William Shakespeare Research Paper

Improved Essays
William Shakespeare was born April 1564 and his life did not seem like it would be destined for success in any way. He came from a poor family and he himself only had a grammar school education. He began his stardom Per (Shakespeare in America stated) “In a 1592 pamphlet by Robert Greene, Shakespeare reappears as an “upstart crow” flapping his poetic wings in London. Evidently, it did not take him long to land on the stage. Between 1590 and 1592, Shakespeare's Henry VI series, Richard III, and that’s when comedy was performed. Playwriters wrote two poems when the theater closed in 1593 due to the plague. Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, and his richly textured sonnets. One hundred and fifty four of his sonnets are still used today, ensuring his reputation as a …show more content…
But the question today is did Shakespeare really write his famous quotes and some even question his existence as well as his picture. They say his image has the look of the joker in a deck of cards. Some ask how did a person with only a grammar school education quote some of the most beautiful and famous quotes that are still used today.. His so called work was used in plays like Hamlet, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet. His life as a writer was not documented so none of his work as a writer can be traced to him for example he left documents of real estate purchases, his grain dealings his money lending, even his acting profession but nothing as a writer. Some even questions his signature they do not believe that it is the signature of a writer and has no consistency to it. To name a few of Will Shakespeare doubters. Mark Twain, the most famous doubter “Is Shakespeare Dead?” wrote: “So far as anybody actually knows and can prove, Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avonare believed to have never wrote a

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Renaissance Man Dbq

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A renaissance man is defined as “a person with many talents or areas of knowledge.” (Defining the “Renaissance Man”) There have been many throughout history. One of the most famous people in literature, Shakespeare, could be considered an ideal renaissance man. As I learned more about Shakespeare, I wondered how others portrayed him.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    William Shakespeare has come to be known as the world’s greatest playwright, but numerous theories have been proffered that Shakespeare did not in fact write his own plays. Many famous writers including Mark Twain have doubted that given his lack of formal education Shakespeare would have been capable of writing the works he is credited with authoring. Because of the lack of definitive proof, it is very easy to speculate that Shakespeare did not write his own plays. Shakespeare grew up in Stratford upon Avon with a loving mother and father. Shakespeare’s family was not the wealthiest and he was considered a commoner.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Considering the fact that William Shakespeare lived more than five hundred centuries ago, during the Elizabethan Era, the fact that much of Shakespeare's life is left undocumented is not alarming. The absence of "proof" of authorship, certainly, is not proof that Shakespeare did not write the 37 composed plays and 154 sonnets, but rather that journals, or diaries have yet to be found. In fact, this reality further justifies Shakespeare's authorship, being that Shakespeare unlike Edward de Vere was a common man and “few letters or diaries of commoners from the Elizabethan era has…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Shakespeare wrote plays of comedies, history and tragedy. Some of his famous work include but are not limited to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Henry IV”, “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet”. As stated in his biography, “The strength of Shakespeare's plays lies in the absorbing stories they tell, in their wealth of complex characters, and in the eloquent speech—vivid, forceful, and at the same time lyric—that the playwright puts on his characters' lips”(William Shakespeare), we can infer that his skills to work with complex characters were shown with soliloquies that portrayed mental words of characters to the audience. Shakespeare contributed new words and vocabulary in English language throughout his publishing time. Shakespeare died at the age of fifty-two but his works established himself to be the most influential writer in English…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On the contrary, even though people doubt Shakespeare’s authorship, he still continues to have supporters, but according to BBC News, “Although scholars desperately searched for documentation to flesh out Shakespeare’s biography in the decades after his death, they found very little, and, to make matters more confusing, much of what they found was…

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Another evidence that gives a little doubt about Shakespeare is the way that his name was spelled on some of his plays. They were spelled different than others, in the article “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt About the Identity of William Shakespeare” it shows the different ways they used his name on the plays “Mr. Shakspere's last name was spelled numerous ways, even after many of the works had been published. The name on the works was virtually always spelled one way, “Shakespeare;” but it was often hyphenated — a rarity for English names at the time. Scholars have no definitive explanation for the hyphenated name (Declaration of Reasonable Doubt About the Identity of William Shakespeare). If it was really Shakespeare why would he write his…

    • 248 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth Research Paper

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages

    William Shakespeare was truly the best of the best authors in the history of man. He wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets in the 16th century, which are still extremely popular in modern times. His brilliant genius and talent often intertwine morality with wit and humor in his plays. Often students study his works to improve their literary skills and gain an understanding of morality outside of the Bible in an entertaining way. One of his most notable plays, The Tragedy of Macbeth, is about a king who murders to gain power and satisfy his lust until he loses everything: his throne, wife, and conscience.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Who wrote Shakespeare? Introduction The Shakespeare authorship question refers to a controversial argument in the realms of arts and literature that someone else other than William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon composed the numerous works accredited to him as shown in most books of history. Anti-Stratfordian theorists allege that the original author of the works used Shakespeare as a pen name thereby shielding his or her identity (Shapiro 56).…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nevertheless, Shakespeare continued to write poetry while he was in London. In the early 1590s, Shakespeare’s two major poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece were printed (“Shakespeare”). During these years, Shakespeare became a self-educated playwright and he began to make a name for himself. Other famous poets such as Marlowe, Robert Greene, Thomas Kyd, George Peele, and John Lyly all passed away during this time. This gave Shakespeare the perfect opportunity to take over the stage.…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To really find out if William Shakespeare did write his plays, you have to look at his life and the records that are available to try and prove if he wrote the plays. People believe that William Shakespeare wrote his plays because…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Apparently, he was also well-known as a playwright, for reference is made of him by his contemporary, Robert Greene, in A Groatsworth of Wit, as “an upstart crow.” As Shakespeare played a vital role, financially and otherwise, in the construction of the Globe theatre, which was finally occupied some time before May 16, 1599, Shakespeare not only acted with the Globe’s company of actors; he was also a shareholder and eventually became the troupe’s most important playwright. The company included London’s most famous actors, who inspired the creation of some of Shakespeare’s best-known characters, such as Hamlet and Lear, as well as his clowns and fools. In his early years, he also composed some mythological-erotic poetry, such as Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, both of which were dedicated to the earl of Southampton. Shakespeare was successful enough that in 1597 he was able to purchase his own home in Stratford, which he called New…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Universal ideas, the thoughts and philosophies conveyed by the world, the little guys that allow the world to live in peace and prosperity. Shakespeare conveys them all; Shakespeare’s works remain to be popular in the 21st century due to their role in shaping and addressing matters yet significant today. One of the major issues in today’s world are financial issues and discrimination, clearly evident in William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice which talks about the financial problems of a character named Antonio and discrimination of Jewish characters such as Shylock by Christian characters such as Antonio and Lancelot shown throughout the play. Firstly, financial troubles are inevitably one of the main issues that cause many individuals…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “If we are true to ourselves, we cannot be false to anyone.” (Hamlet)This quote from Hamlet was written back in 1599, by the one and only William Shakespeare, and is still being used today and many centuries later. Shakespeare never seemed to fail his audience when it came to writing plays like Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. This is why many of his works are famous till this day.…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    His stories have greatly influenced modern literature and many of his phrases are heard often in our daily conversations. William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564. He died on April 23, 1616. But in that short time he made a career that would live…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Could there have been one drama or sonnet he took from someone else? Many scholars question his work and believe he didn’t write everything he is famous for. However, as we look into this case I would make you believe that Shakespeare did write everything…

    • 1835 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays