William Shakespeare

هذه المقالة هي عن الشاعر والكاتب المسرحي. لأشخاص آخرين من نفس الاسم ، انظر وليام شكسبير لاستخدامات أخرى من "شكسبير" ، انظر شكسبير (توضيح).
وليام شكسبير (تعميدهم 26 أبريل 1564 -- توفي 23 أبريل 1616) [أ] كان الشاعر الانكليزي والكاتب المسرحي ، الذي يعتبر من أعظم كاتب في اللغة الإنكليزية ، وكاتب مسرحي في العالم البارز. [1] وغالبا ما تسمى انجلترا شاعر الوطنية و و"بارد لافون". [2] [ب] كان يعمل على قيد الحياة ، بما في ذلك بعض أوجه التعاون ، وتتألف من 38 مسرحية ، [ج] 154 سوناتة ، واثنين من قصائد سردية طويلة ، والعديد من القصائد الأخرى. مسرحياته قد ترجمت إلى جميع اللغات الحية الرئيسية ويتم تنفيذها في أكثر الأحيان من أي تلك المسرحي الأخرى [3].

شكسبير ولدت وترعرعت في ستراتفورد أبون أفون. في سن 18 عاما ، تزوج من آن هاثاواي ، والتي أنجبت له ثلاثة أطفال : سوزانا ، وتوأمين هامينت وجوديث. بين 1585 و 1592 ، وبدأ حياة مهنية ناجحة في لندن كعنصر فاعل ، والكاتب ، وجزء صاحب شركة اللعب دعا اللورد تشامبرلين في الرجال ، عرفت فيما بعد باسم رجال الملك. يبدو أنه قد تقاعد في ستراتفورد حوالي 1613 ، حيث توفي بعد ذلك بثلاث سنوات. سجل عدد قليل من شكسبير الحياة الخاصة البقاء على قيد الحياة ، وكانت هناك تكهنات كبيرة حول مسائل مثل مظهره الجسدي والجنسي ، والمعتقدات الدينية ، وعما إذا كانت الأعمال المنسوبة إليه كانت مكتوبة من قبل الآخرين. [4]

شكسبير أنتجت معظم حياته معروفة عمل بين 1589 و 1613. [5] [د] مسرحياته المبكرة كانت أساسا كوميدية وتاريخها ، والأنواع التي أثارها إلى ذروة التطور والفنية بحلول نهاية القرن السادس عشر. ثم انه كتب أساسا حول المآسي حتى 1608 ، بما في ذلك هاملت ، الملك لير ، وماكبث ، اعتبر بعض أجمل الأعمال في اللغة الإنجليزية. له في المرحلة الأخيرة ، وانه كتب الكوميديا التراجيدية ، المعروف أيضا باسم الرومانسيات ، وتعاونت مع غيرها من الكتاب المسرحيين.

كثير من مسرحياته ونشرت في طبعات مختلفة من الجودة والدقة خلال حياته. في 1623 ، واثنان من زملائه السابقين مسرحية نشرت فيرست فوليو ، طبعة جمعها من أعماله الدرامية التي شملت كافة ولكن اثنين من يلعب الآن معترف بها شكسبير.

شكسبير كان الشاعر والكاتب المسرحي محترمة في بلده في اليوم ، ولكن سمعته لم ترتفع إلى مستويات عالية الحالي حتى القرن التاسع عشر. والرومانسيون ، وبخاصة عبقرية شكسبير الشهيرة ، ويعبد الفيكتوريون شكسبير مع تقديس أن جورج برنارد شو ودعا "bardolatry" [6] وفي القرن العشرين ، كان عمله بشكل متكرر واعتمد اكتشافها من قبل الحركات الجديدة في المنح الدراسية والأداء. مسرحياته لا تزال تتمتع بشعبية كبيرة واليوم وبشكل مستمر دراستها ، أنجزت في وقت مبكر الحياة

وليم شكسبير هو ابن جون شكسبير ، وغلوفر ناجحة وعضو مجلس محلي في الأصل من Snitterfield ، وماري اردن ، وابنة احد المزارعين من ملاك الأراضي الأغنياء. [7] ولد في ستراتفورد أبون أفون وعمد يوم 26 أبريل 1564. تاريخ ميلاده الحقيقي غير معروف ، ولكن يحتفل به عادة في 23 نيسان / أبريل ، عيد القديس جورج. [8] هذا التاريخ ، والتي يمكن أن ترجع إلى القرن الثامن عشر للباحث خطأ ، وقد ثبت جذابا لشكسبير توفي في 23 نيسان 1616. [9 ] وكان الطفل الثالث من بين ثمانية وابنه البكر على قيد الحياة. [10]

على الرغم من عدم وجود سجلات الحضور للفترة البقاء على قيد الحياة ، فإن معظم كتاب السير الذاتية نتفق على أن شكسبير كان تعليمه في مدرسة الملك الجديد في ستراتفورد ، [11] مدرسة الخطوط المستأجرة في 1553 ، [12] نحو ربع ميل من منزله. المدارس نحوي تختلف من حيث مستواها خلال حقبة الإليزابيثي ، ولكن المنهج أملته القانون في جميع أنحاء إنجلترا ، من شأنه أن [13]) ، والمدرسة وفرت للتعليم مكثفة في قواعد اللغة اللاتينية والكلاسيكية.

جون شكسبير في المنزل ، ويعتقد أن مسقط رأس شكسبير في ستراتفورد أبون أفون.

في سن 18 عاما ، تزوج شكسبير (26 عاما) آن هاثاواي. محكمة مجلس كنيسي راعي ابرشية رسستر أصدرت رخصة زواج في 27 تشرين الثاني 1582. اثنان من جيران هاثاواي نشر السندات في اليوم التالي كما الكفالة أنه لا توجد عوائق أمام الزواج. [14] وكان الزوجان قد رتبت لاحتفال في بعض التسرع ، منذ سمح المستشار رسستر عن اعتزام الزواج الزواج يجب أن تقرأ مرة واحدة بدلا من المعتاد ثلاث مرات. [15] آن الحمل قد يكون السبب وراء ذلك. بعد ستة أشهر من الزواج ، وأنجبت ابنة ، سوزانا ، الذي عمد في 26 مايو 1583. [16] توأما ، هامينت ابنه وابنته جوديث ، تليها بعد مضي سنتين تقريبا وكانت تعميدهم 2 شباط / فبراير 1585. [17] هامينت توفي لاسباب غير معروفة في سن 11 عاما ودفن في 11 آب 1596. [18]

بعد ولادة التوائم ، هناك عدد قليل من آثار تاريخية من شكسبير وحتى انه ذكر كجزء من المشهد المسرحي في لندن في عام 1592. وبسبب هذه الفجوة ، والعلماء تشير إلى أن السنوات بين 1585 و 1592 كما شكسبير "السنوات الضائعة". [19] المؤرخين يحاولون الاعتبار لهذه الفترة قد ذكرت العديد من القصص ملفق. نيكولاس رو ، وشكسبير كاتب سيرته الأولى ، وروى أسطورة ستراتفورد أن شكسبير فروا من مدينة لندن هربا من الملاحقة القضائية لصيد الغزلان. [20] آخر القرن الثامن عشر قصة شكسبير قد بدأت مسيرته المسرحية التدبير الخيول رواد المسرح في لندن. [21 ] جون أوبري أن شكسبير كان المدرس البلاد. [22] بعض علماء القرن العشرين قد اقترح أن شكسبير قد استخدمت على النحو سكهوولمستر الكسندر Hoghton من لانكشاير ، أحد ملاك الأراضي الكاثوليك الذين يدعى معين "ويليام Shakeshafte" في تقريره وسوف [23] لا توجد أدلة تجسيد لمثل هذه القصص الأخرى من الأقوال التي جمعت بعد وفاته. [24]
لندن ، والمسرحية الوظيفي
وقال "كل العالم الى مرحلة ،

