Post on the subject of Shakespeare's work. When and where was Shakespeare born

In Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire in England. The record of his baptism on April 26 is preserved in the parish book. Father, John Shakespeare, was a prominent person in Stratford (according to some sources, he traded in leather goods) and held various positions in the city government, up to the bailiff (estate manager). The mother was the daughter of a landowner from Warwickshire, descended from the ancient Roman Catholic family of the Ardens.

By the late 1570s, the family went bankrupt, and around 1580, William had to leave school and start working.

In November 1582, he married Anne Hathaway. In May 1583, their first child was born - daughter Susan, in February 1585 - twins son Hamnet and daughter Judith.

It became popular that Shakespeare had joined one of London's theater companies that were touring Stratford.

Until 1593 Shakespeare did not publish anything, in 1593 he published the poem Venus and Adonis, dedicated to the Duke of Southampton, the patron saint of literature. The poem was a great success and was published eight times during the author's lifetime. In the same year, Shakespeare joined Richard Burbage's Servant of the Lord Chamberlain, where he worked as an actor, director and playwright.

Theatrical activities under the auspices of Southampton quickly brought him wealth. His father, John Shakespeare, after several years of financial difficulties, received the right to the coat of arms in the Heraldic Chamber. The title awarded gave Shakespeare the right to sign "William Shakespeare, Gentleman."

In 1592-1594, London theaters were closed due to the plague. During an involuntary pause, Shakespeare created several plays - the chronicle "Richard III", "The Comedy of Errors" and "The Taming of the Shrew." In 1594, after the opening of the theaters, Shakespeare joined the new cast of the Lord Chamberlain's troupe.

In 1595-1596 he wrote the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the romantic comedies A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice.

The playwright was doing well - in 1597 he purchased a large house with a garden in Stratford, where he moved his wife and daughters (his son died in 1596) and settled himself after leaving the London scene.

In 1598-1600, the heights of the work of Shakespeare as a comedian were created - "Much Ado About Nothing", "As You Like It" and "Twelfth Night". At the same time he wrote the tragedy "Julius Caesar" (1599).

Became one of the owners, playwright and actor of the newly opened Globus Theater. In 1603, King James took Shakespeare's troupe under direct patronage - it became known as "His Majesty the King's Servants", and the actors were considered the same courtiers as the valets. In 1608 Shakespeare became a shareholder of the lucrative Blackfriars Theater in London.

With the appearance of the famous "Hamlet" (1600-1601), the period of the great tragedies of the playwright began. In 1601-1606, Othello (1604), King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1606) were created. Shakespeare's tragic worldview also left its stamp on those works of this period that do not directly belong to the genre of tragedy - the so-called "bitter comedies" "Troilus and Cressida" (1601-1602), "All is well that ends well" (1603- 1603), Measure for Measure (1604).

In 1606-1613, Shakespeare created tragedies based on ancient plots "Anthony and Cleopatra", "Coriolanus", "Timon of Athens", as well as romantic tragicomedies, including "The Winter's Tale" and "The Tempest", and the late chronicle "Henry VIII ".

All that is known about Shakespeare's acting is that he played the roles of the Ghost in Hamlet and Adam in the play As You Like It. He played a role in Ben Johnson's play "Anyone in His Way". Shakespeare's last witnessed performance on stage was in his own play "The Seed". In 1613 he left the scene and settled in his home in Stratford.

The playwright was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, where he was previously baptized.

More than two centuries after his death, no one doubted the authorship of Shakespeare. Since 1850, doubts arose about the authorship of the playwright, which are still shared by many today. The source for Shakespeare's biographers was his will, which talks about houses and property, but not a word about books and manuscripts. There are many supporters of a negative statement - Shakespeare from Stratford could not have been the author of such works, since he was uneducated, did not travel, did not study at the university. Many arguments have been made by the Stratfordians (traditionalist) and anti-Stratfordians. More than two dozen candidates for Shakespeare have been nominated, among the most popular candidates are the philosopher Francis Bacon and Shakespeare's predecessor in the transformation dramatic art Christopher Marlowe, also called Earls of Derby, Oxford, Rutland.

William Shakespeare is considered the greatest English playwright, one of the best playwrights in the world. His plays have been translated into all major languages ​​and to this day form the basis of the world theatrical repertoire. Most of them have been filmed many times.

In Russia, Shakespeare's work has been known since the 18th century; it became a fact of Russian culture (comprehension, translations) from the first half of the XIX century.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: daughter Suzanne and twins Hemnet and Judith. Shakespeare's career began between 1585 and 1592 when he moved to London. He soon became a successful actor, playwright, and co-owner of a theater company called The Lord Chamberlain's Servants, later known as The King's Servants. Around 1613, at the age of 49, he returned to Stratford, where he died three years later. There is little historical evidence of Shakespeare's life, and theories about his life are created on the basis of official documents and testimonies of contemporaries, therefore, the scientific community is still discussing issues regarding his appearance and religious beliefs, and there is also a point of view that the works attributed to him were created by whom something else; it is popular in culture, although it is rejected by the overwhelming majority of Shakespearean scholars.

Most of Shakespeare's works were written between 1589 and 1613. His early plays mainly refer to comedies and chronicles in which Shakespeare excelled significantly. Then a period of tragedies began in his work, including works "Hamlet", "King Lear", "Othello" and Macbeth, which are considered to be among the best on English language... At the end of his career, Shakespeare wrote several tragicomedies, and also collaborated with other writers.

Many of Shakespeare's plays were published during his lifetime. In 1623, two of Shakespeare's friends, John Heming and Henry Condell, published the First Folio, a collection of all but two of Shakespeare's plays currently included in the canon. Later, Shakespeare was with various researchers varying degrees several more plays (or their fragments) are attributed to evidence.

Already during his lifetime, Shakespeare received accolades for his work, but he really became popular only in the 19th century. In particular, representatives of romanticism and Victorians worshiped Shakespeare so much that Bernard Shaw called it "bardolatry", which means "bardatry" in English. Shakespeare's works remain popular today, they are constantly studied and rethought in accordance with political and cultural conditions.

Biography

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon (Warwickshire) in 1564, baptized on April 26, exact date birth is unknown. Tradition relates his birth to April 23: this date coincides with the precisely known day of his death. In addition, April 23 is the day of St. George, the patron saint of England, and tradition could have specially timed the birth of the greatest national poet on this day. The surname “Shakespeare” is translated from English as “stunning with a spear”.

His father, John Shakespeare (1530-1601), was a wealthy artisan (glover), often elected to various important public positions. In 1565, John Shakespeare was an alderman, and in 1568, a bailly (head of the city council). He did not attend church services, for which he paid heavy fines (it is possible that he was a secret Catholic).

Shakespeare's mother, née Mary Arden (1537-1608), belonged to one of the oldest Saxon families. In total, the couple had 8 children, William was born the third.

It is believed that Shakespeare studied at the Stratford "grammar school" (eng. grammar school), where he should have received good knowledge of Latin: Stratford teacher Latin and literature wrote poetry in Latin. Some scholars claim that Shakespeare attended the school of King Edward VI. in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he studied the work of such poets as Ovid and Plautus, but school journals have not survived, and now nothing can be said for sure.

In 1582, at the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a local landowner, who was 8 years older than him. At the time of the marriage, Ann was pregnant. In 1583, the couple had a daughter, Susan (baptized on May 23), in 1585 - twins: son Hemnet, who died at age 11 in August 1596, and daughter Judith (baptized on February 2).

There are only assumptions about the further (within seven years) events in Shakespeare's life. The first mentions of a London theater career date back to 1592, and the period between 1585 and 1592 is called Shakespeare's "lost years" by researchers. Attempts by biographers to learn about Shakespeare's actions during this period led to the emergence of many apocryphal stories. Nicholas Rowe, the first biographer of Shakespeare, believed that he left Stratford to avoid prosecution for poaching on the estate of the local squire Thomas Lucy. It is also assumed that Shakespeare took revenge on Lucy by writing some obscene ballads against him. According to another version of the 18th century, Shakespeare began theatrical career looking after the horses of London theatrical patrons. John Aubrey wrote that Shakespeare was a school teacher. Some twentieth-century scholars believed that Shakespeare was the teacher of Alexander Nogton of Lancashire, since this Catholic landowner had a certain "William Shakeshaft". There is little basis for this theory other than rumors that spread after Shakespeare's death, and besides, "Shakeshaft" is a fairly common surname in Lancashire.

It is not known exactly when Shakespeare began writing theatrical works, and also moved to London, but the first sources that have come down to us referring to this date back to 1592. This year, entrepreneur Philip Henslow's diary mentions Shakespeare's Henry VI, which was shown at Henslow's Rose Theater. In the same year, a pamphlet of the playwright and prose writer Robert Green was published posthumously, where the latter angrily attacked Shakespeare, without naming his last name, but ironically playing on it - “shake-scene”, paraphrasing a line from the third part of “Henry VI” “ Oh, the heart of a tiger in this woman's skin! " as "the heart of a tiger in the skin of an actor." Scholars disagree about the exact meaning of these words, but it is generally accepted that Green accused Shakespeare of trying to catch up with highly educated writers ("university minds") such as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nash and Green himself.

Biographers believe that Shakespeare's career could have begun at any time, beginning in the mid-1580s. Since 1594, Shakespeare's plays have been staged only by the Servants of the Lord Chamberlain troupe. Shakespeare was also part of this troupe, who at the end of the same 1594 became its co-owner. The troupe soon became one of the leading theater groups London. After the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the troupe received a royal patent from the new ruler, James I, and became known as "The King's Servant".

In 1599, the partnership of the group members built on south coast Thames' new theater, named "The Globe". They also acquired the Blackfriars Indoor Theater in 1608. Records of Shakespeare's real estate purchases and investments show that the troupe made him a wealthy man. In 1597 he bought the second largest house in Stratford, New Place.

Several of Shakespeare's plays were published In-quarto in 1594. In 1598, his name began to appear on title pages editions. But even after Shakespeare became famous as a playwright, he continued to play in theaters. In the 1616 edition of Ben Johnson's works, Shakespeare's name is included in the list of actors who performed the plays "Everyone has their own quirks"(1598) and "The Fall of Sejanus"(1603). However, his name was absent from the cast of Johnson's play. Volpone 1605, which is perceived by some scholars as a sign of the end of Shakespeare's London career. Nevertheless, in the First Folio of 1623, Shakespeare is called "the main actor in all these plays", and some of them were first staged after Volpone, although it is not known for certain what roles Shakespeare played in them. In 1610, John Davis wrote that "Good Will" played "royal" roles. In 1709, in his work, Rowe recorded the opinion already prevailing by that time that Shakespeare played the shadow of Hamlet's father. It was also later claimed that he played the role of Adam in "As You Like It" and Chora in "Henry V", although scientists doubt the veracity of this information.

