Research+paper

The World of William Shakespeare

Kayla Casey Mrs. Posta English Bell 1 10 December 2009 Have you ever wondered were we got our English language from? Why we speak the way we do today? Have you ever imagined why we use the phrases we use and were they come from? Well I have an answer. All of these questions reflect back to William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare was a talented writer who had a wonderful affect on English today. His language led to the success of his wittings and other great things for him and others.

Like any other child, William Shakespeare was born April 1564 in Avon, England. Back in the 1500s they didn’t keep record of dates so they just assigned a specific date to them. They assigned him April 23, 1564. William was born into a family with seven other brothers and sisters. Their mother and father name were Mary and John Shakespeare. William began his education at the age of 6 or seven. This was good for him because he got a start on his education early. His educations lead to his success later on in life. (Complete Idiots Guide to Shakespeare)

Shakespeare had great success later on his life. He got married to Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582. He was eighteen when he got married. His marriage went good because they then had children. Shakespeare had a total of three children. The first child was Susana. She was born in 1583. They had twins two years later, Judith and Hamlet. Sadly Hamlet died. William and Anne lived out one of Shakespeare’s poem and lived happily.

While they were living happily, Shakespeare lived out his success. Shakespeare success came from many things, mainly his writings and plays. One of his most famous play and writing was // Romeo and Juliet //. Other plays he wrote were // Richard 11 // // and King John. // A lot of Shakespeare's writings were also sonnets. He had a total of 154 sonnets written before his death. Some of Shakespeare's writings were written during the Chamberlain's time such as // Richard 11. // Although his writings were relatable, they were created in a certain way, especially his sonnets. He used what’s called // Ibiamic Meter. // Ibiamic Meter was used in writings to give it more interest. This gave the writing more power of excitement to it. But most of all, these writings were turned into plays and was only played in specific theatre. (www.shakespeare.about.com)

All of the writings that William Shakespeare created and that was acted out were acted out in a theatre. This theatre was called // The Globe Theatre. // The Globe Theatre was located on the South Banks of the River Thames in Southwark. This area was attractive because it brought a lot of people to watch the shows so Shakespeare got great amount of money off of the plays. The Theatre was an important theatre not just because plays were acted out there, but because it was reputed to be a brothel and gambling house. This made it an exciting place to be. With all this enthusiasm going on in the Globe, it had huge success. (www.shakespeare-online.com)

Back in the early 1600s, to watch a play, you had to pay a certain price, even for some of the worse seats. For the audience to watch a play, they had to pay a penny to sit in the “pit” while others sat on the side. With their eagerness of wanting to go see these plays, William earned a lot of money off of the people’s profit. The things people had to do to watch these plays were unrealistic. The women that wanted to see these plays had to disguise themselves as a man. This was a little drastic because they should’ve been able to come as themselves. Although they had to dress a certain way, they still came.

Things that were used in the Globe Theatre were setups and props. These were used wisely in the Theatre but still interested the audience all at once. The actors also become apart of the props. Some props that were used maybe once in every blue moon is “Cue Acting” and “Cue Scripting”. This was used when they didn’t have their lines yet. Some setups that were used in the theatre were smoke effects, fire works, “flying” entrances and even real cannons. These setups and props were used to give the audience sort of a tease. It kept the audience interested and gave them a show which they were looking for. Even the actors were amazed with the way things came out. (www.shakespeare.info)

The actors of the plays had a specific way to dress, especially if they were a woman. Women had to dress as a man or young males would have to play the role of the woman. This left women out basically and they had no chance to go on the stage to perform. In this time period, women did not have a lot of privileges as they do today. Although men played their roles, women had opinions on this as well as other. However, it was thought and seen differently in other peoples eyes at this time period. Although the men who were actors in this play did a wonderful job while they were preformed at the Globe Theatre.

The Globe Theatre went through a harsh tragedy. Unfortunately, on June 29, the theater had caught in fire and burned to ashes. The roof had caught on fire and it burned the entire building down. Gladly, the theatre was sonly rebuilt in 1614. This brought back even more success for William Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre. However, during the burning incident the actors had to move into another city to find a way to get their money. When the Theatre began to create all over again, the actors soon returned. All of these things that were done in the Globe Theatre lead back to the success of William Shakespeare. (www.shakespeare.info)

William Shakespeare was a man of words, wisdom, and success. Everything that Shakespeare used, said, or did, made things better. He had a wonderful affect on language now today also. Unfortunately, Shakespeare sadly left us on April 23, 1616 and cremated April 25, 1616; we live on his legacy of language today.

Works Cite //The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare//. New York: Alpha Books, 1999. Print. Jamleson, Lee. "Shakespeare Biography." Web. Presly, J. M. "The Globe Theatre." Web. "William Shakespeare and the Globe Theatre." Ed. GCSE Shakespeare Community. Web.