وجميع الرجال والنساء لمجرد لاعبين :

لديهم مخارج ومداخل ؛

ورجل واحد في وقته يلعب أجزاء كثيرة... "
كما تحبها ، والقانون الثاني ، المشهد 7 ، 139-42. [25]


أنه لا يعرف بالضبط متى بدأت كتابة شكسبير ، ولكن التلميحات المعاصرة وسجلات الأداء تبين أن العديد من مسرحياته كانت على المسرح في لندن بحلول 1592. [26]) وكان معروفا جيدا بما فيه الكفاية في لندن في ذلك الحين أن تتعرض للهجوم من قبل في الطباعة الكاتب المسرحي روبرت غرين :

... هناك كرو مغرور أو جمل مع شركائنا في الريش ، وذلك مع نمور التاميل قلب ملفوفة في لاعب والاختباء ، ويفترض انه كذلك قادرة على طنانة فارغة من الآية باعتباره من أفضل لك : ويجري مطلقة يوهانس factotum ، هو في رسالته الخاصة الغرور واهتز المسرح الوحيد في البلاد. [27]

العلماء يختلفون حول المعنى الدقيق لهذه الكلمات ، [28] ولكن الغالبية توافق على أن غرين يتهم شكسبير التوصل أعلاه رتبته في محاولة لمطابقة من خريجي الجامعات والكتاب ، مثل كريستوفر مارلو ، وNashe توماس غرين نفسه. [29] جملة italicised السخرية السطر "أوه ، نمر ملفوفة في قلب المرأة إخفاء" من شكسبير هنري السادس ، الجزء 3 ، جنبا إلى جنب مع التورية "اهتز المشهد" ، ويحدد شكسبير كما غرين الهدف. [30]

غرين الهجوم هو أول ذكر مسجل شكسبير الوظيفي في المسرح. تشير إلى أن كاتب سيرة حياته ربما تكون قد بدأت في أي وقت من منتصف 1580s لمجرد تصريحات قبل غرين. [31] من 1594 ، مسرحيات شكسبير كان يؤديها سوى اللورد تشامبرلين في الرجال ، وهي شركة مملوكة من قبل مجموعة من اللاعبين ، بمن فيهم شكسبير ، التي سرعان ما أصبحت الشركة الرائدة في اللعب في لندن. [32] وبعد وفاة الملكة اليزابيث الثانية في 1603 ، وكانت الشركة حصلت على امتياز ملكي من قبل الملك الجديد ، جيمس الأول ، وغيرت اسمها إلى رجال الملك. [33]

في عام 1599 ، وهي شراكة من أعضاء الشركة بنيت بهم المسرح على الضفة الجنوبية لنهر التيمز ، والذي وصفوه غلوب. في عام 1608 ، والشراكة أيضا تولى بلكفريرس المسرح في الأماكن المغلقة. سجلات شكسبير شراء العقارات والاستثمارات تشير إلى أن الشركة هي التي جعلت منه رجل ثري. [34] وفي 1597 ، اشترى هو ثاني أكبر منزل في ستراتفورد ، مكان جديد ، وعام 1605 ، واستثمر في حصة من الرعية في الاعشار سترادفورد. [35]

بعض مسرحيات شكسبير ، نشرت في طبعات الغرفة من 1594. بحلول 1598 ، أصبح اسمه نقطة بيع ، وبدأت تظهر على صفحات الكتاب. [36] شكسبير واصلت العمل في مسرحياته الخاصة وغيرها بعد نجاحه ككاتب مسرحي. طبعة 1616 من أسماء بن جونسون الذي يعمل معه في قوائم الناخبين لصالح كل رجل في روحه (1598) وSejanus ، صاحب فال (1603). [37] وغياب اسمه عن لائحة 1605 للادلاء يونسون لVolpone هو الذي اتخذته بعض العلماء بوصفه دليلا على أن حياته يتصرف تقترب من نهايتها. [38] وفيرست فوليو في 1623 ، ومع ذلك ، يسرد شكسبير واحدا من "الجهات الفاعلة الرئيسية في جميع هذه المسرحيات" ، والبعض منها لأول مرة بعد ان نظموا Volpone ، على الرغم من لا يمكننا أن نعرف ما لأدوار معينة لعب. [39] في 1610 ، وجون ديفيز من هيريفورد وكتبت ان "النوايا الحسنة" لعبت "ملكي" الأدوار. [40] وفي 1709 ، رو تناقلتها والتقاليد التي لعبت شكسبير شبح هاملت الأب. [41] في وقت لاحق الحفاظ على التقاليد انه لعب ايضا في آدم كما تحبها ، وجوقة في هنري الخامس ، [42] بالرغم من أن علماء شك في مصادر المعلومات. [43]

شكسبير تقسيم وقته بين لندن وستراتفورد خلال مسيرته. في 1596 ، في العام قبل الماضي انه اشترى مكان جديد حيث منزل عائلته في ستراتفورد ، وشكسبير كان يعيش في أبرشية سانت هيلين ، Bishopsgate ، إلى الشمال من نهر التايمز. [44] وانتقل عبر النهر إلى ساوثوورك بحلول 1599 ، و السنة شركته التي شيدت في مسرح غلوب هناك. [45] وبحلول 1604 ، كان قد انتقل إلى الشمال من نهر مرة أخرى ، إلى منطقة شمال كاتدرائية القديس بولس مع غرامة العديد من المنازل. كان هناك غرف مستأجرة من هاجينوت الفرنسية دعا كريستوفر موانت جوي ، وهو صانع السيدات 'الباروكات والقبعات الأخرى. [46]
سنوات في وقت لاحق وفاة

راو كان أول كاتب سيرة لنورثها للتقليد الذي اعتزل شكسبير في ستراتفورد منذ بضع سنوات قبل وفاته ؛ [47] ولكن التقاعد من كل عمل كان من غير المألوف في ذلك الوقت ، [48] ، وشكسبير واصلت لزيارة لندن. [47] وفي عام 1612 استدعي كشاهد في قضية تنظر فيها المحكمة بشأن تسوية الزواج من ابنة موانت جوي وماري. [49] وفي مارس 1613 قام بشراء الحراسة في بلكفريرس الدير السابق ؛ [50] من نوفمبر 1614 وكان في لندن لعدة أسابيع مع ابنه في القانون ، جون هول. [51]

شكسبير نصب جنائزية في ستراتفورد أبون أفون.