During his acting and dramatic career, Shakespeare lived in London, but also spent some of his time in Stratford. In 1596, a year after buying New Place, he resided in St Helena's Parish in Bishopgate, on the north side of the Thames. After the construction of the Globe Theater in 1599, Shakespeare moved to the other side of the river - to Southwark, where the theater was located. In 1604, he moved across the river again, this time to the area north of St Paul's, where the a large number of good houses. He rented rooms with a Huguenot Frenchman named Christopher Mountjoy, a manufacturer of women's wigs and hats.

Last years and death

There is a traditional belief that Shakespeare moved to Stratford a few years before his death. The first Shakespeare biographer to convey such an opinion was Rowe. One reason for this may be that London's public theaters have repeatedly shut down due to outbreaks of the plague, and the actors did not have enough work. Complete retirement was rare in those days, and Shakespeare continued to visit London. In 1612 Shakespeare was a witness in the case Bellot vs. Mountjoy, Mountjoy's daughter Mary's wedding dowry lawsuit. In March 1613 he bought a house in the former Blackfriar parish; in November 1614, he spent several weeks with his son-in-law, John Hall.

After 1606-1607, Shakespeare wrote only a few plays, and after 1613 he stopped creating them altogether. He co-wrote his last three plays with another playwright, possibly John Fletcher, who succeeded Shakespeare as chief playwright for the Servant of the King.

All the surviving signatures of Shakespeare on documents (1612-1613) are distinguished by a very poor handwriting, on the basis of which some researchers believe that he was seriously ill at that time.

Shakespeare passed away on April 23, 1616. Traditionally, it is believed that he died on his birthday, but there is no certainty that Shakespeare was born on April 23rd. Shakespeare is survived by a widow, Anne (d. 1623), and two daughters. Susan Shakespeare has been married to John Hall since 1607, and Judith Shakespeare was married two months after Shakespeare's death to the winemaker Thomas Queenie.

Shakespeare left in his will most their real estate their eldest daughter Susan. After her, her direct descendants should have inherited it. Judith had three children, and they all died without marrying. Susan had one daughter, Elizabeth, who married twice but died childless in 1670. She was the last direct descendant of Shakespeare. In Shakespeare's will, his wife is mentioned only in passing, but she should have received a third of her husband's property anyway. However, it indicated that he was leaving her "my second best bed," and this fact led to many different assumptions. Some scholars regard this as an insult to Ann, while others argue that the second-best bed is the matrimonial bed, and therefore nothing offensive about it.

Three days later, Shakespeare's body was buried in St. Trinity. An epitaph is written on his tombstone:

Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare,
To digg the dvst encloased heare.
Bleste be ye man yt spares thes stones,
And cvrst be he yt moves my bones.

Friend, for God's sake, don't swarm
Remains taken by this land;
Untouched blessed through the ages,
And cursed - that touched my ashes.
(Translated by A. Velichansky)

Shortly before 1623, a painted bust of Shakespeare was erected in the church, showing him in the process of writing. Epitaphs in English and Latin compare Shakespeare with the wise Pilonian king Nestor, Socrates and Virgil.

There are many Shakespeare statues installed around the world, including funerary monuments at Southwark Cathedral and Westminster Abbey's Poet's Corner.

Creation

Shakespeare's literary heritage falls into two unequal parts: poetic (poems and sonnets) and dramatic. VG Belinsky wrote that "it would be too bold and strange to give Shakespeare a decisive advantage over all the poets of mankind, as a poet proper, but as a playwright he now remains without a rival, whose name could be placed next to his name."

Periodization issue

Researchers of Shakespeare's work (Danish literary critic G. Brandes, publisher of Russian full collection works of Shakespeare S.A. Vengerov) at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, relying on the chronology of works, presented his spiritual evolution from "cheerful mood", belief in the triumph of justice, humanistic ideals at the beginning of the path to disappointment and destruction of all illusions at the end ... However, in last years there was an opinion that the conclusion about the identity of the author based on his works is a mistake.

In 1930, Shakespeare scholar E. K. Chambers. proposed a chronology of Shakespeare's work by genre, later it was corrected by J. McManway. Four periods were distinguished: the first (1590-1594) - early: chronicles, Renaissance comedies, "tragedy of horror" ("Titus Andronicus"), two poems; the second (1594-1600) - Renaissance comedies, the first mature tragedy (Romeo and Juliet), chronicles with elements of tragedy, ancient tragedy (Julius Caesar), sonnets; the third (1601-1608) - great tragedies, ancient tragedies, "dark comedies"; the fourth (1609-1613) - fairy tale dramas with a tragic beginning and a happy ending. Some of the Shakespearean scholars, including A. A. Smirnov, combined the first and second periods into one early period.

Dramaturgy

Most of the playwrights of this period collaborated with other authors, and critics believe that Shakespeare also wrote some of his plays with other authors; this mainly applies to early and late works. For some works such as "Titus Andronicus" and early historical plays, it has not been established that they were precisely co-written, whereas for "Two noble relatives" and the lost play "Cardenio" this is documented. The data obtained from the texts also allows us to assert that some of the works have been revised by other writers relative to the original text.

Some of the earliest works of Shakespeare - Richard III and three parts "Henry VI" written in the early 1590s, a period when historical drama was in vogue. Shakespeare's plays are difficult to date, but text scholars suggest that "Titus Andronicus", "Comedy of Errors", "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Two Veronese" also refer to the beginning of Shakespeare's career. His first chronicles, most likely based on the 1587 edition "Chronicle of England, Scotland and Ireland" Raphael Holinshed, represented the devastating results of the rule of weak and corrupt rulers and, to some extent, served as an excuse for the emergence of the Tudor dynasty. Shakespeare's early plays were influenced by the work of other playwrights of the Elizabethan era, notably Thomas Kidd and Christopher Marlowe, the traditions of medieval drama, and the plays of Seneca. "Comedy of Errors" also built according to the classical model, no sources found for "The Taming of the Shrew" although it is related to another play of a similar name, played in London theaters in the 1590s, and may have folkloric roots.

In the mid-1590s, Shakespeare shifted from mocking and farcical comedies to romantic fictions. "A dream in a summer night" is a witty mixture of romance, fairy-tale magic and the life of the lower society. In the next, also romantic, Shakespearean comedy "The Merchant of Venice" contains a portrait of the vengeful Jewish usurer Shylock, reflecting the racial prejudices of the Elizabethan English. Witty play "Much ado about nothing" perfectly depicting life in the provinces "As You Like It" and lively with fun "Twelfth Night (play)" complement a number of Shakespeare's comedies. After lyric "Richard II" almost entirely written in poetry, Shakespeare introduced prosaic comedy into his chronicles "Henry IV, part 1" and 2 , and "Henry V"... His characters become more complex and delicate, he very deftly switches between comic and serious scenes, prose and poetry, so that his mature works achieve a narrative variety. This period began and ended with tragedies: "Romeo and Juliet", famous story love and death of a girl and a boy, and "Julius Caesar", based on " Comparative Biographies» Plutarch.

In the early 17th century, Shakespeare wrote several so-called "problem plays": "Measure for measure", Troilus and Cressida and as well as some of the most famous tragedies. Many critics believe that the tragedies of this period represent the peak of Shakespeare's work. Hamlet, the title character in one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies, is perhaps the playwright's most researched character; this is especially true of the famous soliloquia, which begins "To be or not to be, that is the question." Unlike the introvert Hamlet, the hesitant hero, the heroes of subsequent tragedies, King Lear and Othello, suffer from too hasty decisions. Often, Shakespeare's tragedy is built on the flaws or fatal actions of the heroes who destroy him and his loved ones. V "Othello" the villain Iago brings the title character's jealousy to the point, and he kills his innocent wife. V "King Lear" the old king makes the fatal mistake of relinquishing his right to rule, leading to horrific events such as the murder of Lear's youngest daughter Cordelia. V Macbeth, the shortest and most succinct tragedy of Shakespeare, uncontrollable ambition pushes Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, to the murder of the rightful king and usurpation of the throne, and ultimately they are destroyed by the consciousness of their guilt. In this play, Shakespeare adds an element of the supernatural to the tragic structure. His last major tragedies "Antony and Cleopatra" and "Coriolanus", according to some critics, contain some of his finest poems.

In the final period of his work, Shakespeare turned to the genre of romance or tragicomedy and completed three major plays: "Cymbelin", "Winter's Tale" and "Storm" and also, together with another playwright, the play "Pericles"... The works of this period are less dark than the tragedies that preceded them, but more serious than the comedies of the 1590s, but they end with reconciliation and deliverance from troubles. Some researchers believe that these changes came from a change in outlook on Shakespeare's life, which became more calm, but perhaps the plays simply reflected the theatrical fashion of the time. Two other surviving plays by Shakespeare were written in collaboration, possibly with John Fletcher: "Henry VIII" and "Two noble relatives".

Lifetime productions

It is not yet known exactly for which theater companies Shakespeare wrote his early plays. So, on the title page of the publication "Titus Andronicus" 1594, it is indicated that the play was performed by three different groups. After the plague of 1592-1593, Shakespeare's plays were already staged by his own company at the Theater and Curtain. in Shoreditch north of the Thames. The first part was staged there. "Henry IV"... After an altercation with its owner, the company left the Theater and built the Globe Theater on the south side of the Thames, in Southwark, the first theater built by actors for actors. The Globe opened in the fall of 1599, and one of the first plays staged in it was "Julius Caesar"... Most of Shakespeare's most famous plays, written after 1599, were written for the Globe, including "Hamlet", "Othello" and "King Lear".

