William Shakespeare and all of his works greatly contributed to contemporary
theater in many ways. His understanding of other people allowed him to fully
grasp the quality he wrote of. The works of Shakespeare contain a strong and
constant truth, touching emotional and supernatural aspects of life. These
realities make Shakespeare’s works vital, even on toady’s learning
institutions and theatrical realms, accounting for his enormous success.
Shakespeare was born in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon in
Warwickshire on April 23rd, 1564. Though his family fell into hard times
financially, young William’s education was not neglected. He attended local
schools in Stratford. Shakespeare viewed annual plays and travelling artists at
a young age. It is possible that these plays and performances ignited a spark
that continued to burn. During the winter of 1582, at the age of 18, he married
Anne Hathaway who was 26 and already six months pregnant by him. Two years later
Anne gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. With a wife and three children to
maintain, things were getting a bit difficult. Shakespeare moved to London in
1585, where he was very successful. In London Shakespeare worked as an actor and
a writer and even owned his own playhouse. He was a very respected man there. He
was the first playwright to have his formal biography written and published with
his works. Between 1592 and 1594, all theaters were closed due to an outbreak of
the plague. During this time Shakespeare turned to poetry, writing sonnets and
long narrative poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. When
the theaters reopened in 1594, Shakespeare joined the newly formed Lord
Chamberlains Men, under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth. Being an important
part of the troupe, he eventually became an honored senior member. Writing plays
soon became a demanding business. Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays, which
were separated into three basic categories, comedy, tragedy, and history.
Shakespeare retired t Stratford and became one of its leading citizens. In April
of 1616, William Shakespeare at fifty-two years of age was laid to rest. Without
William Shakespeare and his many great works, contemporary theater would not be
anything like it is today. His verse, especially the power of his metaphors and
his characters, so well rounded and carefully detailed that they often seem like
living people. He was also a master of plot construction, notably episodic plot
structure, which stands alongside climatic structure as one of the two main
forms that have been predominant throughout the history of western theater. With
Shakespear's vast influence on many different cultures, he tried and tested
variations of grammar and word usage. He experimented so the stuffy English
language would not be so common and boring. Shakespeare was to be a writer for
all time, to be highly acclaimed. He deserves applause by all playwrights, past
and present. His works are timeless and vary according to the interest of the
reader, making him universal. In Shakespear's own day and time, no one ever
imagined what a huge success his works would become. No writer since William
Shakespeare has ever been as well known. No other writer has evoked so many
emendations, speculations, and commentaries than Shakespeare. William
Shakespeare was indeed an Elizabethan who took advantage of his time and
talents, in turn changing today’s time and talents of contemporary theater.