بعد 1606-1607 ، أقل مسرحيات شكسبير ، وليس فيها ما نسب اليه بعد 1613. [52] مسرحياته الثلاث الماضية كان التعاون ، وربما مع جون فليتشر ، [53] الذي نجح عنه الكاتب المسرحي المنزل لرجال الملك.] 54]

شكسبير توفي يوم 23 أبريل 1616 [55] وكان خلف وراءه زوجته وابنتين. سوزانا قد تزوج من طبيبة ، جون هول ، في عام 1607 ، [56]) ، وجوديث قد تزوج توماس Quiney ، والخمار ، أي قبل شهرين على وفاة شكسبير. [57]

في وصيته ، وشكسبير ترك الجزء الأكبر من عقاره كبيرة لابنته الكبرى سوزانا. [58] وحيث أوعز أنها تمر عليه سليما ل"الابن الاول من جسدها". [59] Quineys كان ثلاثة أطفال ، وجميع توفى منهم دون زواج. [60] والقاعات كان طفل واحد ، واليزابيث ، الذي تزوج مرتين ولكنه توفي دون أن الأطفال في العام 1670 ، وإنهاء شكسبير الخط المباشر. [61] شكسبير ونادرا ما تذكر زوجته آن ، الذي ربما كان يحق لاحد ثلث تركته تلقائيا. انه لم يجعل النقطة ، ولكن من ترك لها "بثاني أفضل سرير" ، وهي التركة التي أدت إلى الكثير من التكهنات. [62] انظر بعض العلماء في وصية ، واعتبروه اهانة لآن ، في حين يعتقد البعض الآخر أن ثاني أفضل سرير كان يمكن أن يكون فراش الزوجية ، وبالتالي غنية في الأهمية. [63]

شكسبير دفن في مذبح للكنيسة الثالوث الاقدس بعد يومين من وفاته. [64] واللوح الحجري الذي يغطي قبره هو منقوش عليها لعنة ضد تتحرك عظامه :

شكسبير الخطيرة.
فريند جيدة لIesvs forbeare أجل ،
ليسو في heare dvst encloased.
أيها الرجل المبارك أن تكون قطع الغيار واى تى تس الحجارة ،
وcvrst أن يتحرك تونكو عظامي.

في وقت ما قبل 1623 ، وقد أقاموا نصبا تذكاريا في ذاكرته في الجدار الشمالي ، مع نصف دمية تمثل له في فعل الكتابة. ويقارن له لوحة نيستور وسقراط ، وفيرجيل. [65] وفي 1623 ، بالتزامن مع نشر من فيرست فوليو ، والنقش Droeshout تم نشره. [66]

شكسبير وقد تم الاحتفال به في العديد من التماثيل والنصب التذكارية في مختلف أنحاء العالم ، بما في ذلك الآثار الجنازة في كاتدرائية ساوث والشاعر ركن في كنيسة وستمنستر.
المسرحيات
المواد الرئيسية : مسرحيات شكسبير ، وشكسبير التعاون

معظم الكتاب المسرحيين في الفترة عادة ما تعاونت مع الآخرين في مرحلة ما ، والنقاد يتفقون على أن شكسبير فعل نفس الشيء ، في وقت مبكر ، ومعظمهم في أواخر حياته. [67] بعض النعوت ، مثل تيتوس أندرونيكوس ويلعب التاريخ المبكر ، لا تزال مثيرة للجدل ، في حين واثنان نوبل الأقرباء وCardenio قد فقدت جيدا يشهد الوثائق المعاصرة. الأدلة النصية كما تدعم الرأي القائل بأن العديد من المسرحيات التي تم تنقيح الكتاب الآخرين بعد تكوينها الأصلي.

وسجلت أول أعمال شكسبير وريتشارد الثالث والأجزاء الثلاثة لهنري السادس ، وكتب في 1590s في وقت مبكر خلال لرواج الدراما التاريخية. مسرحيات شكسبير من الصعب حتى الآن ، ومع ذلك ، [68]) ، ودراسات للنصوص توحي بأن تيتوس أندرونيكوس ، وكوميديا الأخطاء ، وترويض للالزبابة والاستاذين فيرونا قد تنتمي إلى شكسبير في فترة أبكر. [69] صاحب تاريخها الأولى ، التي تعتمد اعتمادا كبيرا على طبعة 1587 من رافائيل Holinshed ناصعة في انكلترا واسكتلندا ، وايرلندا ، [70] أضخم من النتائج المدمرة للقاعدة ضعيفة أو فاسدة ، ولقد فسرت كمبرر للأصول تودور.] 71] ويلعب في وقت مبكر تأثرت أعمال المسرحيين اليزابيثي الأخرى ، وخاصة توماس كيد ، وكريستوفر مارلو ، من تقاليد الدراما في العصور الوسطى ، وقبل أن يلعب لسينيكا. [72] كوميديا الأخطاء أيضا على أساس النماذج الكلاسيكية ، ولكن لا يوجد مصدر للوترويض للالزبابة التي عثر عليها ، على الرغم من أنه يتصل مسرحية منفصلة تحمل نفس الاسم ، وربما تكون مستمدة من قصة شعبية. [73] مثل الاستاذين فيرونا ، والتي تظهر صديقين الموافقة على ال****** ، [74]) ، والزبابة قصة من ترويض امرأة مستقلة روح رجل المتاعب أحيانا الحديث النقاد والمخرجين. [75]

Oberon ، التيتانيوم والصولجان مع الرقص الجنيات. من جانب وليام بليك ، c. 1786. تيت بريطانيا.

شكسبير الكوميدية الكلاسيكية والإيطالي في وقت مبكر ، التي تحتوي على مساحات ضيقة مزدوجة ودقيقة متواليات المصورة ، وتفسح المجال في منتصف 1590s في جو رومانسي من ملهياته أعظم. [76] وحلم ليلة منتصف الصيف هو مزيج بارع من الرومانسية ، حورية سحرية ، و مشاهد هزلية الرعاع. [77] شكسبير الكوميدية المقبل ، وعلى قدم المساواة الرومانسية وتاجر البندقية ، ويحتوي على صورة من الحقد اليهودي المرابي شايلوك الذي يعكس آراء والإليزابيثي ولكن قد تظهر ازدراء للجماهير الحديثة. [78] والطرافة والتلاعب بالألفاظ من زوبعة حول لا شيء ، [79] الإعداد الساحرة الريفية كما تحبها ، ولهو صاخب حية من ليلة الثاني عشر كاملة شكسبير تسلسل كوميدية كبيرة. [80] وبعد غنائية ريتشارد الثاني ، مكتوبة كلها تقريبا في الآية ، وشكسبير قدم الكوميديا في النثر وتاريخها في أواخر 1590s ، هنري الرابع ، وقطع 1 و 2 ، وهنري الخامس شخصياته أصبحت أكثر تعقيدا والعطاء لأنه حاذق التبديل بين المشاهد الكوميدية وخطيرة ، والنثر والشعر ، ويحقق مجموعة متنوعة من السرد عمله ناضجة. [81] وهذه الفترة تبدأ وتنتهي مع اثنين من المآسي : روميو وجولييت ، مأساة الشهيرة رومانسية من طريق الاتصال الجنسي اتهم المراهقة ، والحب ، والموت ؛ [82] ، ويوليوس قيصر ، على أساس السير توماس كوريا الشمالية في 1579 ترجمة بلوتارك في حياة موازية ، والتي أدخلت نوعا جديدا من الدراما. [83] ووفقا لشكسبير الباحث جيمس شابيرو ، في يوليوس قيصر "فروع مختلفة من السياسة ، والطابع ، والانطوائية ، والأحداث المعاصرة ، حتى شكسبير التأملات الخاصة على فعل الكتابة ، وبدأ يبث بعضها البعض". [84]

هاملت ، هوراشيو ، مارسيلو ، وشبح والد هاملت. هنري Fuseli ، 1780-5. كونستهاوس زيورخ.

