To be, or not to be, that is the question. A simple question, yet hard to answer. This line comes from one of the many works of poetry written by the infamous William Shakespeare. He is one of the most popular people from the Renaissance era. And as we can see, he chose to be the most influential person during the Renaissance. Shakespeare was the most influential person during the Renaissance because he created thousands of words, built the first theater open to the poor, and wrote many plays, sonnets, and narratives.
William Shakespeare is an English poet, playwright, and actor whose birthday is a mystery. He was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon but the exact day is unknown. However, it’s most commonly celebrated on April 23, which coincidentally is also believed to be the date he died in 1616 at the age of 52. In a diary entry written by a man named John Ward, it says, “Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted.” I guess I could add ‘party animal’ to his list of characteristics and careers.
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His parents John Shakespeare and Mary Arden had a total of eight children together but unfortunately, they lost two daughters as infants. This makes William their oldest child. There is actually very little known about Shakespeare’s early childhood or teenage years. Back then, children were seen as young adults who were to be manipulated and upskilled to take place in the adult world as soon as possible. The first time we hear about Shakespeare was when he was being baptized as a baby, then it jumps to his life as an 18-year-old.
When William turned 18 he married a 26-year-old named Anne Hathaway. This marriage was rushed due to the fact that she was pregnant at the time with their firstborn, Susanna, at the ceremony. Anne’s parents were dead and she lived with her brother in a family home- where William came quite often. During this time, it wasn’t unusual for women and girls to be pregnant when they married because it was a priority back then to be married to the mother, otherwise, their child would have been looked down upon, bullied, and have no legal rights. Together, they continued to have two more children who were actually twins who were named Hammet and Judith.
Being a teenage father who was also married meant he had to support them. He was broke as a joke. His father had fallen on hard times which made it twice as hard to make money, however, he did. We don’t know exactly how though. Soon after they had the twins, Shakespeare traveled to London to start his career in the theater. This was around the beginning of the Renaissance. He did so well that he was able to send money back to his family and visit them frequently. Eleven years after the twins were born, he was able to buy one of the biggest houses in Stratford called the New Place where his family moved in. Sadly, Hamnet died the same year the house was bought. During the same year, he continued to write. This was the time when he wrote some of the most defining plays of his career such as Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Merchant of Venice. The time was perfect too because those plays mark the defining moment in time where all fine arts would thrive.
The Renaissance took place from the 14th century to the 17th century. The Renaissance promoted art, literature, classical philosophy, architecture, music, mathematics, and more. There wasn’t one specific event that caused this era, in fact, there were several causes for the emergence of the Renaissance. One of the many causes of the Renaissance was the increased interaction between the different cultures and societies during and before the beginning of the Renaissance. Middle Age Europe was very close-minded when it came to change, however, due to the Renaissance Europe experienced a shift in perspective and worldview. It caused new views, beliefs, ideas, and even social standards. The vast trade networks across Europe, Africa, and Asia all led to increased interaction between all of the different societies, which caused an exchange of people, ideas, beliefs, and values. The largest trade network was the Silk Road, it played a vital role in all civilizations throughout Eurasia. They traded things such as silk (hints of the name), salt, porcelain, spices, teas, and more expensive luxury goods such as gold, silver, ivory, etc.
The Renaissance or the ‘rebirth’ was all based on social life. Social classes were government, citizens, and poor people. Your class was determined by how much money you made, your job, and if you had government power. Your class also determined the type of food you eat and the fashion available for you to buy. The poor people usually worked on farms, dressed simply, ate basic, and lived in small homes. The citizens had a lot of free time, they traveled, ate more expensively, and told lots of stories. The government officials/ people in power ate lavishly, enjoyed time by going out and watching jousting matches, and swordplay, and went to plays that at the time were very expensive. However, Shakespeare would soon make a change as he was one of the first inclusive poets.
Shakespeare was one of the first playwrights who brought the Renaissance core values back to the theater. Overall, Shakespeare was one of the greatest playwrights in the history of the English language. He wrote 154 sonnets, 38 plays, and 2 narratives including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Macbeth. The English language would not have been what it is today if Shakespeare hadn’t existed. He has played a great role in shaping literature. Not only did he write poems, sonnets, and plays, but he also made them accessible to the poor.
The Globe Theater was built in December of 1958 as a large, round, donut, or in other words, an open-air theatre. There was a roof around the center of the stage, which gave it a donut glow that came from above. It could fit nearly 3,000 people inside. Shakespeare sold tickets to the poor for a single penny. One could argue that the cheapest tickets were the best seats. Shakespeare’s plays were very interactive, he often antagonized the wealthy. People who stood in the pit, who were mostly the poor, could actually interact with the characters by throwing tomatoes at the characters whom they disliked. They could also cheer and throw flowers at the ones they liked. Unfortunately, in the midst of a play titled “Henry VIII” ignited a fire causing it to burn down in the summer of 1613. Shakespeare and other wealthy people who were committed to the theater made it possible to rebuild the Globe Theater nearly one year after that. The second time it was destroyed by the Puritans to make room for tenements in 1642. It was built back up again for the second time and it still stands today.
Shakespeare not only built a theater and wrote a ton of literary work, but he also created over 2,000 words and phrases that we still use to this day. He changed nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, connected words that were never used together before, added prefixes and suffixes, and came up with words out of the blue all by himself. In my opinion, the English language owes a huge debt to Shakespeare.
Shakespeare will forever remain relevant to the World for a lot of reasons. The first reason is that we quote Shakespeare on a daily basis and don’t even know it- that’s how major of an impact he’s had on the world. Secondly, all of his work is still relatable to today’s life. Works such as Romeo and Juliet, Winter’s Tale, and Midnight Summers Dream are all relatable. Lastly, he’s simply a legend. His plays are timeless and talk about all types of themes such as love, friendship, vengeance, and more. His characters might as well be real, his plays are full of quotable quotes, and he gave voice to the voiceless in society.
Without Shakespeare, where would we be in life today? His influence is so widespread. He transformed theater by rising expectations of what can be accomplished. He’s impacted other writers such as novelists Charles Dickens and Maya Angelou. He will continue to do so for the newer authors, teachers, directors, and creators of today. Shakespeare is still one of the most quoted writers in the entire world. Ten percent of all quotes quoted are his.
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