BIOGHRAPHICAL NOTES
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born at Stratford-on-Avon in April 1574.Far more is known about his life than is generally realised, but most of our information comes from parish records and various legal documents which throw more light on his family affairs and business dealings than on the circumstances which led him to write his great works. He was son of a leading tradesman of Stratford, prominent in civic affairs, and it is very likely, though not certain, that he received his education at the town’s grammar school. There are parish records of his marriage to anne Hathaway and the baptisms of his children but none which explain why he left Stratford for London or how he came to enter the theatre. From this period of obscurity in the records, he emerges in the early 1590’s as an important young playwright and poet, and a member of the leading company of actors. In 1598, Francis Meres, a lawyer, wrote of him as Britain’s greatest dramatist, excelling in every type of drama and poetry. Fortunately, Mere gave a list of twelve plays that he had written up to that date, a list of great help to scholars. It is difficult to date Shakespeare’s plays because his company was reluctant to have his plays printed lest they should then be performed by rival companies. Only seventeen of his plays were published in his lifetime, the remainder appearing in 1623 in a complete edition of his plays commonly known as the first Folio. His company was called The lord Chamberlain’s company from about 1594 and The king’s Men from the accession of king James I in 1603. With Burbage (the greatest actor of the time) and Shakespeare among the principle shareholders, it is no wonder that the company prospered. From about 1598 it owned the Globe Theatre, an open-air theatre, and from about 1608 the Blackfriars Theatre, an indoor theatre. It enjoyed the patronage, successively, of Queen Elizabeth and King James, and gave performances in the royal palaces. Shakespeare’s purchases of property in Stratford and elsewhere from 1597 onwards show that he thrived with his company. He seems to have returned to Stratford, and made it his regular home, in about 1610.
Shakespeare’s genius was fully recognized by his contemporaries. Tributes to him are numerous, the most valuable being those of his friend Ben Jonson, who wrote some of the greatest comedies in English literature.
Dryden, the great poet and critic of the late seventeenth century acclaimed him as supreme among English writers, and that judgement has firmly stood. Indeed, he is widely regarded as the greatest writer in world literature. His poetry at its best is impossible to exceed in power and beauty. No writer has dealt with so many aspects of human behavior or peopled his works so convincingly with such an immense range of characters. No writer can match his excellence in so many kinds of drama-history, romance, comedy and tragedy. To know English and not to read Shakespeare is as deplorable a waste of knowledge as can be imagined.
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