في 1600s في وقت مبكر ، كتب شكسبير ما يسمى "المشكلة يلعب" التدبير لالتدبير ، ترويلوس وكريسيدا ، وجميع بالاضافة الى ان تنتهي حسنا وأعرب عدد من المآسي المعروفة. [85] ويعتقد الكثير من النقاد أن شكسبير أعظم المآسي التي تمثل ذروة فنه. بطل الأولى ، هاملت ، ربما كانت أكثر من مناقشة أي حرف شكسبير الأخرى ، وخاصة بالنسبة له مناجاة النفس الشهير "أن تكون أو لا تكون ، هذا هو السؤال." [86] وعلى عكس هاملت منطويا على ذاته ، الذي هو عيب قاتل تردد ، أبطال المآسي التي تلت ذلك ، عطيل والملك لير ، ويتم التراجع عن الأخطاء التسرع في الحكم. [87] وقطع من مآسي شكسبير في كثير من الأحيان يتوقف على مثل هذه الأخطاء القاتلة أو عيوب ، والذي قلب النظام وتدمير البطل وتلك التي كان يحب. [88] وفي عطيل ، Iago الشرير ستوكس عطيل والغيرة الجنسية إلى النقطة حيث قتل الزوجة البريئة التي تحبه. [89] في الملك لير ، الملك القديم يرتكب الخطأ المأساوي للتخلي عن سلطاته ، والشروع في الأحداث التي تؤدي إلى قتل ابنته والتعذيب والمسببة للعمى لايرل وغلوستر. وفقا لمنتقدي فرانك Kermode ، "لا تلعب لإيجاد شخصيات جيدة ولا جمهورها أي تخفيف من قسوتها". [90] وماكبث ، وأقصر وأكثر مضغوط من مآسي شكسبير ، [91] يحرض الطموح لا يمكن السيطرة عليها ماكبث وزوجته ، ليدي ماكبث ، لقتل الملك الشرعي ، وتعتدي على العرش ، حتى شعورهم بالذنب يدمر منهم بدوره. [92] وفي هذه المسرحية ، وشكسبير ويضيف عنصر خارق للهيكل المأساوية. كان آخر المآسي الكبرى ، أنطونيو وكليوباترا وكريولانس ، تحتوي على بعض من شكسبير أروع الشعر واعتبرت ان انجح المآسي للشاعر والناقد الملخص الفني إليوت. [93]

في فترة رئاسته النهائية ، إتجه شكسبير إلى الدراما التراجيدية الكوميدية والرومانسية أو أكملت ثلاث مسرحيات رئيسية هي : سيمبيلن ، حكاية الشتاء والعاصفة ، فضلا عن التعاون ، بريكليس ، الأمير صور. أقل كآبة من المآسي ، هذه المسرحيات الأربع هي أخطر في لهجة من الأفلام الكوميدية من 1590s ، لكنها مع نهاية المصالحة والصفح من الأخطاء المأساوية المحتملة. [94] ويرى بعض المعلقين أن ينظر إلى هذا التغير في المزاج كدليل على وجود أكثر هدوءا عرض للحياة على شكسبير جزئيا ، لكنها قد لا تعكس سوى وأزياء المسرحية من اليوم. [95] شكسبير تعاونت على مسرحيتين مزيد من الباقين على قيد الحياة ، وهنري الثامن الشريفين والأقرباء ، وربما مع جون فليتشر. [96]
العروض
المادة الرئيسية : شكسبير في الأداء

ليس من الواضح للشركات التي كتب شكسبير مسرحياته المبكرة. في صفحة العنوان للطبعة 1594 من تيتوس أندرونيكوس يكشف عن أن المسرحية كانت تصرف من قبل ثلاثة فرق مختلفة. [97] بعد اصاب 1592-3 ، مسرحيات شكسبير كانت تقوم بها شركته الخاصة في المسرح والستار في Shoreditch ، إلى الشمال من نهر التيمز. [98] لندن تدفقوا الى هناك لمشاهدة الجزء الأول من هنري الرابع ، ليونارد Digges تسجيل ، "ولكن اسمحوا فالستاف يأتي ، هال ، Poins ، والباقي... وكنت الشحيحة يكون للغرفة". [99 ] وعندما وجدت الشركة نفسها في نزاع مع صاحب العقار ، وأنها سحبت مسرح لأسفل ، واستخدمت الأخشاب لبناء مسرح غلوب ، ومسرح بنيت للمرة الاولى من قبل الجهات الفاعلة من أجل الجهات الفاعلة ، على الضفة الجنوبية لنهر التيمز في ساوثوورك. [100] العالم افتتح في خريف 1599 ، مع يوليوس قيصر واحدة من المسرحيات الأولى على مراحل. أكثر من شكسبير أعظم منصب - 1599 يلعب كانت مكتوبة على الكرة الأرضية ، بما في ذلك هاملت ، عطيل والملك لير. [101]

وإعادة بناء مسرح غلوب ، لندن.

بعد اللورد تشامبرلين ان رجال تسمية رجال الملك في 1603 ، فإنها دخلت في علاقة خاصة مع الملك جيمس الجديدة. على الرغم من أن سجلات الأداء ومتفاوتة ، إلا أن رجال الملك يقوم سبعة من مسرحيات شكسبير في المحكمة بين 1 نوفمبر 1604 و 31 تشرين الأول 1605 ، من بينهم اثنان من العروض من تاجر البندقية. [102] وبعد 1608 ، التي يؤدونها في الأماكن المغلقة بلكفريرس خلال المسرح الشتاء وجلوب خلال فصل الصيف. [103] وتحديد الأماكن المغلقة ، جنبا إلى جنب مع أزياء يعقوبي للتمثيليات ببذخ على مراحل ، سمح لشكسبير إدخال أجهزة أكثر تفصيلا المرحلة. في سيمبيلن ، على سبيل المثال ، ينحدر جوبيتر "في الرعد والبرق ، ويجلس عليها النسر : انه يلقي كالصاعقة. أشباح وسقوط على الركبتين." [104]

الجهات الفاعلة في الشركة المدرجة شكسبير الشهيرة ريتشارد Burbage ، وليام كيمبي ، هنري Condell وجون Heminges. Burbage لعبت دورا قياديا في العروض الأولى لكثير من مسرحيات شكسبير ، بمن فيهم ريتشارد الثالث ، هاملت ، عطيل ، والملك لير. [105] وشعبية الفنان الكوميدي ويل كيمبي لعب بيتر خادما في روميو وجولييت وتوت في الكثير من اللغط حول لا شيء ، من بين الشخصيات الأخرى. [106] وقال إنه تم استبدال حوالي مطلع القرن السادس عشر بقلم روبرت ارمين ، الذين لعبوا دورا في مثل المحك كما تحبها وخداع في مسرحية الملك لير. [107] وفي 1613 ، السير هنري وتون] سجلت أن هنري الثامن "كان المبينة مع ظروف استثنائية العديد من احتفال وضجيج". [108] وفي 29 حزيران / يونيو ، ولكن ، مدفع على اضرام النار في القش لغلوب وأحرقوا المسرح الى الارض ، وهو الحدث الذي يبرز في تاريخ مسرحية لشكسبير بدقة نادرة. [108]
المصادر النصية

عنوان الصفحة من فيرست فوليو (1623). النقش على النحاس شكسبير مارتن Droeshout.