Shakespeare's Servants of the Lord Chamberlain had a special relationship with King James I, especially after its renaming in 1603 to Servants of the King. Although the records of performances are scattered, there are 7 performances of Shakespeare's plays at court between November 1, 1604 and October 31, 1605, including two performances "Merchant of Venice"... After 1608, they began performing in the Blackfriars Indoor Theater in winter and working in the Globe in the summer. Good premises, combined with royal patronage, allowed Shakespeare to introduce more sophisticated devices into the props of his plays. For example, in "Cymbeline" Jupiter descends “with thunder and lightning, sitting on an eagle: He throws lightning. The ghosts fall to their knees. "

The Shakespeare troupe consisted of such famous actors like Richard Burbage, William Kemp, Neri Condell and John Heminges. Burbage was the first to star in many of Shakespeare's plays, including Richard III, "Hamlet", "Othello" and "King Lear"... Popular comic actor William Kemp, among other characters, played Pietro in Romeo and Juliet and dogwood in "Much ado about nothing"... At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, he was replaced by Robert Armin, who performed such roles as Touchstone from "As You Like It" and Jester from "King Lear"... In 1613, Henry Wotton announced the production of the play "Henry VIII"... On June 29, during the staging of this performance, the cannon misfired and set fire to the thatched roof of the building, so that the entire theater burned down. This fact allows you to set the time of writing the play with good accuracy.

First publications

It is believed that half (18) of Shakespeare's plays were published in one way or another during the playwright's lifetime. The most important publication of Shakespeare's legacy is rightfully considered the folio of 1623 (the so-called "First Folio"), published by Edward Blount and William Jaggard as part of the so-called "Chester Collection"; printers Worral and Col. This edition includes 36 plays by Shakespeare - all except Pericles and Two Noble Kinsmen. It is this edition that underlies all research in the field of Shakespearean studies.

This project was made possible by the efforts of John Hemingge and Henry Condell, friends and colleagues of Shakespeare. The book is preceded by a message to readers on behalf of Heminge and Condell, as well as a poetic dedication to Shakespeare by playwright Ben Johnson, who also contributed to the publication of the First Folio.

In 1593 and 1594, when theaters were closed due to the plague, Shakespeare created two erotic poems, Venus and Adonis and "Disgraced Lucretia"... These poems were dedicated to Henry Risley, Earl of Southampton. V "Venus and Adonis" innocent Adonis rejects the sexual advances of Venus; whereas in "Dishonored Lucretia" the virtuous wife Lucretius is raped by Tarquinius. Under the influence Metamorphosis Ovid, the poems show feelings of guilt and the terrible consequences of uncontrolled love. Both poems were popular and were reprinted several times during Shakespeare's lifetime. Third poem, "Complaint of a Lover", in which a girl complains about a seductive deceiver, was printed in the first edition Sonnet in 1609. Most scientists nowadays admit that "Complaint of a lover" it was Shakespeare who wrote. In the poem "Phoenix and Dove", printed in 1601 in the collection of Robert Chester "Love's Martyr", tells about sad death the mythological phoenix and his beloved, faithful dove. In 1599, two Shakespeare sonnets on behalf of Shakespeare, but without his consent in "Passionate Pilgrim".

The sonnet is a 14-line poem. In Shakespeare's sonnets, the following rhyme is adopted: abab cdcd efef gg, that is, three quatrains for cross rhymes, and one couplet (a type introduced by the poet Count Surrey, who was executed under Henry VIII).

A total of 154 sonnets were written by Shakespeare, and most of them were created in 1592-1599. They were first published without the author's knowledge in 1609. Two of them were published as early as 1599 in the collection Passionate Pilgrim. These are sonnets 138 and 144 .

The whole cycle of sonnets is divided into separate thematic groups:

• Sonnets dedicated to a friend: 1 -126
• Chanting a friend: 1 -26
• Friendship Challenges: 27 -99
• Separation bitterness: 27 -32
• First disappointment in a friend: 33 -42
• Longing and apprehension: 43 -55
• Growing alienation and melancholy: 56 -75
• Rivalry and jealousy of other poets: 76 -96
• "Winter" of separation: 97 -99
• A celebration of renewed friendship: 100 -126
• Sonnets dedicated to the swarthy lover: 127 -152
• Conclusion - the joy and beauty of love: 153 -154

Sonnet 126 violates the canon - it has only 12 lines and a different pattern of rhyme. Sometimes it is considered a section between two conventional parts of the cycle - sonnets dedicated to friendship (1-126) and addressed to the "swarthy lady" (127-154). Sonnet 145 written in iambic tetrameter instead of pentameter and differs in style from the others; sometimes he is attributed to the early period and his heroine is identified with Shakespeare's wife Anna Hathaway (whose surname, possibly in the form of a pun "hate away", is presented in the sonnet).

Style

The language of Shakespeare's early plays is the language common to the plays of this period. This stylized language does not always allow the playwright to reveal his characters. Poetry is often overloaded with complex metaphors and sentences, and language is more conducive to the declamation of the text than to live play. For example, solemn speeches "Titus Andronicus" often slows down action, according to some critics; character language "Two people of Verona" seems unnatural.

Soon, however, Shakespeare began to adapt the traditional style for his own purposes. Initial soliloquium from Richard III goes back to self-talk of Vice, a traditional character in medieval drama. At the same time, Richard's flamboyant monologues would later develop into monologues in Shakespeare's later plays. All of the pieces mark the transition from the traditional style to the new. Throughout his further career, Shakespeare unites them, and one of the most successful examples of mixing styles is "Romeo and Juliet"... By the mid 1590s, the time of creation Romeo and Juliet, "Richard II" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Shakespeare's style becomes more natural. Metaphors and figurative expressions are increasingly consistent with the needs of the drama.

The standard poetic form used by Shakespeare is white verse, written in iambic pentameter. The white verse of the early and later plays are significantly different. The early one is often beautiful, but, as a rule, at the end of the line either the whole sentence ends or its semantic part, which generates monotony. After Shakespeare mastered the traditional white verse, he began to modify it, interrupting the sentence at the end of the line. Using this technique gives poetry power and flexibility in plays such as "Julius Caesar" and "Hamlet"... For example, Shakespeare uses it to convey the feelings of a shocked Hamlet:

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 ...

It was like there was a struggle in my soul

That prevented me from sleeping; I was lying

Harder than a convict. Suddenly, -

Praise for surprise: us recklessness

Sometimes it helps out where it perishes

Deep design ...

"Hamlet", act 5, scene 2, 4-8. Translated by T. Schepkina-Kupernik.

In subsequent "Hamlet" plays, the poetic style continued to vary, especially in the emotional passages of his late tragedies... Literary critic Bradley. described this style as "more concentrated, fast, varied, with fewer repetitions." Towards the end of his career, Shakespeare used a variety of techniques to achieve similar effects. He used techniques such as enjambeman, unstructured pauses and stops, and various unusual variations in sentence construction and length. In many cases, the listener himself has to think out the meaning of the sentence. In later romantic plays, long and short sentences are opposed to each other, the subject and the object of the action are reversed, the words are omitted, which creates a sense of spontaneity.

Shakespeare combined the art of poetry with an understanding of the practical details of theatrical production. Like all playwrights of the time, he dramatized stories from sources such as Plutarch and Holinshead. But the original source did not remain unchanged; Shakespeare introduced new and changed old storylines so that the whole versatility of the story is revealed to the audience. With the growth of Shakespeare's skill, his characters began to emerge more clearly and acquire distinctive features speech. However, his later plays are more reminiscent of his earlier works. In later romantic works he deliberately returned to an artificial style to emphasize the illusory nature of the theater.

Influence

Shakespeare's work greatly influenced the theater and literature of the following years. In particular, he expanded the field of playwright's work with characterization, plot, language and genre. For example, before Romeo and Juliet romance was never seen as a worthy subject for tragedy. Soliloquia were mainly used to inform viewers about events that had taken place; Shakespeare began to use them to reveal the character of the character and his thoughts. His work greatly influenced subsequent poets. Poets of the Romantic era tried to revive Shakespeare's poetic drama, but did not have much success. Critic George Steiner has called all English drama from Coleridge to Tennyson "feeble variations on Shakespearean themes."

Shakespeare influenced writers such as Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner, and Charles Dickens. His influence also extended to Herman Melville; his captain Ahab from the novel "Moby Dick" is a classic tragic hero inspired by King Lear. Scientists estimate that 20,000 musical works associated with the works of Shakespeare. Among them are 2 operas by Giuseppe Verdi, "Othello" and Falstaff, in the primary source of which are the plays of the same name. Shakespeare also inspired many artists, including the Romantics and Pre-Raphaelites. Swiss artist Henry Fuseli, a friend of William Blake, even translated into German play Macbeth... The developer of the theory of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud relied on Shakespearean psychology, in particular on the image of Hamlet, in his theories about human nature.

During Shakespeare's time, english grammar, spelling and pronunciation were less standardized than they are today, and his language was instrumental in shaping modern English. He is Samuel Johnson's most cited author in "A Dictionary of the English Language", the first composition of its kind. Expressions such as "with bated breath" (lit. with bated breath = with a sinking heart) ( "The Merchant of Venice") and "a foregone conclusion" (literally a foregone conclusion) ( "Othello") entered modern everyday English speech.

Reputation and criticism

"He was not a man of an era, but of all times." --Ben Johnson

Although Shakespeare was not considered a great playwright during his lifetime, he received accolades for his works.

In 1598, the clergy writer Francis Meris singled it out from English writers as "the most excellent" in both comedy and tragedy. And the playbook authors "Parnassus" compared Shakespeare to Chaucer, Gower and Spencer. In the First Folio, Ben Johnson called Shakespeare: "The soul of the century, worthy of applause, delight, the miracle of our stage."

Between the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 and late XVII century the ideas of classicism prevailed. Therefore, critics of the time predominantly rated Shakespeare below John Fletcher and Ben Johnson. Thomas Riemer, for example, condemned Shakespeare for mixing the comic and the tragic. Nevertheless, poet and critic John Dryden praised Shakespeare, saying of Johnson, "I admire him, but I love Shakespeare." Still, for several decades, Riemer's views dominated, but in the 18th century critics began to admire him and call him a genius. This reputation was only strengthened by a number of published scientific works dedicated to the work of Shakespeare, such as the work of Samuel Johnson in 1765 and Edmond Malone in 1790. By 1800, he was firmly established as the national poet of England. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Shakespeare also gained a name outside the British Isles. He was supported by such writers as Voltaire, Goethe, Stendhal and Victor Hugo.

During the Romantic era, Shakespeare was highly praised by the poet and literary philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge; the critic August Wilhelm Schlegel translated his plays into German in the spirit of German Romanticism. In the 19th century, admiration for Shakespeare often verged on adoration and flattery. “This King Shakespeare,” wrote the essayist Thomas Carlyle in 1840, “is above all of us, most noble, gentlest, but strong; indestructible. " Bernard Shaw, however, criticized Shakespeare's romantic cult, using the word "baroque worship" (Eng. bardolatry). He argued that Ibsen's naturalistic drama renders Shakespeare obsolete.

