• William Shakespeare, who is often referred to as the Bard,

meaning poet, was born in the year 1564 in Stratford-upon-

Avon, in England.
• He attended a grammar school of good quality, and the
education there was free.
• The boy's education would consist mostly of Latin studies
—learning to read, write, and speak the language fairly
well and studying some of the Classical historians,
moralists, and poets.
• Shakespeare did not go on to the university.
 At age 18 he married Anne
Hathaway who was 26.
His daughter Susanna, was
born on May 26, 1583.
On February 2, 1585, twins
were born, Hamnet and Judith.
(Hamnet, Shakespeare's only
son, died 11 years later.)
.
• William Shakespeare eventually left his family behind and
arrived in London where he joined Lord Chamberlain’s Men,
a successful theater company.
• This company changed its name to The King's Men in
1603. Shakespeare was a member of this company until he
retired in 1610. While in the company, Shakespeare made
his living three ways:
• he was part owner of the Globe theatre,
• he was an actor, and
• he was a playwright.
• In 1599 the Burbage brothers, who
were the first male actors, built the
Globe Theatre, of which
Shakespeare owned ten percent.
• This theatre, like most theatres, had
a flag on the top of it, which
indicated to people that there would
be a play that day.
• Plays were performed during the
afternoon because they needed to
take advantage of the sunlight.
• People called “Groundlings”
stand just below the stage to
watch the play.
• Like all other theaters in
Elizabethan England, it had
only men perform on stage
because women were not
allowed to act. Most female
roles were played by
adolescent boys.
• Shakespeare and his
fellow theatre colleagues
were fortunate that the
Queen enjoyed theatre
because the theatres were
constantly closed because
of the plague.
 Use of disguises/ Blood
mistaken identity  Use of supernatural
 Last speaker—highest in Audience loved to be scared
rank (in tragedies)
 Multiple murders
(in tragedies)
 Multiple marriages
(in comedies)
 He wrote 37 plays,
 154 sonnets and 5 other
poems and
used about 21,000 different
words.
 Shakespeare is credited by
the Oxford English Dictionary
with the introduction of nearly
3,000 words into the language.
• A piece of cake • The game is up
• Tongue-tied
• To lie low
• Hoodwinged
• Foul play
• In a pickle
• To set teeth on edge
• Not to sleep one wink
• Without rhyme or reason
• Fair play
• As dead as a doornail
• High time
• An eyesore
• For goodness’ sake
• What the dickens?
• A laughing stock

• All one to me • Bloody-minded

• It’s Greek to me • By Jove!

 His Best known Sonnets
• Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?
• Sonnet 29: When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes
• Sonnet 30: When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought
• Sonnet 33: Full Many a Glorious Morning I Have Seen
• Sonnet 73: That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behold
• Sonnet 116: Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds Admit
Impediments
 His Plays

• When we study William Shakespeare's plays, we

usually categorize them into three genres:
• comedy
• tragedy
• history
 Shakespeare’s Comedies
• 1592 The Comedy of Errors; The Two Gentlemen of Verona
• 1593 Love’s Labour’s Lost
• 1593 The Taming of the Shrew
• 1595 A Midsummer Night's Dream
• 1596 The Merchant of Venice
• 1598 Much Ado About Nothing
• 1599 The Merry Wives of Windsor; As you like it
• 1601 Twelfth Night
• 1602 Troilus and Cressida; All’s Well that Ends Well
• 1604 Measure for Measure
• 1608 Pericles
• 1610 Cymbeline
• 1611 The Winter’s Tale; The Tempest
 Shakespeare’s Tragedies
• 1593 Titus Andronicus
• 1595 Romeo and Juliet
• 1599 Julius Caesar
• 1601 Hamlet
• 1604 Othello
• 1605 King Lear
• 1606 Macbeth
• 1606 Antony and Cleopatra
• 1607 Timon of Athens
• 1609 Coriolanus
 Shakespeare’s Historical Plays
• Henry VI parts 1-2-3
• Henry IV parts 1-2
• King John, 
• Henry V, 
• Henry VIII, 
• Richard II, 
• Richard III 
• Shakespeare and other
playwrights were not
interested in telling their
audiences how to live
their lives- but wanted
to paint a picture of
true life and
entertaining the
audience at the same
time.
 Shakespeare’s Death
• Shakespeare died on April 23rd, 1616
• Not exactly sure what he died from
• History says he drank too much wine and ate too many
pickled herrings
• In his will, Shakespeare left money, horses,
properties, etc. to his son in law.
 Shakespeare’s Death
• Shakespeare is buried in
Holy Trinity Church in his
birth village of Stratford.
• His grave is covered by a
flat stone that bears an
epitaph warning of a curse
to come upon anyone who
moves his bones.
 Shakespeare’s Language
• Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English.”
Old English is the language of Beowulf
• Shakespeare did not write in “Middle English.”
Middle English is the language of Chaucer
Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern English’’.