في 1623 ، وجون هنري Heminges وCondell ، وهما من أصدقاء شكسبير من رجال الملك ، نشرت فيرست فوليو ، طبعة جمعها من مسرحيات شكسبير. 36 النصوص الواردة فيه ، بما في ذلك 18 طبع للمرة الأولى. [109] والعديد من المسرحيات قد ظهرت بالفعل في إصدارات الكتب واهية الغرفة مصنوعة من ورقة مطوية مرتين لتقديم أربعة أوراق. [110] لا توجد أدلة تشير إلى أن شكسبير وافق هذه الطبعات ، والتي وصفها بأنها فيرست فوليو "stol'n وغموضه نسخ". [111] ألفريد بولارد وصف بعضهم "غرف سيئة" نظرا لتكييف ، أو مشوه معاد صياغة النصوص ، التي ربما في الأماكن التي أعيد بناؤها من الذاكرة [112] أين عدة إصدارات من لعبة البقاء على قيد الحياة ، كل يختلف عن الآخر. الاختلافات قد تكون ناجمة عن أخطاء أو النسخ والطباعة ، وتلاحظ من قبل الأطراف الفاعلة ، أو أفراد الجمهور ، أو من شكسبير الأوراق الخاصة بها. [113] وفي بعض الحالات ، على سبيل المثال هاملت ، ترويلوس وكريسيدا وعطيل ، يمكن أن يكون شكسبير النصوص المنقحة بين الغرفة و طبعات ورقة مطوية. إصدار ورقة مطوية من الملك لير هو يختلف تماما عن تلك الغرفة 1608 أن شكسبير أكسفورد يطبع لهم على حد سواء ، نظرا لأنها لا يمكن خلط من دون التباس. [114]
قصائد

في 1593 و 1594 ، عندما تم إغلاق المسارح بسبب الطاعون ، وشكسبير نشرت قصيدتين السرد بشأن المواضيع المثيرة ، وفينوس وأدونيس و****** Lucrece. كرس لها هنري Wriothesley ، إيرل ساوثمبتون. في فينوس وأدونيس ، وأدونيس الأبرياء وترفض التقدم الجنسي لكوكب الزهرة ، بينما في ****** Lucrece ، وزوجته حميدة شخصية لوكريشا لل****** من قبل Tarquin شبق. [115] ، بتأثير من لتحولات أوفيد ، [116] القصائد اظهار الشعور بالذنب و الارتباك المعنوي التي تنجم عن شهوة غير المتحكم فيها. [117] وكلاهما أثبت شعبية ، وكثيرا ما أعيد طبعه خلال حياة شكسبير. ثالث قصيدة السرد ، شكوى العشاق ، التي امرأة شابة تندب حظها الإغواء من قبل الخاطب مقنعة ، وقد طبع في الطبعة الأولى من السوناتات في عام 1609. معظم العلماء الآن أن تقبل كتب شكسبير عاشق للشكوى. النقاد يعتبرون أن من الصفات الجميلة التي شابتها آثار الرصاصي. [118] وفينيكس والسلاحف ، وطبع في 1601 روبرت تشستر في حب الشهيد في جو من الحداد على وفاة لطائر الفينيق الاسطوري وحبيبته ، السلحفاة المؤمنين حمامة. في عام 1599 ، مشروعين في وقت مبكر من السوناتات 138 و 144 وردت في والرحالة عاطفي ، الذي نشر تحت اسم شكسبير ولكن من دون إذنه. [119]
السوناتات
المادة الرئيسية : شكسبير

عنوان الصفحة من 1609 طبعة من اهتز - Speares السوناتات.

نشرت في عام 1609 ، وكانت آخر سوناتات شكسبير غير المصنفات الدرامية التي سيتم طباعتها. العلماء ليسوا معينة عند كل من السوناتات 154 مؤلفة ، ولكن الأدلة تشير إلى أن شكسبير كتب السوناتات طوال حياته المهنية لعدد كبير من القراء من القطاع الخاص. [120] وحتى قبل السوناتات اثنين من غير المسموح به وردت في والرحالة عاطفي في عام 1599 ، وفرانسيس مرس قد أشار في 1598 لشكسبير "sugred السوناتات بين أصدقائه الخاص". [121] سوى قلة من المحللين يعتقدون أن جمع نشرت يلي تسلسل يقصد شكسبير. [122] وقال إنه يبدو أن المخطط المتناقضة سلسلة اثنين : واحدا عن شهوة لا يمكن السيطرة عليها لامرأة متزوجة من البشرة الداكنة (سيدة "الظلام") ، واحدة حول تعارض الحب لشاب عادل ( "الشباب العادلة"). يبقى من غير الواضح ما إذا كانت هذه الأرقام تمثل أشخاصا من لحم ودم ، أو إذا كان authorial "أنا" الذي يتناول منهم يمثل شكسبير نفسه ، وإن كان يعتقد أن وردزورث مع السوناتات "شكسبير مقفلة قلبه". [123] طبعة 1609 كانت مكرسة ل"السيد . ذوي الخوذات البيضاء "، لحساب" المنجب الوحيد "من القصائد. ومن غير المعروف ما اذا كان هذا الذي كتبه شكسبير نفسه أو من قبل الناشر ، توماس ثورب ، بالاحرف الاولى التي تظهر في أسفل الصفحة وتفان ، كما أنه لا يعرف من السيد ذوي الخوذات البيضاء كان ، على الرغم من العديد من النظريات ، أو ما إذا كان شكسبير حتى أجاز نشر. [124] ثناء النقاد والسوناتات والتأمل العميق في طبيعة الحب والعاطفة الجنسية ، والإنجاب ، والموت ، والوقت. [125]
"هل بإمكاني مقارنة اليك لاحد ايام الصيف؟

انت الفن أكثر جميلة وأكثر اعتدالا ".
خطوط من شكسبير السوناتة 18. [126]


إنتاج شكسبير كان في بعض الطريق تتأثر السوناتة الإيطالية : كان شعبي من قبل دانتي وبترارك وصقلها في اسبانيا وفرنسا من قبل DuBellay وRonsard. [127] شكسبير ربما كان الوصول إلى هذه الأخيرتين من الكتاب ، وقراءة شعراء الانكليزية كما ريتشارد الميدانية وجون ديفيز. [127] والفرنسية والايطالية والشعراء تعطي الأفضلية للشكل الايطالية من السوناتة - مجموعتين من أربعة أسطر ، أو الرباعيات (دائما مقفي أبا أبا) ، يليه مجموعتين من ثلاثة أسطر ، أو tercets (بأشكال مختلفة مقفي اتفاقية مكافحة التصحر اتفاقية مكافحة التصحر أو عيد إيدي) ، التي خلقت الموسيقى رنان في علالة اللغات الرومانسية الغنية ، ولكن شكسبير هو مصطنع ورتابة للغة الانجليزية. للتغلب على هذه المشكلة الناجمة عن الاختلاف في اللغة ، وشكسبير اختار اتباع نظام اصطلاحي قافية المستخدمة من قبل فيليب سيدني في تقريره أستروفل وستيلا (نشر بعد وفاته في 1591) ، حيث يتم القوافي المتداخلة في اثنين من أزواج من مقاطع لجعل الحجر. [127]
نمط
المادة الرئيسية : شكسبير النمط

مسرحيات شكسبير الأولى كتبت في النمط التقليدي من اليوم. وكتب لهم بلغة مبسطة لا ربيع دائما بطبيعة الحال من احتياجات حرفا أو الدراما. [128] والشعر يعتمد على تمديد ، وأحيانا وضع الاستعارات والأوهام ، وغالبا ما تكون لغة خطابية الخطية للجهات المعنية لخطب بدلا من الكلام. الخطب الكبرى في تيتوس أندرونيكوس ، في رأي بعض النقاد ، وغالبا ما يعطل العمل ، على سبيل المثال ، والآية في اثنين من السادة فيرونا فقد وصفت بأنها طنان. [129]