Russian writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy in his critical essay"On Shakespeare and the Drama", based on a detailed analysis of some of the most popular works Shakespeare, in particular: "King Lear", "Othello", "Falstaff", "Hamlet" and others - sharply criticized Shakespeare's ability as a playwright.

After the modernist art revolution of the early 20th century, Shakespeare was enlisted in the ranks of the avant-garde. German Expressionists and Moscow futurists staged his plays. The Marxist, playwright and director Bertolt Brecht developed the epic theater under the influence of Shakespeare. Poet and critic TS Eliot opposed Shaw, arguing that Shakespeare's "primitivism" made his writings contemporary. Eliot led a movement of researchers to look more closely at Shakespearean imagery. In the 1950s, a wave of new campaigns replaced modernism and marked the beginning of Shakespeare's "postmodern" studies. In the 1980s, Shakespeare's work began to be studied by representatives of such movements as structuralism, feminism, new historicism, African American studies and queer studies.

Doubts around Shakespeare's personality

"Shakespearean question"

About 230 years after Shakespeare's death, doubts began to be expressed about the authorship of the works attributed to him. Alternative candidates were proposed, mostly well-born and well-educated, such as Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe and Edouard de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Theories have also been proposed, according to which a group of writers was hiding behind the pseudonym "Shakespeare". However, in the academic community, the traditional theory is generally accepted; interest in the non-Strafordian movement, especially in the Oxfordian theory, persists in the 21st century.

One of the proofs of their theory, non-Strafordians consider that there is no evidence of Shakespeare's education, while vocabulary According to various estimates, his works range from 17,500 to 29,000 words, and they also show a deep knowledge of history and literature. Since not a single Shakespearean manuscript has survived, opponents of the traditional version conclude that his literary career was falsified.

Some scholars believe that members of Shakespeare's family were Catholics, although the Catholic religion was banned at the time. Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, came from a Catholic family. The main proof of Shakespeare's belonging to a Catholic family is the will of John Shakespeare, found in 1757 in the attic of his house. The original document has been lost, and scholars disagree on its authenticity. In 1591, the authorities announced that he did not appear in the church. In 1606, the name of Shakespeare's daughter Suzanne was included in the list of those who did not appear at easter communion in Stratford. Scholars have found evidence in Shakespeare's plays for and against his Catholicism, but the truth has not been established with absolute certainty.

Sexual orientation

Despite the fact of Shakespeare's marriage and the presence of children, there are different opinions in the scientific community regarding his sexual orientation... Researchers often believe that Shakespeare's sonnets are autobiographical, and some conclude from them about Shakespeare's love for a young man. Others, however, regard these sonnets as merely expressions of friendship and not sexual attraction... The 26 so-called "Swarthy Lady" sonnets, addressed to a married woman, are often cited as evidence of his heterosexual orientation.

Appearance

Written descriptions of Shakespeare's appearance made during his lifetime have not survived, and there is debate about his true appearance. Often the true portrait of Shakespeare is called the Drushaut portrait, which Ben Johnson described as well representative of Shakespeare's appearance, especially since the bust on Shakespeare's grave is quite similar to this portrait. In the 18th century, there were many attempts to establish the true appearance of Shakespeare, which led to numerous falsifications and various versions.

List of works

Classification of pieces

Shakespeare's writings include 36 plays published in 1623 in the First Folio, the division of which here into comedy, chronicle and tragedy is given in accordance with this edition. The First Folio did not include two pieces, Two noble relatives and Pericles which are now considered part of the canon, and scholars agree that Shakespeare contributed greatly to their writing. Shakespeare's poems were not published in the First Folio.

At the end of the 19th century, Edward Dowden classified 4 of Shakespeare's later plays as romantic, and although most scholars call them tragicomedies, this option is widely used. These plays, as well as related "Two noble relatives" are marked with a (*). In 1896, Frederic Boas coined the term "problem plays," describing Shakespeare's plays that are difficult to classify by genre: "All is well that ends well", "Measure for measure", Troilus and Cressida and "Hamlet"... This term has been discussed a lot and was sometimes used in relation to other plays, it is still used in our time, although "Hamlet" is often ranked as a mere tragedy. Problematic pieces are marked with a (‡).

If a play is considered to be only partially written by Shakespeare, it is marked with a (†). Works sometimes attributed to Shakespeare are classified as apocryphal.

Comedy Writings

• All is well that ends well ‡
• How do you like it
• A comedy of mistakes
• Fruitless efforts of love
• Measure for measure ‡
• The Merchant of Venice
• Windsor mockers
• A dream in a summer night
• Much ado about nothing
• Pericles *†
• The Taming of the Shrew
• Storm *
• twelfth Night
• Two Veronese
• Two noble relatives *†
• Winter's tale *

• King john
• Richard II
• Henry IV, part 1
• Henry IV, part 2
• Henry V
• Henry VI, part 1 †
• Henry VI, part 2
• Henry VI, part 3
• Richard III
• Henry VIII †

Tragedies

• Romeo and Juliet
• Coriolanus
• Titus Andronicus †
• Timon of Athens †
• Julius Caesar
• Macbeth †
• Hamlet
• Troilus and Cressida ‡
• King Lear
• Othello
• Antony and Cleopatra
• Cymbelin *

• William Shakespeare's Sonnets
• Venus and Adonis
• Dishonored Lucretia
• Passionate Pilgrim
• Phoenix and dove
• Complaint of a lover

Lost works

• Love's Rewarded Efforts
• Cardenio's story †

Apocrypha Main article: Apocrypha by William Shakespeare

• Arden of faversham
• Merlin is born
• Edward III
• Locrine
• The london prodigal
• The puritan
• The second Maiden "s Tragedy
• Sir john oldcastle
• Thomas lord cromwell
• A yorkshire tragedy
• Sir thomas more

an English poet and playwright, often considered the greatest English-speaking writer and one of the best playwrights in the world; often referred to as England's national poet

short biography

An outstanding playwright, one of the most famous in the world, a poet, was a native of Stratford-upon-Avon. Here, in Warwickshire, he was born in 1564, his date of birth is unknown. It is generally accepted that this is April 23, but the day of baptism, April 26, has been established reliably. His father was a wealthy artisan, a respected person in the city, and his mother was a representative of an old Saxon family.

During 1569-1571. Shakespeare was a student elementary school, later - high school in Stratford. She had a decent level of education, but it is not known for certain whether William graduated from it or not - most likely, due to family financial difficulties, he had to leave classes and help his father. As an 18-year-old boy, William married Anne Hathaway, who became pregnant, 8 years older than him; having entered into marriage, the young were saved from dishonor and punishment. In 1583 the Shakespeare couple had a daughter, after another 2 years - a pair of opposite-sex twins. Shakespeare left Stratford in the second half of the 1980s. and moved to London.

The period of Shakespeare's biography, affecting subsequent years, is usually called dark, or lost, years, since there is no information about his life at this time. It is generally accepted that the move to London took place approximately in 1587, but there are other versions as well. Be that as it may, in 1592 Shakespeare was already the author of the historical chronicle "Henry VI".

During 1592-1594. theaters in the English capital were closed due to the plague epidemic. To fill the resulting pause, Shakespeare wrote plays, in particular, The Taming of the Shrew, the tragedy Titus Andronicus, the poems Lucretius and Venus and Adonis. Also in the period from 1594 to 1600 Shakespeare wrote a large number of sonnets. All this makes him a famous writer. When the theaters opened, in 1594 Shakespeare enters new composition- the so-called a troupe of the Lord Chamberlain's servant, named after its patron. Shakespeare was not only an actor, but also a shareholder.

During 1595-1596. were written the famous tragedy "Romeo and Juliet", as well as "The Merchant of Venice" - a comedy, later called "serious" for the first time. If earlier the authors of plays for the theater were "university minds", then by that time their role had been lost: someone stopped writing, someone died. They were replaced by Shakespeare, thus marking new era in the development of theatrical art.

In 1599, another significant event in Shakespeare's biography - the opening of the Globe Theater, in which he was an actor, chief playwright and one of the owners. A year later, the famous "Hamlet" was released, opening the period of "great tragedies", which include "Othello", "King Lear", "Macbeth". Comedies written at this time also had a much more serious, and sometimes pessimistic content. In the same period of his life, Shakespeare became a nobleman, acquired a large house in Stratford, the second largest in the city.

After the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603 and the coming to power of James I, the King himself became the patron saint of the Lord Chamberlain's troupe. 1606 became the starting point for last period v literary activity Shakespeare, marked, in particular, by the creation of tragedies based on the plots of antiquity (Coriolanus, Antony and Cleopatra), as well as the romantic tragicomedies The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, etc.

Around 1612, Shakespeare, whose career was developing very successfully, unexpectedly left the capital and returned to Stratford, to his family. Researchers suggest that a serious illness was the reason for such a radical step. In March 1616 Shakespeare draws up his famous testament, which later paved the way for the so-called. Shakespearean question, considering the problem of authorship of his works and his very personality. April 3, 1616 one of greatest playwrights the world has passed away; he was buried on the outskirts of his hometown in the church of St. Trinity.

During his lifetime, the works of William Shakespeare were published only in separate form, sometimes in the form of collections (sonnets). The first complete collected works by the efforts of friends were prepared and published in 1623. The so-called Shakespearean Canon includes 37 plays; during the life of the playwright, only 18 of them were published. His work marked the end of the process of creating the English language and culture, drew a line under the European Renaissance. To this day, his plays are an integral part, the basis of the repertoire of theaters around the world. In the age of new technologies, almost all of Shakespeare's drama has been filmed.

Biography from Wikipedia

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: daughter Suzanne and twins Hemnet and Judith. Shakespeare's career began between 1585 and 1592 when he moved to London. He soon became a successful actor, playwright, and co-owner of a theater company called The Lord Chamberlain's Servants, later known as The King's Servants. Around 1613, at the age of 48, he returned to Stratford, where he died three years later. There is little historical evidence of Shakespeare's life, and theories about his life are created on the basis of official documents and testimonies of contemporaries, therefore, the scientific community is still discussing issues regarding his appearance and religious beliefs, and there is also a point of view that the works attributed to him were created by whom something else; it is popular in culture, although it is rejected by the overwhelming majority of Shakespearean scholars.

