed because of the plague and Shakespeare
received the help of private patron: the Earl of Southampton. When theatres re-opened, Shakespeare
became the main playwright of the most successful acting company in London. Between 1590 and
1596 he wrote some historical dramas and at the same time he put ten comedies on stage. He died in
1616 at the age of 52. Seven years later, his friends published an edition of 36 plays in one volume,
the famous First Folio

Sonnets
Shakespeare’s sonnets were written in 1590 but were published in 1609 in a collection called Quarto.
Shakespeare didn’t’ use the Petrarchan scheme based on an octave and a sestet, but structured them on
three quatrains and a final couplet.

The sonnets were not chronological and can be divided into two groups: the first is dedicated to a ‘fair
youth’, probably Shakespeare’s young patron, the Earl of Southampton; the second group is dedicated to a
‘dark lady’ or ‘black woman’ who isn’t very attractive but the poet finds her very desirable.

In Shakespeare’s sonnets, the main themes are: the tradition love for a lady but also universal themes such
as death, love, beauty and art.

Shakespeare’s sonnets are characterised by a rich language and by the use of some pronouns such as ‘thou’
or ‘thee’ that make the style informal.