قريبا ، مع ذلك ، بدأ شكسبير على التكيف مع الأنماط التقليدية لأغراضه الخاصة. ومونولوج افتتاح ريتشارد الثالث له جذوره في النفس اعلان نائب الدراما في القرون الوسطى. في الوقت نفسه ، ريتشارد النفس حية للتوعية تتطلع إلى المناجاة من مسرحيات شكسبير الناضجة. [130] لا تلعب واحد علامات التغيير من النمط التقليدي لأكثر تحررا. شكسبير الجمع بين الاثنين طوال حياته المهنية ، مع روميو وجولييت ولعل أفضل مثال على المزج بين الأنماط. [131] وبحلول ذلك الوقت من روميو وجولييت ، ريتشارد الثاني ، وهناك حلم ليلة منتصف الصيف في منتصف 1590s ، كان شكسبير بدأ كتابة الشعر أكثر طبيعية. انه ضبطها على نحو متزايد عن الاستعارات والصور لاحتياجات الدراما نفسها.

من المؤسف وليم بليك ، 1795 ، تيت بريطانيا ، ومثال على اثنين من التشبيهات في ماكبث : "والشفقة ، وكأنه جديد عارية المولد فاتنة ، / التمشي الانفجار ، أو الملائكة في السماء ، hors'd / بناء على ناقلي أعمى لل الهواء ".

شكسبير مستوى الشكل الشعري كان فارغا الآية ، وتتألف في الإيامبي الخماسي التفاعيل. في الممارسة العملية ، وهذا يعني أن شعره كان عادة غير مقفى ، وتألفت من عشرة مقاطع لخط ، تحدثت مع التشديد على كل مقطع لفظي الثانية. الآية فارغة من مسرحياته المبكرة هي مختلفة تماما عن تلك التي كان منها في وقت لاحق. غالبا ما يكون جميلا ، ولكن أحكامها تميل إلى أن تبدأ ، وقفة ، والانتهاء منه في نهاية الأسطر ، مع خطر الرتابة. [132] وبمجرد شكسبير يتقن التقليدية الآية فارغة ، بدأ في المقاطعة ، وتختلف عن التدفق. هذه التقنية إصدارات جديدة لتوليد الكهرباء والمرونة للشعر في مسرحيات مثل هاملت ويوليوس قيصر. شكسبير يستخدم فإنه ، على سبيل المثال ، أن أنقل الاضطراب في ذهن هاملت : [133]
يا سيدي ، في قلبي كان هناك نوع من القتال
التي لن تسمح لي بالنوم. بدا لي انام
أسوأ من mutines في العنبات. بعجاله -
وprais'd تكون التهور لأنها - إخبارنا
لدينا طيش أحيانا يخدم مصالحنا جيدا...
هاملت ، الفصل 5 ، المشهد 2 ، 4-8 [133]

بعد هملت وشكسبير متنوعة أسلوبه الشعري أخرى ، لا سيما في الممرات أكثر عاطفية من المآسي في وقت متأخر. والناقد الادبي ميلان برادلي ووصف هذا الأسلوب بأنه "أكثر تركيزا ، والسريع ، ومتنوعة ، و، في البناء ، وأقل من عادية ، وليس نادرا ما الملتوية أو بيضاوي الشكل". [134] وفي المرحلة الأخيرة من حياته ، وشكسبير اعتمدت العديد من التقنيات لتحقيق هذه الآثار. وشملت هذه التشغيل على خطوط ، وتوقف مؤقتا غير النظامية ، والتباين الشديد في بنية الجملة وطولها. [135] وفي ماكبث ، على سبيل المثال ، فإن السهام من لغة واحدة لا علاقة لها استعارة أو تشبيه لآخر : "كان في حالة سكر الأمل / حيث كنت يرتدي نفسك؟ " (1.7.35-38) ؛ "... من المؤسف ، مثل فاتنة عارية المولود الجديد / التمشي الانفجار ، أو الملائكة في السماء ، hors'd / بناء على ناقلي أعمى من الجو..." (1.7.21-25). المستمع هو تحدى لإكمال المعنى. [135] والرومانسيات في وقت متأخر ، مع التحولات في الوقت وتتحول الدهشة لمؤامرة ، مستوحاة من نمط آخر شعرية يشارك فيها طويلة وقصيرة الجمل يتم تعيين واحد ضد آخر ، وشروط يتكومون ، وذلك رهنا وجوه وعكسه ، والكلمات التي حذفت ، وخلق تأثير العفوية. [136]

شكسبير العبقرية الشعرية كانت متحالفة مع الشعور العملي للمسرح. [137] ، شأنها شأن جميع الكتاب المسرحيين في ذلك الوقت ، وشكسبير قصص درامية من مصادر مثل بترارك وHolinshed. [138] وإعادة تشكيل كل مؤامرة لإنشاء عدة مراكز للاهتمام ، وكما تظهر الجانبان العديد من سرد للجمهور ممكن. هذه القوة من تصميم يضمن مسرحية لشكسبير ترجمة يمكن البقاء على قيد الحياة ، وقطع تفسيرا واسعا من دون خسارة لالدراما الأساسية. [139] وكما نمت شكسبير اتقانها ، أعطى شخصياته أكثر وضوحا والدوافع المتنوعة وأنماط متميزة من الكلام. كان الحفاظ على جوانب له في وقت سابق على غرار يلعب في وقت لاحق ، ولكن. في قصائده المتأخرة ، وقال انه عاد عن عمد إلى أسلوب أكثر الاصطناعي ، والذي أكد على أوهام المسرح. [140]
التأثير
المادة الرئيسية : شكسبير النفوذ

ماكبث استشارات الرؤية للرئيس المسلحة. بقلم هنري Fuseli ، 1793-94. Folger مكتبة شكسبير في واشنطن.

أعمال شكسبير جعلت انطباع دائم في وقت لاحق على المسرح والأدب. على وجه الخصوص ، فقد وسع إمكانات هائلة للتوصيف ، مؤامرة ، واللغة ، والنوع. [141] وحتى روميو وجولييت ، على سبيل المثال ، والرومانسية لم ينظر إليه على أنه موضوع جدير المأساة. [142] المناجاة كانت تستخدم أساسا ل نقل المعلومات عن الشخصيات أو الأحداث ، ولكن شكسبير استخدمها لاستكشاف عقول الشخصيات ،. [143] عمله بشكل كبير لتأثير الشعر في وقت لاحق. شعراء الرومانسية محاولة لاحياء الآية دراما شكسبير ، على الرغم من دون نجاح يذكر. الناقد جورج شتاينر وصفها جميع الانجليزية الآية الدرامية من كوليردج لتينيسون بأنها "ضعيفة الاختلافات بشأن المواضيع شكسبير." [144]

شكسبير تأثر روائيين مثل توماس هاردي ، وليم فوكنر ، وتشارلز ديكنز. والروائي الأمريكي هيرمان ميلفيل والمناجاة مدينون بالكثير لشكسبير ؛ له الكابتن أهاب في قصة موبي ديك هو بطل المأساوية الكلاسيكية ، مستوحاة من مسرحية الملك لير. [145] وقد حدد علماء 20،000 قطعة من الموسيقى ترتبط أعمال شكسبير. وتشمل هذه المسلسلات من قبل اثنين من جوزيبي فيردي ، وفالستاف أوتيلو ، الذي يقف الحرجة يقارن مع أن من مصدر المسرحيات. [146] شكسبير كما ألهمت العديد من الرسامين ، بما في ذلك الرومانسيون ، وقبل Raphaelites. السويسري الرومانسية الفنان هنري Fuseli ، وهو صديق وليم بليك ، حتى ترجمت إلى اللغة الألمانية ماكبث. [147] ولفت المحلل النفسي سيغموند فرويد في علم النفس لشكسبير ، ولا سيما أن لهاملت ، لنظرياته من الطبيعة البشرية.

