Norio sasaki biography of william shakespeare

Thomas was ordered by the church court to do public penance, which would have caused much shame and embarrassment for the Shakespeare family. Shakespeare bequeathed the bulk of his large estate to his elder daughter Susanna [ 88 ] under stipulations that she pass it down intact to "the first son of her body". Shakespeare was buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church two days after his death.

Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare, To digg the dvst encloased heare. Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones. Some time beforea funerary monument was erected in his memory on the north wall, with a half-effigy of him in the act of writing.

Its plaque compares him to NestorSocratesand Virgil. Most playwrights of the period typically collaborated with others at some point, as critics agree Shakespeare did, mostly early and late in his career. The first recorded works of Shakespeare are Richard III and the three parts of Henry VIwritten in the early s during a vogue for historical drama.

Shakespeare's plays are difficult to date precisely, however, [ ] [ ] and studies of the texts suggest that Titus AndronicusThe Comedy of ErrorsThe Taming of the Shrewand The Two Gentlemen of Verona may also belong to Shakespeare's earliest period. Shakespeare's early classical and Italianate comedies, containing tight double plots and precise comic sequences, give way in the mids to the romantic atmosphere of his most acclaimed comedies.

His characters become more complex and tender as he switches deftly between comic and serious scenes, prose and poetry, and achieves the narrative variety of his mature work. In the early 17th century, Shakespeare wrote the so-called " problem plays " Measure for MeasureTroilus and Cressidaand All's Well That Ends Well and a number of his best known tragedies.

Hamlet has probably been analysed more than any other Shakespearean character, especially for his famous soliloquy which begins " To be or not to be; that is the question ". According to the critic Frank Kermode"the play His last major tragedies, Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanuscontain some of Shakespeare's finest poetry and were considered his most successful tragedies by the poet and critic T.

In his final period, Shakespeare turned to romance or tragicomedy and completed three more major plays: CymbelineThe Winter's Taleand The Tempestas well as the collaboration, Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Less bleak than the tragedies, these four plays are graver in tone than the comedies of the s, but they end with reconciliation and the forgiveness of potentially tragic errors.

Shakespeare's works include the 36 plays printed in the First Folio oflisted according to their folio classification as comedieshistoriesand tragedies. In the late 19th century, Edward Dowden classified four of the late comedies as romancesand though many scholars prefer to call them tragicomediesDowden's term is often used. It is not clear for which companies Shakespeare wrote his early plays.

The title page of the edition of Titus Andronicus reveals that the play had been acted by three different troupes. Although the performance records are patchy, the King's Men performed seven of Shakespeare's plays at court between 1 Novemberand 31 Octoberincluding two performances of The Merchant of Venice. In Cymbelinefor example, Jupiter descends "in thunder and lightning, sitting upon an eagle: he throws a thunderbolt.

The ghosts fall on their knees. It contained 36 texts, including 18 printed for the first time. Alfred Pollard termed some of the pre versions as " bad quartos " because of their adapted, paraphrased or garbled texts, which may in places have been reconstructed from memory. The differences may stem from copying or printing errors, from notes by actors or audience members, or from Shakespeare's own papers.

In the case of King Learhowever, while most modern editions do conflate them, the folio version is so different from the quarto that the Oxford Shakespeare prints them both, arguing that they cannot be conflated without confusion. In andwhen the theatres were closed because of plagueShakespeare published two narrative poems on sexual themes, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece.

He dedicated them to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. In Venus and Adonisan innocent Adonis rejects the sexual advances of Venus ; while in The Rape of Lucrecethe virtuous wife Lucrece is raped by the lustful Tarquin. A third narrative poem, A Lover's Complaintin which a young woman laments her seduction by a persuasive suitor, was printed in the first edition of the Sonnets in Most scholars now accept that Shakespeare wrote A Lover's Complaint.

Critics consider that its fine qualities are marred by leaden effects. Intwo early drafts of sonnets and appeared in The Passionate Pilgrimpublished under Shakespeare's name but without his permission. Published inthe Sonnets were the last of Shakespeare's non-dramatic works to be printed. Scholars are not certain when each of the sonnets was composed, but evidence suggests that Shakespeare wrote sonnets throughout his career for a private readership.

