“To be, or not to be: that is the question.” Rings a bell? Well yes, today we are here bringing to you the life of this profound artist.
Here is ED with Back In Time to celebrate the life of William Shakespeare.
Back in Time is ED’s newspaper type column that reports an incident from the past as though it has happened just yesterday. It allows the reader to re-live it several years later, on the date it had occurred.
For this incident, we go back in time to 1564.
April 23rd, 1564: John Shakespeare and Mary Arden were blessed with a baby boy who turned out to be revolutionary in the literary field – William Shakespeare. During those years, a child was baptised three days after the birth. Scholars have studied records which show that W. Shakespeare was baptised on April 26th, 1564 and hence, the world celebrates the birthday of this highbrow.
Early life: William Shakespeare was educated at the King’s New School and was married to a seven year elder woman, Anne Hathaway at the age of 18. Shakespeare and Hathaway had two daughters and one son named Hamet Shakespeare (who died as a schoolboy).
- 1585-1592: This the time period about which the literary scholars know barely anything. These years are said to be the ‘lost years’ of Shakespeare since there was little information about his academic and personal activities. Robert Greene’s,A Groatsworth of Wit mentions Shakespeare to be an actor and playwright. Though there are no concrete evidences of these years, it is believed that quite a lot of his plays were staged in London by 1592. It was after 1592 that Shakespeare’s career flourished as a writer and a literary scholar.
Literary works and achievements: Shakespeare is best known for his plays like: Romeo and Juliet, As you like it, Macbeth, Julius Cesar, The Comedy of Errors .etc. He has written plays and poems across all genres such as comedy, tragedy, historical drama, romance, social issues .etc. His works include 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two lengthy narrative poems and few other works. These have been translated into multiple languages and are studied at all major educational institutions across the globe. Titled England’s national poet Shakespeare is often know as, ‘Bard of Avon.’
One of the most striking features of Shakespeare’s works was the soliloquies of the characters. If it were not for these soliloquies, plays like Macbeth, Julius and Cesar and Hamlet would not have influenced and left the same impression on the readers as it has. Some of these are even today used as life’s greatest lessons. All the characters of his plays were beautifully carved with a special quality with was unique to each one. There was a perfect amount of anxiety, happiness, love as well as hatred in every play that he wrote. The writing style of this great scholar was simple and conventional yet too creative to be true in the 16th century.
The End: Shakespeare received a lot of praise during his life time. He was praised by the writers, poets, literary philosophers, scholars as well as the common men. He died on his 52nd birthday, April 23rd, 1616. The cause of his death is yet a mystery. Even after his death, Shakespeare’s plays are being adopted and performed by people across the globe. And even today, his plays leaves the audience mesmerized as if it were written just few years back. Ben Jonson correctly said, “He was not of an age, but for all time.”
Here’s to the outstanding and revolutionary writer, poet and actor. We hope his soul rest in peace. Thank you Shakespeare, for giving us some of the best stories to read about in school.
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http://edtimes.in/2016/04/back-in-time-dr-radhakrishnan-dies.html