شكسبير في اليوم ، وقواعد اللغة الانجليزية والهجاء كانت أقل توحيدا مما هي عليه الآن ، وأسلوبه في استخدام اللغة الإنجليزية ساعد في تشكيل الحديثة. [148] صموئيل جونسون نقلت عنه أكثر من أي كاتب آخر له في قاموس اللغة الإنجليزية ، وهو أول العمل الجاد من نوعها. [149] تعبيرات مثل "بفارغ الصبر" (تاجر البندقية) و "نتيجة حتمية" (عطيل) قد وجدت طريقها الى خطاب الانجليزية اليومية. [150]
سمعة الحرجة
المواد الرئيسية : شكسبير سمعة والإطار الزمني لشكسبير الانتقادات
"وقال انه ليس من عصر ، ولكن في كل الأوقات."
بن جونسون [151]


شكسبير لم يكن التبجيل في حياته ، لكنه حصل على نصيبه من الثناء. [152] وفي 1598 ، ورجل دين وكاتب فرانسيس مرس أفرد له للخروج من مجموعة من الكتاب بالانكليزية باسم "معظم ممتازة" في كل من الكوميديا والمأساة.] 153]) ، والكتاب من [برنسوس] يلعب في كلية سانت جون ، كمبريدج ، مرقمة له مع تشوسر ، Gower وسبنسر. [154] وفي فيرست فوليو ، ودعا بن جونسون شكسبير الروح "من العمر ، والتصفيق والبهجة ، و عجب مرحلتنا "، رغم انه كان في مكان آخر لاحظ أن" شكسبير أراد الفن ". [155]

اوفيليا (التفاصيل). جون ايفرت Millais ، 1851-52. تيت بريطانيا.

بين استعادة النظام الملكي في عام 1660 وحتى نهاية القرن السابع عشر ، والأفكار الكلاسيكية كانت رائجة. نتيجة لذلك ، والنقاد في ذلك الوقت في الغالب أقل تقدير شكسبير وجون فليتشر بن جونسون. [156] توماس Rymer ، على سبيل المثال ، أدان شكسبير لخلط كوميدي مع المأساوية. ومع ذلك ، الشاعر والناقد جون درايدن شكسبير تقييما عاليا ، وقال لجونسون ، "انا معجب به ، ولكن أنا أحب شكسبير". [157] للحصول على عقود عدة ، Rymer رأي تسيطر على الوضع ، ولكن خلال القرن الثامن عشر ، بدأ النقاد على الاستجابة لشكسبير بطريقته وهتاف ما أسموه عبقريته الطبيعية. وكانت سلسلة من الإصدارات العلمية من عمله ، ولا سيما تلك التي لصمويل جونسون في 1765 وادمون مالون في عام 1790 ، إضافة إلى تنامي سمعة بلده. [158] وبحلول 1800 ، كان راسخا والشاعر الوطني. [159] وفي الثامن عشر و القرنين التاسع عشر ، كما انتشرت سمعته في الخارج. بين أولئك الذين كانوا دافع عنه كتاب فولتير وغوته وستندال وفكتور هوغو. [160]

خلال العصر الرومانسي ، وقد اشاد شكسبير الشاعر والفيلسوف الأدبية صمويل تايلور كوليردج ، والناقد أوغست ويلهلم شليغل ترجمت مسرحياته في روح الرومانسية الألمانية. [161] وفي القرن التاسع عشر ، والإعجاب حاسمة لعبقرية شكسبير في كثير من الأحيان على تحدها التملق. [162] "وهذا شكسبير الملك" ، والكاتب توماس كارليل كتب في عام 1840 ، "انه لم يلمع ، توج في السيادة ، وفوق رؤوسنا جميعا ، وأنبل ، طيف ، ولكن أقوى من حشد علامات ؛ غير قابل للتدمير". [163 ] والفيكتوريون المنتجة مسرحياته والنظارات الفخم على نطاق واسع. [164] والناقد والكاتب المسرحي جورج برنارد شو سخر من عبادة العبادة كما شكسبير "bardolatry". وادعى أن طبيعية جديدة من مسرحيات إبسن جعلت شكسبير عفا عليها الزمن. [165]

الثورة الحداثية في الفنون خلال القرن العشرين في وقت مبكر ، وبعيدا عن نبذ شكسبير ، بشغف جند عمله في خدمة طليعي رائد. والتعبيريون في ألمانيا والمستقبليون في موسكو شنت الإنتاجات من مسرحياته. الماركسية والمخرج المسرحي برتولت بريشت ابتكر المسرح الملحمي تحت تأثير شكسبير. الشاعر والناقد إليوت جادل ضد شو أن شكسبير "بدائية" في واقع الأمر جعله عصريا. [166] إليوت ، جنبا إلى جنب مع جي ويلسون نايت والمدرسة الجديدة للنقد ، قاد حركة نحو أوثق من قراءة شكسبير الصور. في 1950s ، موجة من المناهج النقدية الجديدة محل الحداثة ومهدت الطريق لمرحلة "ما بعد الدراسات الحديثة" لشكسبير. [167] وبحلول الثمانينات ، وشكسبير الدراسات كانت مفتوحة لحركات مثل البنيوية ، والنسوية ، ونيو Historicism ، الأمريكيين من أصل أفريقي الدراسات ، والدراسات عليل. [168] [169]
التكهنات حول شكسبير
تأليف
المادة الرئيسية : شكسبير تأليف السؤال

بعد حوالي 150 سنة على وفاة شكسبير ، بدأت تظهر شكوك حول تأليف الأعمال المنسوبة إليه. [170] المقترحة تشمل مرشحين بديلين فرنسيس بيكون وكريستوفر مارلو وإدوارد دي فير ، إيرل 17th أكسفورد. [171] عدة "المجموعة نظريات "كما تم المقترحة. [172] وفي حين أن أقلية صغيرة فقط من الأكاديميين نعتقد ان هناك ما يدعو إلى التشكيك في الإسناد التقليدية ، [173] الاهتمام الشعبي في الموضوع ، وخاصة نظرية Oxfordian ، ما زال في القرن 21st. [174]
الدين
المادة الرئيسية : شكسبير الدين

