All About William Shakespeare
Lesson Plan for High School Students
Shakespeare 1564-1616
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Around 1591 he moved to London and became an actor. He joined the Lord Chamberlain company of players, later "the Kings Men". When the company built the Globe Theatre in 1597, he became a partner, living at the house in Silver Street until c. 1606, then moving near the Globe. He returned to Stratford c.1610, living as a country gentleman at his house, New Place. Shakespeare is generally acknowledged to be one of the most extraordinary writers in history. His 37 plays and 154 sonnets explore the complexity of the human soul with unparalleled insight. No other plays have been produced so many times in so many countries. His creative power is one of the great feature of his genius, and to many people Hamlet, or King Lear seem far more real than historical characters like Caesar. Authorship is still a controversial subject for certain plays, and the modern era of Shakespeare scholarship has been marked by an enormous amount of investigation into the authorship, text, and chronology of the plays, including studies of the age in which he lived, and of the Elizabethan stage.
The Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was built in 1597, where Shakespeare became a partner
Holy Trinity Church
Shakespeare's burial site
New Place
Shakespeare's last house
More about Shakespeare
In 1582 Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway (1556-1623); they had three children: Susana (1583-16490), Hamnet (1585-1596) and Judith (1585-1662). He died on April 23, 1616 and was buried in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church April 25. On the slab over his grave appear the words:GOOD FREND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE,TO DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE.BLESTE BE Ye MAN Yt SPARES THES STONES,AND CURST BE HE Yt MOVES MY BONES.
Sonnet no 18: By William Shakespeare ('Summer's day')
List of Shakespeare's most famous plays
Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, Macbeth, Richard III, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night or What You Will, The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, The Moor of Venice