It remains unclear if these figures represent real individuals, or if the authorial "I" who addresses them represents Shakespeare himself, though Wordsworth believed that with the sonnets "Shakespeare unlocked his heart". The edition was dedicated to a "Mr. It is not known whether this was written by Shakespeare himself or by the publisher, Thomas Thorpewhose initials appear at the foot of the dedication page; nor is it known who Mr.

Shakespeare's first plays were written in the conventional style of the day. He wrote them in a stylised language that does not always spring naturally from the needs of the characters or the drama. The grand speeches in Titus Andronicusin the view of some critics, often hold up the action, for example; and the verse in The Two Gentlemen of Verona has been described as stilted.

However, Shakespeare soon began to adapt the traditional styles to his own purposes. The opening soliloquy of Richard III has its roots in the self-declaration of Vice in medieval drama. At the same time, Richard's vivid self-awareness looks forward to the soliloquies of Shakespeare's mature plays. Shakespeare combined the two throughout his career, with Romeo and Juliet perhaps the best example of the mixing of the styles.

He increasingly tuned his metaphors and images to the needs of the drama itself. Shakespeare's standard poetic form was blank versecomposed in iambic pentameter. In practice, this meant that his verse was usually unrhymed and consisted of ten syllables to a line, spoken with a stress on every second syllable. The blank norio sasaki biography of william shakespeare of his early plays is quite different from that of his later ones.

It is often norio sasaki biography of william shakespeare, but its sentences tend to start, pause, and finish at the end of lineswith the risk of monotony. This technique releases the new power and flexibility of the poetry in plays such as Julius Caesar and Hamlet. Shakespeare uses it, for example, to convey the turmoil in Hamlet's mind: [ ].

Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly— And prais'd be rashness for it—let us know Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well After HamletShakespeare varied his poetic style further, particularly in the more emotional passages of the late tragedies.

The literary critic A. Bradley described this style as "more concentrated, rapid, varied, and, in construction, less regular, not seldom twisted or elliptical". These included run-on linesirregular pauses and stops, and extreme variations in sentence structure and length. The listener is challenged to complete the sense. Shakespeare combined poetic genius with a practical sense of the theatre.

This strength of design ensures that a Shakespeare play can survive translation, cutting, and wide interpretation without loss to its core drama. He preserved aspects of his earlier style in the later plays, however. In Shakespeare's late romanceshe deliberately returned to a more artificial style, which emphasised the illusion of theatre. Shakespeare's work has made a significant and lasting impression on later theatre and literature.

In particular, he expanded the dramatic potential of characterisationplot, languageand genre. The Romantic poets attempted to revive Shakespearean verse drama, though with little success. Critic George Steiner described all English verse dramas from Coleridge to Tennyson as "feeble variations on Shakespearean themes. His work has inspired several operas, among them Giuseppe Verdi 's MacbethOtello and Falstaffwhose critical standing compares with that of the source plays.

In Shakespeare's day, English grammar, spelling, and pronunciation were less standardised than they are now, [ ] and his use of language helped shape modern English. Shakespeare's influence extends far beyond his native England and the English language. His reception in Germany was particularly significant; as early as the 18th century Shakespeare was widely translated and popularised in Germany, and gradually became a "classic of the German Weimar era ;" Christoph Martin Wieland was the first to produce complete translations of Shakespeare's plays in any language.

Some of the most deeply affecting productions of Shakespeare have been non-English, and non-European. He is that unique writer: he has something for everyone. According to Guinness World RecordsShakespeare remains the world's best-selling playwright, with sales of his plays and poetry believed to have achieved in excess of four billion copies in the almost years since his death.

He is also the third most translated author in history. Shakespeare was not revered in his lifetime, but he received a large amount of praise. Between the Restoration of the monarchy in and the end of the 17th century, classical ideas were in vogue. But during the 18th century, critics began to respond to Shakespeare on his own terms and, like Dryden, to acclaim what they termed his natural genius.

