Romeo And Juliet 11 - :: essays research papers

Why Romeo and Juliet was so prevalent in Shakespe be&8217s time and why eventoday it is still so popular?William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, England to Mary Arden and John Shakespeare. He was the third of eight children. He went to a local grammar school, where his studies included Latin and Greek (Debnam). At the age of eighteen he married Anne Hathaway who was eight years older than he. Their marriage was hurried because Anne was already pregnant (The Tragedies, 16). Shakespeare was the father of tercet children, both daughters and one son, Hamnet. At this time, Shakespeare was twenty-one, and the way he supported his family is unknown. In August of 1596, Hamnet died at the age of eleven (Shakespeare&8217s History). Stories say that Shakespeare began his career by holding horses outside the theaters. More reliable information indicates that he acted in plays, many of his own. From acting Shakespeare progressed to writing pla ys both for the theater and for court performances (The Tragedies, 17). Shakespeare didn&8217t attend college, so in order to broaden his education, he studied the ways of a gentleman and read widely. He looked to Cambridge-educated playwright Christopher Marlowe, as a mentor. Marlowe was the same age as Shakespeare, but who preceded him in skillfully combining drama with poetry. In many plays throughout his career, Shakespeare paid tribute to Marlowe, though at last he eclipsed Marlowe as a dramatist (The Tragedies, 17). Shakespeare is the greatest playwright the world has ever known. The thirty-seven plays he wrote more than 400 years ago are the most popular on Earth. They are performed more often than those of any other playwright. He also wrote sonnets, a kind of poem. Writing sonnets was thought to be much more important than writing plays in Shakespeare&8217s day (Debnam).By the time Shakespeare turned thirty years old, he was an open actor and playwright in London. A t the age of thirty-three, he had not only written the early poems and the early plays, but in the last three or four years half-a-dozen masterpieces "A Midsummer Night&8217s Dream," "Romeo and Juliet," Richard II.," "King John," "The Merchant of Venice," "The Two Parts of Henry IV" (Shakespeare The Man, 382). When he was thirty-five, Shakespeare was a member of the syndicate responsible for building the first Globe theater, in Southwark, in 1599 (General Into). From then on, Shakespeare was completely involved in the theater He wrote for the company, acted in the plays, shared in the profits, and eventually became one of the owners of the Globe theater (The Tragedies, 19).