Building Background

Knowledge-Shakespeare
By: Linda Huang
 Synopsis

William Shakespeare is a play writer,

writing Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet,
Macbeth, and more. Shakespeare has
quite an unknown backstory that is
mysterious and historians are still
trying to figure out more of his past.

2
 Mysterious Origins
William Shakespeare’s real birthday is
unknown, but it is expected to be April
26, 1564. There is no birth record for
William Shakespeare.

3
 Early Life
Shakespeare was born in
Stratford-Upon-Avon. His parents were
John and Mary Shakespeare. William
Shakespeare had six siblings. His life
was revolved around two places, London
and Stratford.

4
 Married Life
William Shakespeare was married to
Anne Hathaway from 1582 to 1616.
Hathaway was twenty-six when she
married Shakespeare and sixty when
Shakespeare died. William Shakespeare
was eighteen when he married Hathaway
and fifty-two when he died. Hathaway
and Shakespeare had three kids
together.

5
 Theatrical Beginnings
When Shakespeare was twelve years old, there
was a theatre built just outside London.
William was a managing partner in the Lord
Chamberlain's Men, an acting company that
helped connect most of his career.

6
 Establishing Himself

By 1599, William Shakespeare and his

businesses partners built the Globe
Theater. In 1605, Shakespeare
purchased leases, which doubled his
values. This made him an entrepreneur
and an artist, and scholars believed
the investments gave him time to
write his plays uninterrupted.

7
 Writing Style

William Shakespeare’s earlier plays were

written in the conventional style during the
day with metaphors and rhetorical phrases.
Although Shakespeare was very innovative
adapting traditional style and creating words
to let them flow. Shakespeare mainly used a
metrical pattern consisting of lines unrhymed
iambic pentameter, he also used forms of
poetry and simple pose.

8
 Early Work: Histories and Comedies

Shakespeare’s first plays were

mostly histories. The destructive
results of the rulers were
interpreted into dramas by William
of justifying the origins of Tudor
dynasty. Shakespeare also wrote
many comedies during his life.

9
 Later Works: Tragedies and Tragicomedies

During Shakespeare’s later period, after 1600

he started tragedies, such as Hamlet and
Macbeth. The characters Shakespeare presented
vividly impersonates humans temperament. In
Shakespeare’s final period, he started
writing tragicomedies.

10
 Death

William Shakespeare died on April

23, 1616. The exact cause of his
death is unknown, but it believed
he died of a brief sickness or on
his 52nd Lorem
birthday.
ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing
elit. Duis sit amet odio vel purus bibendum luctus.

11
 Controversy
About 150 years after his death, questions
arose if Shakespeare really wrote his
plays. Many scholars started digging deeper
into his death to find out more. Official
records from the Holy Trinity Church and
the Stratford government record the
existence of William Shakespeare, but none
assested to him being an actor or
playwright.

12
 Literary Legacy

Shakespeare wrote many plays that got recognized

in the 19th century. New movements in
scholarship and performance rediscovere and
adapted his works. His plays are reinterpreted
performances and Shakespeare's characters and
plots represent real human beings that other
people find interesting and what to study more
about it.

13
 Bibliography
Bulfinch, Thomas. “Pyramis and Thisbe.”About.com. About.com, 2015. Web. 25 February, 2013.
Folger Shakespeare Library. Folger Shakespeare Library, 2015. Web. (Insert your date of
access).
“Myths.” LessonSnips. LessonSnips, 2009. Web. 20 February, 2013.
“Romeo and Juliet Summary.” Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, 2014 Web. (Insert your date of
access).
“Shakespeare’s Stage.” Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, 2014 Web. (Insert your date of access).
Standard Deviant School Shakespeare Tragedies: Module 1: Intro to Shakespeare. Discovery
Education. Cerebellum, 2001. Web. (Insert date of access).
Standard Deviant School Shakespeare Tragedies: Module 2: What is Tragedy? Discovery
Education.
Cerebellum, 2001. Web. (Insert date of access).
“The History of Romeo and Juliet.” Greek and Roman Myths. Cranbury, CT: Learning Links, Inc.,
2005.
Print.
“William Shakespeare.” Biography.com. A & E Networks, LLC, 2015. Web. (Insert your date of
access).

14