A series of scholarly editions of his work, notably those of Samuel Johnson in and Edmond Malone inadded to his growing reputation. During the Romantic eraShakespeare was praised by the poet and literary philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridgeand the critic August Wilhelm Schlegel translated his plays in the spirit of German Romanticism. The modernist revolution in the arts during the early 20th century, far from discarding Shakespeare, eagerly enlisted his work in the service of the avant-garde.

The Expressionists in Germany and the Futurists in Moscow mounted productions of his plays. Marxist playwright and director Bertolt Brecht devised an epic theatre under the influence of Shakespeare. The poet and critic T. Eliot argued against Shaw that Shakespeare's "primitiveness" in fact made him truly modern. Wilson Knight and the school of New Criticismled a movement towards a closer reading of Shakespeare's imagery.

In the s, a wave of new critical approaches replaced modernism and paved the way for post-modern studies of Shakespeare. He encloses us because we see with his fundamental perceptions. Around years after Shakespeare's death, doubts began to be expressed about the authorship of the works attributed to him. Shakespeare conformed to the official state religion, [ k ] but his private views on religion have been the subject of debate.

Shakespeare's will uses a Protestant formula, and he was a confirmed member of the Church of Englandwhere he was married, his children were baptised, and where he is buried. Some scholars are of the view that members of Shakespeare's family were Catholics, at a time when practising Catholicism in England was against the law. The strongest evidence might be a Catholic statement of faith signed by his father, John Shakespearefound in in the rafters of his former house in Henley Street.

However, the document is now lost and scholars differ as to its authenticity. Other authors argue that there is a lack of evidence about Shakespeare's religious beliefs. Scholars find evidence both for and against Shakespeare's Catholicism, Protestantism, or lack of belief in his plays, but the truth may be impossible to prove. Few details of Shakespeare's sexuality are known.

At 18, he married year-old Anne Hathawaywho was pregnant. Susanna, the first of their three children, was born six months later on 26 May Over the centuries, some readers have posited that Shakespeare's sonnets are autobiographical, [ ] and point to them as evidence of his love for a young man. Others read the same passages as the expression of intense friendship rather than romantic love.

No written contemporary description of Shakespeare's physical appearance survives, and no evidence suggests that he ever commissioned a portrait. From the 18th century, the desire for authentic Shakespeare portraits fuelled claims that various surviving pictures depicted Shakespeare. Some scholars suggest that the Droeshout portraitwhich Ben Jonson approved of as a good likeness, [ ] and his Stratford monument provide perhaps the best evidence of his appearance.

After a three-year study supported by the National Portrait Gallery, Londonthe portrait's owners, Cooper contended that its composition date, contemporary with Shakespeare, its subsequent provenance, and the sitter's attire, all supported the attribution. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version.

In other projects. English playwright and poet — For other uses, see Shakespeare disambiguation and William Shakespeare disambiguation. The Chandos portraitlikely depicting Shakespeare, c. Stratford-upon-AvonWarwickshire, England. Elizabethan Jacobean. Lord Chamberlain's Men King's Men. Anne Hathaway. John Shakespeare Mary Arden. Play comedy history tragedy.

Poetry sonnet narrative poem epitaph. Main article: Life of William Shakespeare. London and theatrical career. Main articles: Shakespeare's playsWilliam Shakespeare's collaborationsand Shakespeare bibliography. Further information: Chronology of Shakespeare's plays. Main article: Shakespeare in performance. Main article: Shakespeare's sonnets.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate Main article: Shakespeare's writing style. Main article: Shakespeare's influence. He was not of an age, but for all time. Main article: Shakespeare authorship question. Main article: Religious views of William Shakespeare. Main article: Sexuality of William Shakespeare.

Main article: Portraits of Shakespeare. He was baptised 26 April. Under the Gregorian calendaradopted in Catholic countries inShakespeare died on 3 May. This motto is still used by Warwickshire County Councilin norio sasaki biography of william shakespeare to Shakespeare. In addition to presenting the town with a statue of Shakespeare, Garrick composed a doggerel verse, lampooned in the London newspapers, naming the banks of the Avon as the birthplace of the "matchless Bard".

