Shakespeare : portrait, main works, legacy

4 Feb 2025 Our tips 2 views

Shakespeare, an immense poet and playwright who is part of the English Renaissance, is a very famous writer who is the author of thirty plays and poems which established him as the master of tragedy and comedy. Through his considerable work, he became one of the most famous artists of his time. We will now study his biography to understand his life, his career, his writings and finally all the legacy that exists around this character.

William Shakespeare: Who was he?

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Today, although we do not know the exact date of the writer's birth, we do know that he was born in April of the year 1564. Some people, however, do not hesitate to say that he was born on the 23rd, St. George's Day.

Shakespeare was born and raised in a large house alongside his father who came from a family of sharecroppers, his mother who was a daughter of the Arden family and his brothers and sisters who were five in number. This is how William began studies based on a classical education which introduced him to many Latin authors who would later inspire him.

It was in this setting that Shakespeare grew up and ended up marrying Anne Hathaway, with whom he would have a first child, then twins. But in Stratford, life was a little cramped: in fact, the Shakespeare family still lived with the writer's parents, which began to cause some problems that would lead to a move to the city of London for William. After leaving his wife and children behind, he decided to try to enter the theater scene.

It is in this context that Shakespeare begins his work and begins writing plays, or even poems. Although his career is interrupted several times in the context of a plague epidemic that decimates the city of London, he ends up joining the Lord Chamberlain's troupe in 1594, who gives him the mission of writing new plays. With real success, Shakespeare becomes more and more loved by the London public who takes him to play in front of Queen Elizabeth, then later James I.

It was after long journeys between Stratford and London that the poet found himself ill, the fever ending up killing him in April 1616.

Othello - Shakespeare (1604); Long Day's Journey into Night - Eugene O'Neill (1956) - The use of dramatic techniques

Main works and career of the author

Shakespeare begins in the Elizabethan context, which highlights a theatre that is usually written by several hands. It is in this spirit that Shakespeare begins his first writings and in particular his first plays such as Richard III or the three parts of Henry VI. But as said in the previous part, the plague arrives and ravages the city of London, which puts a pause to Shakespeare's career in the theaters. But it is not over for the author who continues to write not only plays but now poems. His first, entitled Venus and Adonis, was born and published in 1593. The Rape of Lucretia, but also a series of sonnets followed the writing of his first poem. Shakespeare then created 154 sonnets that tell of his youth and some stories of love between men and women.

Finally, the writing of plays resumed after joining the Lord Chamberlain's troupe and Shakespeare's most beautiful and famous stories were born: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream; but the historical plays too as Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V. These writings were a real success and propelled him to the rank of great playwright, who excelled as much in tragedies as in comedies. Here, Shakespeare offered a new genre and broke with the codes of English literature of his time and the classical rules of theater. Even if he was sometimes criticized, he ended up being very appreciated.

In the early years of the 17th century, Shakespeare's writing began to change: much darker, his tragic writings were brought to the fore through the works of Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. There is gradually a real change in the writer's writing style: if before, Shakespeare played in front of an audience that was part of the people, he now plays in front of the royal court, which makes his style become more and more sophisticated and intended for a more educated audience. In this context, Pericles and the Winter Count is written, but also The Tempest, a true masterpiece that is today considered as Shakespeare's symbolic farewell to his audience.

Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare (1597) ; Snow falling on Cedars - David Guterson (1995) ; Photo by Annie Leibovitz - Forbidden Love

An important legacy

To give some context, Shakespeare's plays were written to be performed, not read. Furthermore, his manuscripts were originally the property of the theater company, not Shakespeare's. It is in this context that only a few plays were published during the writer's lifetime, but with sometimes false or incorrect versions. Indeed, the published versions were written down by members of the public who wrote the lines of the play directly on a sheet of paper, which explains the numerous errors in the In-quartos editions. It was only after his death that folio editions were published, with far fewer errors and rigorous writing.

It’s following the publication of these versions that we know today the work of Shakespeare who left us a very great legacy that is manifested in various areas of our current society. Literature, theater, but the English language too and popular culture are inspired by this character. The most important aspect is indeed that of the English language.Shakespeare has considerably influenced and enriched the English vocabulary by proposing new words and expressions that are still used today. In the theatrical context, of course, Shakespeare's work is one of the essentials and his plays continue to be performed all over the world today. Cinema does not hesitate to offer many beautiful adaptations of plays such as the film of Romeo and Juliet with the actor Di Caprio. This influence does not stop there and also extends to literature which does not hesitate to borrow the writer's style and to draw inspiration from his work. Since time immemorial, many artists have not hesitated to take Shakespeare's work as an example. We can cite great authors such as Charles Dickens or T.S. Eliot, and even Delacroix in the field of painting.

Finally, we can measure the impact of the legacy of Shakespeare's work in the field of education. Indeed, schools and universities do not hesitate to take these works as examples to understand the issues of English literature and the literary techniques used.

Through the themes he uses throughout his work, as love, jealousy, power and death, Shakespeare still stands out today through a precious legacy that is highly appreciated throughout the world.