Most of Shakespeare's works were written between 1589 and 1613. His early plays are mostly comedies and chronicles, in which Shakespeare excelled significantly. Then a period of tragedies began in his work, including the works of "Hamlet", "King Lear", "Othello" and "Macbeth", which are considered some of the best in the English language. At the end of his career, Shakespeare wrote several tragicomedies, and also collaborated with other writers.

Many of Shakespeare's plays were published during his lifetime. In 1623, two of Shakespeare's friends, John Heming and Henry Condell, published the First Folio, a collection of all but two of Shakespeare's plays currently included in the canon. Later, various researchers attributed several more plays (or their fragments) to Shakespeare with varying degrees of evidence.

Already during his lifetime, Shakespeare received accolades for his work, but he really became popular only in the 19th century. In particular, representatives of romanticism and Victorians adored Shakespeare so much that Bernard Shaw called it "bardolatry" (Russian) English, which means "bardatry" in English. Shakespeare's works remain popular today, they are constantly studied and rethought in accordance with political and cultural conditions.

early years

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon (Warwickshire) in 1564, baptized on April 26, the exact date of birth is unknown. Tradition relates his birth to April 23: this date coincides with the precisely known day of his death. In addition, April 23 is the day of St. George, the patron saint of England, and tradition could have specially timed the birth of the greatest national poet on this day. The surname “Shakespeare” is translated from English as “stunning with a spear”.

His father, John Shakespeare (1530-1601), was a wealthy artisan (glover), often elected to various important public positions. In 1565, John Shakespeare was an alderman, and in 1568, a bailly (head of the city council). He did not attend church services, for which he paid heavy fines (it is possible that he was a secret Catholic).

Shakespeare's mother, née Mary Arden (1537-1608), belonged to one of the oldest Saxon families. In total, the couple had 8 children, William was born the third.

It is believed that Shakespeare studied at the Stratford "grammar school" (English grammar school), where he was supposed to acquire a good knowledge of Latin: the Stratford teacher of Latin and literature wrote poetry in Latin. Some scholars claim that Shakespeare attended the school of King Edward VI in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he studied the work of poets such as Ovid and Plautus, but school journals have not survived, and now nothing can be said for sure.

In 1582, at the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a local landowner, who was 8 years older than him. At the time of the marriage, Ann was pregnant. In 1583, the couple had a daughter, Susan (baptized on May 23), in 1585 - twins: son Hemnet, who died at age 11 in August 1596, and daughter Judith (baptized on February 2).

There are only assumptions about the further (within seven years) events in Shakespeare's life. The first mentions of a London theater career date back to 1592, and the period between 1585 and 1592 is called Shakespeare's "lost years" by researchers. Attempts by biographers to learn about Shakespeare's actions during this period led to the emergence of many apocryphal stories. Nicholas Rowe, the first biographer of Shakespeare, believed that he left Stratford to avoid prosecution for poaching on the estate of the local squire Thomas Lucy. It is also assumed that Shakespeare took revenge on Lucy by writing some obscene ballads against him. According to another 18th century version, Shakespeare began his theatrical career by looking after the horses of London theatrical patrons. John Aubrey wrote that Shakespeare was a school teacher. Some twentieth-century scholars believed that Shakespeare was the teacher of Alexander Nogton of Lancashire, since this Catholic landowner had a certain "William Shakeshaft". There is little basis for this theory other than rumors that spread after Shakespeare's death, and besides, "Shakeshaft" is a fairly common surname in Lancashire.

London and theater career

It is not known exactly when Shakespeare began writing theatrical works, and also moved to London, but the first sources that have come down to us referring to this date back to 1592. This year, entrepreneur Philip Henslow's diary mentions Shakespeare's Henry VI, which was shown at Henslow's Rose Theater. In the same year, a pamphlet of the playwright and prose writer Robert Green was published posthumously, where the latter angrily attacked Shakespeare, without naming his last name, but ironically playing on it - “shake-scene”, paraphrasing a line from the third part of “Henry VI” “ Oh, the heart of a tiger in this woman's skin! " as "the heart of a tiger in the skin of an actor." Scholars disagree about the exact meaning of these words, but it is generally accepted that Green accused Shakespeare of trying to catch up with highly educated writers ("university minds") such as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nash and Green himself.

Biographers believe that Shakespeare's career could have begun at any time, beginning in the mid-1580s. Since 1594, Shakespeare's plays have been staged only by the Servants of the Lord Chamberlain troupe. Shakespeare was also part of this troupe, who at the end of the same 1594 became its co-owner. The troupe soon became one of the leading theater groups in London. After the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the troupe received a royal patent from the new ruler, James I, and became known as "The King's Servant".

In 1599, a partnership of group members built a new theater on the south bank of the Thames, called the Globe. They also acquired the Blackfriars Indoor Theater in 1608. Records of Shakespeare's real estate purchases and investments show that the troupe made him a wealthy man. In 1597 he bought the second largest house in Stratford, New Place.

Several of Shakespeare's plays were published In-quarto in 1594. In 1598, his name began to appear on the title pages of editions. But even after Shakespeare became famous as a playwright, he continued to play in theaters. In the 1616 edition of Ben Johnson's works, Shakespeare's name is included in the list of actors who performed the plays "Everyone has their own quirks"(1598) and "The Fall of Sejanus"(1603). However, his name was absent from the cast of Johnson's play. Volpone 1605, which is perceived by some scholars as a sign of the end of Shakespeare's London career. Nevertheless, in the First Folio of 1623, Shakespeare is called "the main actor in all these plays", and some of them were first staged after Volpone, although it is not known for certain what roles Shakespeare played in them. In 1610, John Davis wrote that "Good Will" played "royal" roles. In 1709, in his work, Rowe recorded the opinion already prevailing by that time that Shakespeare played the shadow of Hamlet's father. It was also later claimed that he played the role of Adam in "As You Like It" and Chora in "Henry V", although scientists doubt the veracity of this information.

During his acting and dramatic career, Shakespeare lived in London, but also spent some of his time in Stratford. In 1596, a year after buying New Place, he resided in St Helena's Parish in Bishopgate, on the north side of the Thames. After the construction of the Globe Theater in 1599, Shakespeare moved to the other side of the river - to Southwark, where the theater was located. In 1604, he again moved across the river, this time to the area north of St Paul's, where there were a large number of good houses. He rented rooms with a Huguenot Frenchman named Christopher Mountjoy, a manufacturer of women's wigs and hats.

Last years and death

There is a traditional belief that Shakespeare moved to Stratford a few years before his death. The first Shakespeare biographer to convey such an opinion was Rowe. One reason for this may be that London's public theaters have repeatedly shut down due to outbreaks of the plague, and the actors did not have enough work. Complete retirement was rare in those days, and Shakespeare continued to visit London. In 1612 Shakespeare was a witness in the case Bellot vs. Mountjoy, Mountjoy's daughter Mary's wedding dowry lawsuit. In March 1613 he bought a house in the former Blackfriar parish; in November 1614, he spent several weeks with his son-in-law, John Hall.

After 1606-1607, Shakespeare wrote only a few plays, and after 1613 he stopped creating them altogether. He co-wrote his last three plays with another playwright, possibly John Fletcher, who succeeded Shakespeare as chief playwright for the Servant of the King.

All the surviving signatures of Shakespeare on documents (1612-1613) are distinguished by a very poor handwriting, on the basis of which some researchers believe that he was seriously ill at that time.

On April 23 (May 3), 1616, Shakespeare passed away. Traditionally, it is believed that he died on his birthday, but there is no certainty that Shakespeare was born on April 23rd. Shakespeare is survived by a widow, Anne (d. 1623), and two daughters. Susan Shakespeare has been married to John Hall since 1607, and Judith Shakespeare was married two months after Shakespeare's death to the winemaker Thomas Queenie.

In his will, Shakespeare left most of his real estate to his eldest daughter, Susan. After her, her direct descendants should have inherited it. Judith had three children, and they all died without marrying. Susan had one daughter, Elizabeth, who married twice but died childless in 1670. She was the last direct descendant of Shakespeare. In Shakespeare's will, his wife is mentioned only in passing, but she should have received a third of her husband's property anyway. However, it indicated that he was leaving her "my second best bed," and this fact led to many different assumptions. Some scholars regard this as an insult to Ann, while others argue that the second-best bed is the matrimonial bed, and therefore nothing offensive about it.

Three days later, Shakespeare's body was buried in St Trinity Church in Stratford. An epitaph is written on his tombstone:

Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare,
To digg the dvst encloased heare.
Bleste be ye man yt spares thes stones,
And cvrst be he yt moves my bones.

Friend, for God's sake, don't swarm
Remains taken by this land;
Untouched blessed through the ages,
And cursed - that touched my ashes.
(Translated by A. Velichansky)

Shortly before 1623, a painted bust of Shakespeare was erected in the church, showing him in the process of writing. Epitaphs in English and Latin compare Shakespeare with the wise Pilonian king Nestor, Socrates and Virgil.

There are many Shakespeare statues installed around the world, including funerary monuments at Southwark Cathedral and Westminster Abbey's Poet's Corner.

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death, the Royal Mint has issued three two-pound coins (dated 2016), symbolizing three groups of his works: comedy, chronicle and tragedy.

Creation

Shakespeare's literary heritage falls into two unequal parts: poetic (poems and sonnets) and dramatic. VG Belinsky wrote that "it would be too bold and strange to give Shakespeare a decisive advantage over all the poets of mankind, as a poet proper, but as a playwright he now remains without a rival, whose name could be placed next to his name."

Periodization issue

Researchers of Shakespeare's work (Danish literary critic G. Brandes, publisher of the Russian complete collection of Shakespeare's works by S.A. Vengerov) in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, relying on the chronology of works, presented his spiritual evolution from "cheerful mood", belief in the triumph of justice , humanistic ideals at the beginning of the path to disappointment and destruction of all illusions at the end. However, in recent years, the opinion has appeared that the conclusion about the identity of the author based on his works is a mistake.

In 1930, the Shakespeare scholar E. K. Chambers proposed a genre chronology of Shakespeare's work; later it was corrected by J. McManway. Four periods were distinguished: the first (1590-1594) - early: chronicles, Renaissance comedies, "tragedy of horror" ("Titus Andronicus"), two poems; the second (1594-1600) - Renaissance comedies, the first mature tragedy (Romeo and Juliet), chronicles with elements of tragedy, ancient tragedy (Julius Caesar), sonnets; the third (1601-1608) - great tragedies, ancient tragedies, "dark comedies"; the fourth (1609-1613) - fairy tale dramas with a tragic beginning and a happy ending. Some of the Shakespearean scholars, including A. A. Smirnov, combined the first and second periods into one early period.

Dramaturgy

Most of the playwrights of this period collaborated with other authors, and critics believe that Shakespeare also wrote some of his plays with other authors; this mainly applies to early and late works. For some works such as "Titus Andronicus" and early historical plays, it has not been established that they were precisely co-written, whereas for "Two noble relatives" and the lost play "Cardenio" this is documented. The data obtained from the texts also allows us to assert that some of the works have been revised by other writers relative to the original text.

Some of the earliest works of Shakespeare - Richard III and three parts "Henry VI" written in the early 1590s, a period when historical drama was in vogue. Shakespeare's plays are difficult to date, but text scholars suggest that "Titus Andronicus", "Comedy of Errors", "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Two Veronese" also refer to the beginning of Shakespeare's career. His first chronicles, most likely based on the 1587 edition "Chronicle of England, Scotland and Ireland" Raphael Holinshed, represented the devastating results of the rule of weak and corrupt rulers and, to some extent, served as an excuse for the emergence of the Tudor dynasty. Shakespeare's early plays were influenced by the work of other playwrights of the Elizabethan era, notably Thomas Kidd and Christopher Marlowe, the traditions of medieval drama, and the plays of Seneca. "Comedy of Errors" also built according to the classical model, no sources found for "The Taming of the Shrew" although it is related to another play of a similar name, played in London theaters in the 1590s, and may have folkloric roots.

Oberon, Titania and Pak dance with fairies. William Blake, 1786 Tate Britain.

In the mid-1590s, Shakespeare shifted from mocking and farcical comedies to romantic fictions. "A dream in a summer night" is a witty mixture of romance, fairy-tale magic and the life of the lower society. In the next, also romantic, Shakespearean comedy "The Merchant of Venice" contains a portrait of the vengeful Jewish usurer Shylock, reflecting the racial prejudices of the Elizabethan English. Witty play "Much ado about nothing" perfectly depicting life in the provinces "As You Like It" and lively with fun "Twelfth Night" complement a number of Shakespeare's comedies. After lyric "Richard II" almost entirely written in poetry, Shakespeare introduced prosaic comedy into his chronicles "Henry IV, part 1" and 2 , and "Henry V"... His characters become more complex and delicate, he very deftly switches between comic and serious scenes, prose and poetry, so that his mature works achieve a narrative variety. This period began and ended with tragedies: "Romeo and Juliet", the famous story of love and death of a girl and a boy, and "Julius Caesar" based on Comparative Biographies Plutarch.

Hamlet, Horatio, Marcellus and the ghost of Hamlet's father. Henry Fuseli, 1780-85. Kunsthaus (Zurich)

In the early 17th century, Shakespeare wrote several so-called "problem plays": "Measure for measure", Troilus and Cressida and as well as some of the most famous tragedies. Many critics believe that the tragedies of this period represent the peak of Shakespeare's work. Hamlet, the title character in one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies, is perhaps the playwright's most researched character; this is especially true of the famous soliloquia, which begins "To be or not to be, that is the question." Unlike the introvert Hamlet, the hesitant hero, the heroes of subsequent tragedies, King Lear and Othello, suffer from too hasty decisions. Often, Shakespeare's tragedy is built on the flaws or fatal actions of the heroes who destroy him and his loved ones. V "Othello" the villain Iago brings the title character's jealousy to the point, and he kills his innocent wife. V "King Lear" the old king makes the fatal mistake of relinquishing his right to rule, leading to horrific events such as the murder of Lear's youngest daughter Cordelia. V Macbeth, the shortest and most succinct tragedy of Shakespeare, uncontrollable ambition pushes Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, to the murder of the rightful king and usurpation of the throne, and ultimately they are destroyed by the consciousness of their guilt. In this play, Shakespeare adds an element of the supernatural to the tragic structure. His last major tragedies "Antony and Cleopatra" and "Coriolanus", according to some critics, contain some of his finest poems.

In the final period of his work, Shakespeare turned to the genre of romance or tragicomedy and completed three major plays: "Cymbelin", "Winter's Tale" and "Storm" and also, together with another playwright, the play "Pericles"... The works of this period are less dark than the tragedies that preceded them, but more serious than the comedies of the 1590s, but they end with reconciliation and deliverance from troubles. Some researchers believe that these changes came from a change in outlook on Shakespeare's life, which became more calm, but perhaps the plays simply reflected the theatrical fashion of the time. Two other surviving plays by Shakespeare were written in collaboration, possibly with John Fletcher: "Henry VIII" and "Two noble relatives".

Lifetime productions

It is not yet known exactly for which theater companies Shakespeare wrote his early plays. So, on the title page of the publication "Titus Andronicus" 1594, it is indicated that the play was performed by three different groups. After the plague of 1592-1593, Shakespeare's plays were already staged by his own company at the Theater and Curtain in Shoreditch, north of the Thames. The first part was staged there. "Henry IV"... After an altercation with its owner, the company left the Theater and built the Globe Theater on the south side of the Thames, in Southwark, the first theater built by actors for actors. The Globe opened in the fall of 1599, and one of the first plays staged in it was "Julius Caesar"... Most of Shakespeare's most famous plays, written after 1599, were written for the Globe, including "Hamlet", "Othello" and "King Lear".

Shakespeare's Servants of the Lord Chamberlain had a special relationship with King James I, especially after its renaming in 1603 to Servants of the King. Although the records of performances are scattered, there are 7 performances of Shakespeare's plays at court between November 1, 1604 and October 31, 1605, including two performances "Merchant of Venice"... After 1608, they began performing in the Blackfriars Indoor Theater in winter and working in the Globe in the summer. Good premises, combined with royal patronage, allowed Shakespeare to introduce more sophisticated devices into the props of his plays. For example, in "Cymbeline" Jupiter descends “with thunder and lightning, sitting on an eagle: He throws lightning. The ghosts fall to their knees. "

Shakespeare's troupe consisted of such famous actors as Richard Burbage, William Kemp, Neri Condell and John Heminges. Burbage was the first to star in many of Shakespeare's plays, including Richard III, "Hamlet", "Othello" and "King Lear"... Popular comic actor William Kemp, among other characters, played Pietro in Romeo and Juliet and dogwood in "Much ado about nothing"... At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, he was replaced by Robert Armin, who performed such roles as Touchstone from "As You Like It" and Jester from "King Lear"... In 1613, Henry Wotton announced the production of the play "Henry VIII"... On June 29, during the staging of this performance, the cannon misfired and set fire to the thatched roof of the building, so that the entire theater burned down. This fact allows you to set the time of writing the play with good accuracy.

First publications

It is believed that half (18) of Shakespeare's plays were published in one way or another during the playwright's lifetime. The most important publication of Shakespeare's legacy is rightfully considered the folio of 1623 (the so-called "First Folio"), published by Edward Blount and William Jaggard as part of the so-called "Chester Collection"; printers Worral and Col. This edition includes 36 plays by Shakespeare - all except Pericles and Two Noble Kinsmen. It is this edition that underlies all research in the field of Shakespearean studies.

This project was made possible by the efforts of John Hemingge and Henry Condell, friends and colleagues of Shakespeare. The book is preceded by a message to readers on behalf of Heminge and Condell, as well as a poetic dedication to Shakespeare by playwright Ben Johnson, who also contributed to the publication of the First Folio.

Poems

In 1593 and 1594, when theaters were closed due to the plague, Shakespeare created two erotic poems, Venus and Adonis and "Disgraced Lucretia"... These poems were dedicated to Henry Risley, Earl of Southampton. V "Venus and Adonis" innocent Adonis rejects the sexual advances of Venus; whereas in "Dishonored Lucretia" the virtuous wife Lucretius is raped by Tarquinius. Under the influence Metamorphosis Ovid, the poems show feelings of guilt and the terrible consequences of uncontrolled love. Both poems were popular and were reprinted several times during Shakespeare's lifetime. Third poem, "Complaint of a Lover", in which a girl complains about a seductive deceiver, was printed in the first edition Sonnet in 1609. Most scientists nowadays admit that "Complaint of a lover" it was Shakespeare who wrote. In the poem "Phoenix and Dove", printed in 1601 in the collection of Robert Chester "Love's Martyr", tells about the sad death of the mythological phoenix and his beloved, faithful dove. In 1599, two Shakespeare sonnets on behalf of Shakespeare, but without his consent in "Passionate Pilgrim".

Sonnets

The sonnet is a 14-line poem. In Shakespeare's sonnets, the following rhyme is adopted: abab cdcd efef gg, that is, three quatrains for cross rhymes, and one couplet (a type introduced by the poet Count Surrey, who was executed under Henry VIII).

A total of 154 sonnets were written by Shakespeare, and most of them were created in 1592-1599. They were first published without the author's knowledge in 1609. Two of them were published as early as 1599 in the collection Passionate Pilgrim. These are sonnets 138 and 144 .

The whole cycle of sonnets is divided into separate thematic groups:

• Sonnets dedicated to a friend: 1 -126
• Chanting a friend: 1 -26
• Friendship Challenges: 27 -99
• Separation bitterness: 27 -32
• First disappointment in a friend: 33 -42
• Longing and apprehension: 43 -55
• Growing alienation and melancholy: 56 -75
• Rivalry and jealousy of other poets: 76 -96
• "Winter" of separation: 97 -99
• A celebration of renewed friendship: 100 -126
• Sonnets dedicated to the swarthy lover: 127 -152
• Conclusion - the joy and beauty of love: 153 -154

Sonnet 126 violates the canon - it has only 12 lines and a different pattern of rhyme. Sometimes it is considered a section between two conventional parts of the cycle - sonnets dedicated to friendship (1-126) and addressed to the "swarthy lady" (127-154). Sonnet 145 written in iambic tetrameter instead of pentameter and differs in style from the others; sometimes he is attributed to the early period and his heroine is identified with Shakespeare's wife Anna Hathaway (whose surname, possibly in the form of a pun "hate away", is presented in the sonnet).

Style

The language of Shakespeare's early plays is the language common to the plays of this period. This stylized language does not always allow the playwright to reveal his characters. Poetry is often overloaded with complex metaphors and sentences, and language is more conducive to the declamation of the text than to live play. For example, solemn speeches "Titus Andronicus" often slows down action, according to some critics; character language "Two people of Verona" seems unnatural.