Rowsethe 20th-century Shakespeare scholar, was emphatic: "He died, as he had lived, a conforming member of the Church of England. His will made that perfectly clear—in facts, puts it beyond dispute, for it uses the Protestant formula. Archived from the original on 8 February Retrieved 8 February Eliot Tradition and the Individual Talent.

Archived from the original on 7 May Retrieved 7 May Poetry Foundation. Archived from the original on 6 January Retrieved 6 January The Oxford Handbook of the Georgian Theatre — Oxford University Press. Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login. Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions.

For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here. Publications Pages Publications Pages. Sign in Get help with access You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Username Please enter your Username. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. You could not be signed in, please check and try again.

Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. In his will, he left the bulk of his possessions to his eldest daughter, Susanna, who by then was married. However, there is very little evidence the two had a difficult marriage. He is credited with inventing or introducing more than 1, words to the English language, often as a result of combining words, changing usages, or blending in foreign root words.

It was published with the title Mr. In addition to its literary importance, the First Folio contains an original portrait of Shakespeare on the title page. The other is a memorial bust at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. Today, there are surviving copies of the First Folio that date back tobut experts estimate roughly First Folios were printed. Scholars and literary critics began to float names like Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere, and Francis Bacon —men of more known backgrounds, literary accreditation, or inspiration—as the true authors of the plays.

Official records from the Holy Trinity Church and the Stratford government record the existence of Shakespeare, but none of these attest to him being an actor or playwright. The most serious and intense skepticism began in the 19 th century when adoration for Shakespeare was at its highest. The detractors believed that the only hard evidence surrounding Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon described a man from modest beginnings who married young and became successful in real estate.

They contend that Shakespeare had neither the education nor the literary training to write such eloquent prose and create such rich characters.

Norio sasaki biography of william shakespeare

However, the vast majority of Shakespearean scholars contend that Shakespeare wrote all his own plays. They point out that other playwrights of the time also had sketchy histories and came from modest backgrounds. They point to evidence that displays his name on the title pages of published poems and plays. There is also strong circumstantial evidence of personal relationships by contemporaries who interacted with Shakespeare as an actor and a playwright.

What seems to be true is that Shakespeare was a respected man of the dramatic arts who wrote plays and acted in the late 16 th and early 17 th centuries. Beginning with the Romantic period of the early s and continuing through the Victorian period, acclaim and reverence for Shakespeare and his work reached its height. In the 20 th century, new movements in scholarship and performance rediscovered and adopted his works.

Today, his plays remain highly popular and are constantly studied and reinterpreted in performances with diverse cultural and political contexts. The Biography. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists.

Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. Adrienne directs the daily news operation and content production for Biography. While little is known about the dynamics of their marriage, Anne received a relatively modest bequest in his will, leading to speculation about their relationship; yet, this suggests a complexity often typical of marriages during that era.

Although exact figures are difficult to determine due to the lack of extensive financial records from that time, it is estimated that Shakespeare amassed a considerable fortune during his career. His successful investment in the Globe Theater further contributed to his wealth, allowing him to enjoy a prosperous lifestyle. Shakespeare's earnings from his plays and poetry were substantial, particularly after gaining patronage from prominent figures such as Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton.

The publication of his works, including sonnets, narrative poems, and plays, created a reliable income stream. The First Folio, published posthumously inplayed a crucial role in cementing his legacy, ensuring that his previously less-known plays became widely read and performed. Overall, Shakespeare's financial success is a testament to his enduring impact on theater and literature, as well as his unparalleled talent in weaving stories that have captivated audiences for generations.

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Biography Host. William Shakespeare Biography. The Bard of Avon William Shakespeare Biography William Shakespeare was an eminent English playwright and poet, known for his profound impact on literature and theater, with an extensive body of work including plays and sonnets. Fact-checking and Ethical Concerns We assure our audience that we will remove any contents that are not accurate or according to formal reports and queries if they are justified.