Why is Shakespeare so famous? Shakespeare in Love

Shakespeare's reputation as the greatest English-language writer stems from at least five dimensions of his collective work. The first of these is the sheer scope of his achievement. Over some thirty-eight plays, Shakespeare addressed virtually every aspect of human experience. His plays include comedies, tragedies, histories, romances, and problem plays: it is difficult to think of a dramatic situation, a human dilemma, or a major theme that his works do not touch upon. That being so, although he wrote for a specific audience of a particular historical era, Shakespeare's works are timeless. In fact, many of his works have been updated to our own time. Depth is a third facet of the Shakespeare canon. His works recognize the complexity of our experience and often yield contradictory interpretations of their meaning. Working in the meter of natural or conversational English, his plays were and remain accessible. Granted, Shakespeare texts do include some words and phrases that require definition. Nevertheless, with the aid of a few explanatory footnotes, they can be easily understood. Lastly, creative innovation is a hallmark of Shakespeare's writing. Although he utilized dramatic, poetic, fictional, and historical sources and models, the Bard of Avon invariably put his own stamp upon these materials. Several of his works were experimental when they were first staged.

What do we know about his life?

William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth remains unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, Saint George's Day. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholar's mistake, has proved appealing to biographers, since Shakespeare died 23 April 1616. He was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son.

Although no attendance records for the period survive, most biographers agree that Shakespeare was probably educated at the King's New School in Stratford, a free school chartered in 1553, about a quarter-mile (400 m) from his home. Grammar schools varied in quality during the Elizabethan era, but grammar school curricula were largely similar: the basic Latin text was standardised by royal decree, and the school would have provided an intensive education in grammar based upon Latin classical authors.

 At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, which has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, and religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

 

 Shakespeare in Love, a creative and imaginative look at the life of Shakespeare as he wrote Romeo and Juliet, provides a witty, touching and at times highly comic look at what the Bard’s life might actually have been like. Although the idea that his own star crossed love inspired Romeo and Juliet is the stuff of Hollywood dreams, the depiction of life in England at that time, especially what it was like to work for the stage in England is all very real. The film does an excellent job of portraying Shakespeare in all his tattered, inspired glory.

 

 Answer the following questions and send them to your teacher by email:

1. What is the setting? (year and city)

2. What does Henslowe need from William Shakespeare?

3. Why has Shakespeare "lost his gift"?

4. What does Viola think is the problem with love scenes in the plays?

5. Why does the "boy" who auditions for the play not want to take off his hat?

6. What is Wessex's main interest in Viola?

7. Why must Viola marry Wessex?

8. How does Shakespeare find out the identity of Thomas Kent?

9. What title does Ned suggest for Shakespeare's play?

10. What are the obstacles to the love of Viola and Will?

11. What is the wager that Wessex makes?

12. Why does Will feel responsible for Marlow's death?

13. Why does Viola think that Will is dead?

14. How did Marlow die?

15. Why does Shakespeare's theater get shut down?

16. Where will Shakespeare's play be performed?

17. Describe the theater where the play is performed.  

18. How does it compare to modern theaters?

19. What has happened to the actor who was supposed to play Juliet? Why can't he play the role?

20. What does the Queen say about Marlow's wager?