Soon, however, Shakespeare began to adapt the traditional style for his own purposes. Initial soliloquium from Richard III goes back to self-talk of Vice, a traditional character in medieval drama. At the same time, Richard's flamboyant monologues would later develop into monologues in Shakespeare's later plays. All of the pieces mark the transition from the traditional style to the new. Throughout his further career, Shakespeare unites them, and one of the most successful examples of mixing styles is "Romeo and Juliet"... By the mid 1590s, the time of creation Romeo and Juliet, "Richard II" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Shakespeare's style becomes more natural. Metaphors and figurative expressions are increasingly consistent with the needs of the drama.

The standard poetic form used by Shakespeare is white verse, written in iambic pentameter. The white verse of the early and later plays are significantly different. The early one is often beautiful, but, as a rule, at the end of the line either the whole sentence ends or its semantic part, which generates monotony. After Shakespeare mastered the traditional white verse, he began to modify it, interrupting the sentence at the end of the line. Using this technique gives poetry power and flexibility in plays such as "Julius Caesar" and "Hamlet"... For example, Shakespeare uses it to convey the feelings of a shocked Hamlet:

In subsequent "Hamlet" plays, the poetic style continued to vary, especially in the emotional passages of his later tragedies. Literary critic Bradley described this style as "more concentrated, fast, varied, with less repetition." Towards the end of his career, Shakespeare used a variety of techniques to achieve similar effects. He used techniques such as enjambeman, unstructured pauses and stops, and various unusual variations in sentence construction and length. In many cases, the listener himself has to think out the meaning of the sentence. In later romantic plays, long and short sentences are opposed to each other, the subject and the object of the action are reversed, the words are omitted, which creates a sense of spontaneity.

Shakespeare combined the art of poetry with an understanding of the practical details of theatrical production. Like all playwrights of the time, he dramatized stories from sources such as Plutarch and Holinshead. But the original source did not remain unchanged; Shakespeare introduced new and changed old storylines so that the entire versatility of the story was revealed to the audience. With the growth of Shakespeare's skill, his characters began to emerge more clearly and acquire distinctive features of speech. However, his later plays are more reminiscent of his earlier works. In his later romantic works, he deliberately returned to the artificial style in order to emphasize the illusory nature of the theater.

Reputation and criticism

"He was not a man of an era, but of all times."

Ben Johnson

Although Shakespeare was not considered a great playwright during his lifetime, he received accolades for his works. In 1598, the clergy writer Francis Meris singled him out from the English writers as "the most excellent" in both comedy and tragedy. And the playbook authors "Parnassus" compared Shakespeare to Chaucer, Gower and Spencer. In the First Folio, Ben Johnson called Shakespeare: "The soul of the century, worthy of applause, delight, the miracle of our stage."

In the period between the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 and the end of the 17th century, the ideas of classicism prevailed. Therefore, critics of the time predominantly rated Shakespeare below John Fletcher and Ben Johnson. Thomas Riemer, for example, condemned Shakespeare for mixing the comic and the tragic. Nevertheless, poet and critic John Dryden praised Shakespeare, saying of Johnson, "I admire him, but I love Shakespeare." Still, for several decades, Riemer's views dominated, but in the 18th century critics began to admire him and call him a genius. This reputation has only been strengthened by a number of published scientific works devoted to the work of Shakespeare, for example, the work of Samuel Johnson in 1765 and Edmond Malone in 1790. By 1800, he was firmly established as the national poet of England. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Shakespeare also gained a name outside the British Isles. He was supported by such writers as Voltaire, Goethe, Stendhal and Victor Hugo.

During the Romantic era, Shakespeare was highly praised by the poet and literary philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge; the critic August Wilhelm Schlegel translated his plays into German in the spirit of German Romanticism. In the 19th century, admiration for Shakespeare often verged on adoration and flattery. “This King Shakespeare,” wrote the essayist Thomas Carlyle in 1840, “is above all of us, most noble, gentlest, but strong; indestructible. " Bernard Shaw, however, criticized Shakespeare's romantic cult, using the word bardolatry. He argued that Ibsen's naturalistic drama renders Shakespeare obsolete.

Russian writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy in his critical essay "On Shakespeare and on the Drama" based on a detailed analysis of some of Shakespeare's most popular works, in particular: "King Lear", "Othello", "Falstaff", "Hamlet", etc. harsh criticism of Shakespeare's ability as a playwright.

After the modernist art revolution of the early 20th century, Shakespeare was enlisted in the ranks of the avant-garde. German expressionists and Moscow futurists staged his plays. The Marxist, playwright and director Bertolt Brecht developed the epic theater under the influence of Shakespeare. Poet and critic TS Eliot opposed Shaw, arguing that Shakespeare's "primitivism" made his writings contemporary. Eliot led a movement of researchers to look more closely at Shakespearean imagery. In the 1950s, a wave of new campaigns replaced modernism and marked the beginning of Shakespeare's "postmodern" studies. In the 1980s, Shakespeare's work began to be studied by representatives of such movements as structuralism, feminism, new historicism, African American studies and queer studies.

Influence

Shakespeare's work greatly influenced the theater and literature of the following years. In particular, he expanded the field of playwright's work with characterization, plot, language and genre. For example, before Romeo and Juliet romance was never seen as a worthy subject for tragedy. Soliloquia were mainly used to inform viewers about events that had taken place; Shakespeare began to use them to reveal the character of the character and his thoughts. His work greatly influenced subsequent poets. Poets of the Romantic era tried to revive Shakespeare's poetic drama, but did not have much success. Critic George Steiner has called all English drama from Coleridge to Tennyson "feeble variations on Shakespearean themes."

Shakespeare influenced writers such as Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner, and Charles Dickens. His influence also extended to Herman Melville; his captain Ahab from the novel "Moby Dick" is a classic tragic hero inspired by King Lear. Scholars estimate that 20,000 pieces of music are related to the work of Shakespeare. Among them are 2 operas by Giuseppe Verdi, "Othello" and Falstaff, in the primary source of which are the plays of the same name. Shakespeare also inspired many artists, including the Romantics and Pre-Raphaelites. The Swiss artist Henry Fuseli, a friend of William Blake, even translated the play into German. Macbeth... The developer of the theory of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud relied on Shakespearean psychology, in particular on the image of Hamlet, in his theories about human nature.

During Shakespeare's day, English grammar, spelling and pronunciation were less standardized than it is today, and his language helped shape modern English. He is Samuel Johnson's most cited author in "A Dictionary of the English Language", the first composition of its kind. Expressions such as "with bated breath" (lit. with bated breath = with a sinking heart) ( "The Merchant of Venice") and "a foregone conclusion" (literally a foregone conclusion) ( "Othello") entered modern everyday English speech.

Doubts around Shakespeare's personality

"Shakespearean question"

About 230 years after Shakespeare's death, doubts began to be expressed about the authorship of the works attributed to him. Alternative candidates, mostly well-born and well-educated, were proposed, such as Roger Menners, 5th Earl of Rutland, Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe and Edouard de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Theories have also been proposed, according to which a group of writers was hiding behind the pseudonym "Shakespeare". However, in the academic community, the traditional theory is generally accepted; interest in the non-Strafordian movement, especially in the Oxfordian theory, persists in the 21st century.

One of the proofs of their theory, non-Strafordians believe that no evidence of Shakespeare's education has survived, while the vocabulary of his works, according to various estimates, ranges from 17,500 to 29,000 words, and they also show a deep knowledge of history and literature. Since not a single Shakespearean manuscript has survived, opponents of the traditional version conclude that his literary career was falsified.

Religion

Some scholars believe that members of Shakespeare's family were Catholics, although the Catholic religion was banned at the time. Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, came from a Catholic family. The main proof of Shakespeare's belonging to a Catholic family is the will of John Shakespeare, found in 1757 in the attic of his house. The original document has been lost, and scholars disagree on its authenticity. In 1591, the authorities announced that he did not appear in the church. In 1606, the name of Shakespeare's daughter Suzanne was put on the list of those who did not attend Easter communion in Stratford. Scholars have found evidence in Shakespeare's plays for and against his Catholicism, but the truth has not been established with absolute certainty.

Sexual orientation

Despite the fact that Shakespeare was married and had children, there are different opinions in the scientific community regarding his sexual orientation. Researchers often believe that Shakespeare's sonnets are autobiographical, and some conclude from them about Shakespeare's love for a young man. Others, however, see these sonnets as merely expressions of friendship, not sexual attraction. The 26 so-called "Swarthy Lady" sonnets, addressed to a married woman, are often cited as evidence of his heterosexual orientation.

Appearance

List of works

Classification of pieces

Shakespeare's writings include 36 plays published in 1623 in the First Folio, the division of which here into comedy, chronicle and tragedy is given in accordance with this edition. The First Folio did not include two pieces, Two noble relatives and Pericles which are now considered part of the canon, and scholars agree that Shakespeare contributed greatly to their writing. Shakespeare's poems were not published in the First Folio.

At the end of the 19th century, Edward Dowden classified 4 of Shakespeare's later plays as romantic, and although most scholars call them tragicomedies, this option is widely used. These plays, as well as related "Two noble relatives" are marked with a (). In 1896, Frederic Boas coined the term "problem plays," describing Shakespeare's plays that are difficult to classify by genre: "All is well that ends well", "Measure for measure", Troilus and Cressida and "Hamlet"... This term has been discussed a lot and was sometimes used in relation to other plays, it is still used in our time, although "Hamlet" is often ranked as a mere tragedy. Problematic plays are marked with a ().

If a play is considered to be only partially written by Shakespeare, it is marked with a (). Works sometimes attributed to Shakespeare are classified as apocryphal.

