William Shakespeare‏ celebrated by Meetika Srivastava

~The Immortal doyen of English Literature~

William Shakespeare -The “BARD OF AVON”

Shakespeare is renowned as the English playwright and poet whose body of works is considered the greatest in history of English literature.

Surprisingly for the world’s greatest playwright, we actually know very little about Shakespeare’s life. What few details we have come from church records, land titles and the written opinions of others. Very little is known about young Shakespeare.

We know that Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564 and it is assumed that he was born on April 23, 1564. We also know that in 1582 at age eighteen, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, an older women who was twenty six at the time. Shakespeare left Stratford for London to make his fortune roughly fours years later.

Shakespeare headed to London sometime in 1586, there already was an established community of playwrights.By 1595, Shakespeare was suffiently successful to be named as one of the more senior members of the Lord Chamberlain’s men, an acting company that performed frequently before court. This was no small honor; this prominent theatre company later became the royal company called the King’s Men, making Shakespeare an official playwright to the King of England.

By 1596, Shakespeare was so successful as a playwright that his family was finally granted a Coat of Arms which amongst other things allowed Shakespeare to call himself a “gentleman”. Shakespeare’s fortunes were also improving during this time; in 1597 he purchased the second largest house in Stratford which he called New Place and began buying up land around Stratford. One year later, Shakespeare became a ten percent owner of the new purpose built theatre in London, the famous Globe Theatre were so many of his plays would later be performed. By 1611, Shakespeare retired, returning to Stratford and in 1616 Shakespeare died, famously bequeathing his second-best bed to his wife, often seen as a sign that his marriage may not have been happy.

Shakespeare’s works are often divided into four periods beginning with what is referred to as an experimental period starting around 1591 and ending around 1593 which includes Titus Andronicus, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors and The Taming of the Shrew.

The second period ending around 1601, marks the establishment of Shakespeare and includes the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the comedies, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer-Night’s Dream, Much Ado about Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor and the history plays, Henry IV, Parts I and II, Henry V, Richard II, King John and Julius Caesar.

The third period ending around 1610 marks perhaps the apex of Shakespeare’s work with the tragedies, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear but also comedies such as Twelfth Night, All’s Well that Ends Well and the epic history play, Antony and Cleopatra.

The final period ends around 1611 with the plays, Cymbeline, Henry VIII and romances such as The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare’s genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called “bardolatry”. In the 20th century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

His works and his sayings

Shakespeare’s longest play Hamlet is responsible for the immortal lines “To be or not to be: that is the question:” and the advise “to thine own self be true,”

Through Julius Caesar he told the world “It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.” and “Cowards die many times before their actual deaths.”

‘All’s Well That Ends Well‘ tells the story of love between different classes. Ah! Who can forget?

“Love all, trust a few,
Do wrong to none: be able for thine enemy
Rather in power than use; and keep thy friend
Under thy own life’s key: be check’d for silence,
But never tax’d for speech.”
In the play As you like it which was full of elements and thoughts on human experience, love, death, exile, illusion versus reality, and much more, a beautiful description of Life is given through these thought provoking lines:
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard;
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
All that glitters is not gold. True, that being said in Merchant of Venice
“All that glitters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life has sold
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms enfold
Had you been as wise as bold,
Your in limbs, in judgment old,
Your answer had not been in’scroll’d
Fare you well: your suit is cold.’ Cold, indeed, and labour lost: Then, farewell, heat and welcome, frost!”

It is almost impossible to summarize or compile the enormous wisdom that lies in his plays, poems, sonnets and essays, so here’s an Ode to Shakespeare

Homo sapiens have a propensity to do “Much ado about nothing” inspite of knowing that life is nothing but a “Comedy of errors”. Why not take it as it comes cause it cannot always be a sweet “Midsummer night’s dream”!

‘Tis true life is and will always be about perspectives. Some view it as “Julius Caeser” tragedy or “Macbeth / Othello” saga of pathos and revenge or “Hamlet’s” famous and immortal question “to be or not to be” and advise “to thine ownself be true” but there are others who see agonies of youthful love in “Romeo and Juliet” tragedy.

In fact life is….

“As you like it”! ! ! !

—Meetika Srivastava—

References:

http://absoluteshakespeare.com/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/meetika-srivastava/ode-to-shakespeare-2/
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=shakespeare