Essays

Comedy

• All is well that ends well
• How do you like it
• A comedy of mistakes
• Fruitless efforts of love
• Measure for measure
• The Merchant of Venice
• Windsor mockers
• A dream in a summer night
• Much ado about nothing
• Pericles
• The Taming of the Shrew
• Storm
• twelfth Night
• Two Veronese
• Two noble relatives
• Winter's tale

Chronicle

• King john
• Richard II
• Henry IV, part 1
• Henry IV, part 2
• Henry V
• Henry VI, part 1
• Henry VI, part 2
• Henry VI, part 3
• Richard III
• Henry VIII

Tragedies

• Romeo and Juliet
• Coriolanus
• Titus Andronicus
• Timon of Athens
• Julius Caesar
• Macbeth
• Hamlet
• Troilus and Cressida
• King Lear
• Othello
• Antony and Cleopatra
• Cymbelin

Poems

• William Shakespeare's Sonnets
• Venus and Adonis
• Dishonored Lucretia
• Passionate Pilgrim
• Phoenix and dove
• Complaint of a lover

Lost works

• Love's Rewarded Efforts
• Cardenio's story

Apocrypha

• The judgment of Paris
• Arden Feiversham
• George Greene
• Locrin
• Edward III
• Mussedor
• Sir John Oldcastle
• Thomas, Lord Cromwell
• Merry Edmont Devil
• London prodigal son
• Puritan
• Yorkshire tragedy
• Lovely Emma
• Merlin is born
• Sir Thomas More
• The Tragedy of the Second Handmaid
• Passionate Pilgrim

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William Shakespeare

Born in April 1564, the year of Galileo's birth and Calvin's death, in the small provincial town of Stratford-upon-Avon, into the family of a wealthy artisan and merchant.

House where W. Shakespeare was born before restoration in 1857.

Shakespeare House, Stratford-upon-Avon

Sources call the father of the poet, John Shakespeare, a "glove-maker" who, not wanting to engage in peasant labor, moved to the city, where he began to manufacture various kinds of leather goods. He bought a house and married Mary Ardenne, the daughter of a wealthy farmer who belonged to one of the oldest families in Workshire.

The Shakespeare had many children - the parish books testify to this. The first in the family of John Shakespeare was a daughter, Joan; the second child was Margaret, who died a few months after birth. William Shakespeare's birthday is not exactly known, but traditionally it is celebrated on April 23, the day of St. George, the patron saint of England.

William Shakespeare's generation was more literate than his father's. When William grew up a little, John Shakespeare sent him to study "for some time in one of the free schools, where he probably acquired his little knowledge of Latin" - in the New Royal School (Stratford-upon-Avon), which was one of the best provincial preparatory educational institutions where training began at four to five years old.

As a child, W. Shakespeare watched performances in Coventry, and in the 1580s, several theater companies gave performances in Stratford.

In 1574 or 1575 W. Shakespeare began to study at the grammar school at the rate of the highest level. Rhetoric and logic were taught here; speeches and recitations in prose and poetry, as well as children composed essays on a given topic. He was good at classical literature and her techniques, getting acquainted with the work of Virgil, Juvenal, Horace and Ovid at school. Thus, the students received a fairly extensive knowledge. W. Shakespeare was sufficiently prepared, educated no worse than any of his contemporaries. Due to bankruptcy, father John Shakespeare was forced to take his son out of school.

School of W. Shakespeare. The interior of the class.

After leaving school, W. Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a wealthy landowner from the village of Shotteri. The marriage gave rise to a lot of speculation. William did not come of age, he was 18 years old, and his fiancée, who was seven or eight years older, was expecting a child. Therefore, two friends of the bride's family traveled to Worcester to obtain court approval for the marriage. However, a court clerk in the episcopal record on November 28, 1582, recorded the bride's name as Anne Wheatley. A romantic legend was born that William Shakespeare loved Anne Wheatley, but was forced to marry Anne Hathaway, seduced by him. This fantastic story formed the basis of the film "Shakespeare in Love" by Anthony Burgess.

Their first child, daughter Susan, was baptized on May 26, 1583; twins Hamnet (died aged 11) and Judith - February 2, 1585. According to one of the biographical legends, after the birth of twins, W. Shakespeare was forced to leave both his family and his hometown, fleeing from the pursuit of his neighbor, the land lord, in whose lands he poached.

From 1585 to 1592, a period begins, which in Shakespearean scholarship is called "the lost years", or "dark".

It is believed that W. Shakespeare went to London (1592) following one of the many acting troupes that toured Stratford. Becoming an actor, he played in the plays of Ben Johnson "Everyone in His Way", "Seed" and other productions, including his own. However, he did not reach the heights of the profession, judging by the fact that even in his own plays he played not the first roles, but it was the stage experience that gave William Shakespeare knowledge of the possibilities of theater, the characteristics of each actor of the troupe and the tastes of the Elizabethan audience. Researchers believe that as a playwright, W. Shakespeare began performing in the late 1580s. In 1587, businessman Philip Hensloh built the Rose Theater. In it, William Shakespeare probably performed on stage at the beginning of his acting career, and, in any case, it is documented that one of his plays was staged here in 1592.

Theater "Rose".

For five years (1592-1596) W. Shakespeare created 12 plays and 2 poems. In 1593, he published his first poem, Venus and Adonis, dedicated to the Earl of Southampton, his friend and patron in literature. The play enjoyed great success from 1583 to 1640 and went through sixteen editions.

By the end of the century, the 36-year-old playwright's legacy numbered 22 plays. For eight years, from 1601 to 1608, he created 10 more literary masterpieces, including Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear and other plays.

A Comedy of Errors was presented at the Grace Inn on December 28; in March 1595, W. Shakespeare, W. Camp, and R. Burbage were rewarded for two plays performed at court by the Lord Chamberlain's troupe during the Christmas holidays. After several years of financial difficulties, theatrical activities under the auspices of the Lord Chamberlain brought him prosperity.

In 1596, John Shakespeare, received in the Heraldic Chamber the right to the coat of arms, the famous Shakespearean shield, for which William paid. The granted title gave W. Shakespeare the right to sign "William Shakespeare, Gentleman." In the same year, the wealthy W. Shakespeare first appeared in hometown after an 11-year absence. In 1597 he bought for himself and his family an excellent house with a garden (New Place), which was the second largest in Stratford.

For about three years (1594-1597) W. Shakespeare worked at the Burbage Theater. In 1598, the Burbage brothers dismantled the old "Theater", a building on the north edge of London. After the closure of this theater, W. Shakespeare, together with the troupe, played for some time in "Curtain" (1598-1599), and also, possibly, in Newington Butts.

Metropolitan theater "Globe", ("Globe" - the translation of the name is inaccurate, more correct - " Earth", Implying that the plays will show the life of the whole world) was built from logs" Theater "on the south bank of the Thames. W. Shakespeare became one of the shareholders of the new theater.

The first Globus theater

1601 was a fatal year for William Shakespeare - a terrible change took place in his life. There are a number of versions, guesses, events that changed his life and influenced his work: condemnation of high friends and patrons of Essex and Southampton; unhappy passion for the "dark lady" sung in sonnets; death of W. Shakespeare's father.

In 1603, King James I took William Shakespeare's troupe under direct patronage. She became known as "Servants of His Majesty the King." The troupe often performed at court and for good remuneration. The playwright's affairs took off sharply, and in 1605 he became a major landowner.

In 1607-1608, William Shakespeare made long-distance sea expeditions, accompanied by another vessel, "Hector", led by Captain William Hawkins.

In 1608, when the even more lucrative Blackfriars Theater was given to the troupe, Shakespeare acquired the right to be one of its shareholders.

In 1611 he wrote his last play, The Tempest. At the age of 48 (1612), William Shakespeare finally moved from London to Stratford, leaving the theater and retiring from writing plays, engaged in commercial activities and lived with his family.

In March 1616, W. Shakespeare made a will, and a month later, on April 23, when he was 52 years old, he died. The great playwright was buried in the parish church, his native Stratford.

MAIN DATES OF SHAKESPEARE'S LIFE AND WORK

1564, April 23. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. In this city he lived his childhood and youth.
1582.28 November. Shakespeare gets permission to marry Anne Hetheway.
1583.26 May. Baptism of Shakespeare's daughter Susan.
1585, February 2. Baptism of Hamnet's son and daughter Judith.
1590-1592. Staging of the historical trilogy "Henry VI".
1592. The Comedy of Errors.
1593. "Richard III". "The Taming of the Shrew".
1593. The poem "Venus and Adonis" is printed.
1594. The poem "Lucretius" is printed. "Titus Andronicus" staged. "Two Veronese". Love's Labour's Lost. Shakespeare joins the Lord Chamberlain's troupe.
1595. A Midsummer Night's Dream. "Richard II". "Romeo and Juliet".
1595. Shakespeare's son Hamnet dies. Staged "King John", "The Merchant of Venice".
1597. Much Ado About Nothing. "Henry IV" (1st movement).
1598. "Henry IV" (2nd part). "Windsor Ridiculous".
1599. Construction of the Globus Theater. Staged "As You Like It", "Julius Caesar".
1600. Twelfth Night.
1601. "Hamlet".
8 September. Funeral of Shakespeare's father.
1602. Troilus and Cressida.
1603. Death of Queen Elizabeth. James I ascends the throne. The Lord Chamberlain's troupe is renamed the King's troupe. The performance "The End - the Crown of the Business".
1604. Othello. "Measure for measure".
1605. King Lear.
1606. Macbeth.
1607. Shakespeare's daughter Susan marries Dr. John Hall.
Production of "Antony and Cleopatra".
1608. Along with performances at the Globe Theater, the King's troupe begins to give performances in the closed premises of the former Blackfriars Monastery. The tragedy "Timon of Athens" was written.
1609. Pericles. The "Sonnets" were published.
1610. Cymbelin.
1611. "Winter's Tale".
1612. The Tempest. Shakespeare returns to Stratford.
1613. "Henry VIII". Fire at the Globus Theater.
1616, February 10. The wedding of Judith Shakespeare and Thomas Queenie.
March, 25. Shakespeare signs the will.
April 23rd. Death of Shakespeare.
25th of April. Shakespeare's funeral.

When compiling this material, the following were used:

1. History foreign literature... Shapovalova M.S., Rubanova G.L., Motorny V.A. - Lviv: Vishcha school. Publishing house at Lvov.un-those. 1982.- 440 p.
2. Kochemirovskaya E.A. "10 geniuses of literature" / Artist L.D. Kirkach-Osipova. - Kharkov: Folio, 2006 .-- 381 p.
3. Shenbaum S. Shakespeare. Brief documentary biography... Translation from English. A.A. Anikst and A. L. Velichansky. Publishing house "Progress". M .: 1985 .-- 432 p.
4. Anikst A.A. The life of wonderful people. Shakespeare: The Young Guard; Moscow: 1964.
5. Shakespeare. Encyclopedia / Comp., Entry. article, index of V.D. Nikolaev. - M .: Algorithm, Eksmo; Kharkiv: Oko, 2007 .-- 448 p .: ill.