يدعي بعض الباحثين أن أفراد العائلة كانوا شكسبير الكاثوليك ، في وقت كانت فيه الكاثوليكية الممارسة كان ضد القانون. [175] شكسبير والدة ماري اردن ، وبالتأكيد جاء من عائلة كاثوليكية ورعة. والدليل الأقوى قد يكون بيان الايمان الكاثوليكي الذي وقعه جون شكسبير ، وجدت في عام 1757 في العوارض الخشبية من منزله السابق في هينلي ستريت. هذه الوثيقة هي الآن فقدت ، ولكن ، والعلماء يختلفون على أصالتها. [176] وفي 1591 ، ذكرت السلطات أن جون قد غاب عن الكنيسة "خوفا من عملية بالنسبة للديون" ، وهو عذر عام الكاثوليكية. [177] في 1606 ، وليام ابنة سوزانا وقد ادرج ضمن أولئك الذين لم يحضر عيد الفصح بالتواصل في ستراتفورد. [177] العلماء للعثور على أدلة على حد سواء ، والكاثوليكية ضد شكسبير في مسرحياته ، ولكن الحقيقة قد يكون من المستحيل اثبات اي من الاتجاهين. [178]
الجنسية
المادة الرئيسية : النشاط الجنسي وليم شكسبير

تفاصيل قليلة عن شكسبير الجنسية معروفة. في 18 ، تزوج من 26 عاما ، آن هاثاواي ، التي كانت حاملا. سوزانا ، أول من أطفالهما الثلاثة ، ولدت بعد ستة أشهر في 26 أيار 1583. ومع ذلك ، على مدى قرون من القراء قد أشارت إلى شكسبير كدليل على حبه للشاب. منهم من قرأ المقاطع نفسها كوسيلة للتعبير عن الصداقة مكثفة بدلا من الحب الجنسي. [179] وفي الوقت نفسه ، الست والعشرين ما يسمى ب "سيدة الظلام" السوناتات ، موجهة إلى امرأة متزوجة ، تؤخذ كدليل على العلاقات المتبادلة الغيرية [180]
البورتريه
المادة الرئيسية : وجوه من شكسبير

لا يوجد وصف خطي لشكسبير المظهر الجسدي وجود أدلة على أنه صورة بتكليف من أي وقت مضى ، لذلك فإن النقش Droeshout ، بن جونسون الذي وافق من حيث شبيهه جيدة ، [181] ونصب له ستراتفورد تقديم أفضل الأدلة من ظهوره. من القرن الثامن عشر ، والرغبة في صور شكسبير الحجية تغذيه يدعي أن الصور قيد الحياة المختلفة يصور شكسبير. كما أن الطلب أدى إلى انتاج صور وهمية عدة ، وكذلك misattributions ، repaintings وإعادة وضع العلامات من صور لأشخاص آخرين. [182] [183]
قائمة المصنفات
للمزيد من المعلومات : قائمة أعمال شكسبير والتسلسل الزمني لمسرحيات شكسبير
تصنيف للمسرحيات

مسرحيات ويليام شكسبير. السير جون غيلبرت ، 1849.

شكسبير يعمل تشمل 36 مسرحية مطبوعة في فيرست فوليو في 1623 ، المدرجة أدناه وفقا لتصنيف ورقة مطوية وكوميدية وتاريخها والمآسي. [184] مسرحيتين لم تدرج في فيرست فوليو ، واثنان نوبل الأقرباء وبريكليس ، الأمير صور ، أصبحت الآن مقبولة بوصفها جزءا من الشريعة ، حيث اتفق العلماء على أن شكسبير إسهاما رئيسيا في تكوينها. [185] لا القصائد كانت مدرجة في فيرست فوليو.

في أواخر القرن التاسع عشر ، ويصنف ادوارد داودن أربعة من الأفلام الكوميدية والرومانسية في وقت متأخر ، وعلى الرغم من العديد من العلماء تفضل أن تسميها الكوميديا التراجيدية ، فترة ولايته وغالبا ما تستخدم. [186] وهذه المسرحيات وما يرتبط بها من الشريفين الأقرباء هي علامة نجمية ( *) أدناه. في عام 1896 ، S. فريدريك بواس مصطلح "يلعب المشكلة" لوصف أربع مسرحيات : جميع بالاضافة الى ان تنتهي حسنا ، والتدبير لالتدبير ، ترويلوس وكريسيدا وهاملت. [187] "مآسي والمفرد في الموضوع والمزاج لا يمكن أن يكون صارما ودعا الأفلام الكوميدية أو المآسي "، وكتب. واضاف "اننا بالتالي قد نستعير عبارة مريحة عن مسرح اليوم والطبقة بعضهم البعض ، كما ان مشكلة مسرحيات شكسبير." [188] والأجل ، ويدور حولها جدل كبير ، وأحيانا ينطبق على مسرحيات أخرى ، لا تزال قيد الاستخدام ، على الرغم من هاملت هو نهائيا تصنف بأنها مأساة [189] ويلعب المشكلة الأخرى هي علامة أدناه مع خنجر مزدوجة (‡).

ويعتقد أن يلعب إلا جزئيا كتبه شكسبير تتميز بخنجر (†) أدناه. يعمل أحيانا أخرى نسبت اليه مدرجة كما apocrypha.and يعاد تفسيرها في مختلف الثقافية والسياسية

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This article is about the poet and playwright. For other persons of the same name, see William Shakespeare For other uses of "Shakespeare", see Shakespeare (disambiguation).
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – died 23 April 1616)[a] was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist.[1] He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".[2][b] His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of 38 plays,[c] 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.[3]

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, ***uality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.[4]

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613.[5][d] His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.

Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry".[6] In the twentieth 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 Early life

William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, a successful glover and alderman originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer.[7] He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised on 26 April 1564. His actual birthdate is unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, St George's Day.[8] This date, which can be traced back to an eighteenth-century scholar's mistake, has proved appealing because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616.[9] He was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son.[10]

Although no attendance records for the period survive, most biographers agree that Shakespeare was educated at the King's New School in Stratford,[11] a free school chartered in 1553,[12] about a quarter of a mile from his home. Grammar schools varied in quality during the Elizabethan era, but the curriculum was dictated by law throughout England,[13] and the school would have provided an intensive education in Latin grammar and the classics.

John Shakespeare's house, believed to be Shakespeare's birthplace, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. The consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. Two of Hathaway's neighbours posted bonds the next day as surety that there were no impediments to the marriage.[14] The couple may have arranged the ceremony in some haste, since the Worcester chancellor allowed the marriage banns to be read once instead of the usual three times.[15] Anne's pregnancy could have been the reason for this. Six months after the marriage, she gave birth to a daughter, Susanna, who was baptised on 26 May 1583.[16] Twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised on 2 February 1585.[17] Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried on 11 August 1596.[18]

After the birth of the twins, there are few historical traces of Shakespeare until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. Because of this gap, scholars refer to the years between 1585 and 1592 as Shakespeare's "lost years".[19] Biographers attempting to account for this period have reported many apocryphal stories. Nicholas Rowe, Shakespeare’s first biographer, recounted a Stratford legend that Shakespeare fled the town for London to escape prosecution for deer poaching.[20] Another eighteenth-century story has Shakespeare starting his theatrical career minding the horses of theatre patrons in London.[21] John Aubrey reported that Shakespeare had been a country schoolmaster.[22] Some twentieth-century scholars have suggested that Shakespeare may have been employed as a schoolmaster by Alexander Hoghton of Lancashire, a Catholic landowner who named a certain "William Shakeshafte" in his will.[23] No evidence substantiates such stories other than hearsay collected after his death.[24]
London and theatrical career
"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..."
As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7, 139–42.[25]


It is not known exactly when Shakespeare began writing, but contemporary allusions and records of performances show that several of his plays were on the London stage by 1592.[26] He was well enough known in London by then to be attacked in print by the playwright Robert Greene:

...there is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country.[27]

Scholars differ on the exact meaning of these words,[28] but most agree that Greene is accusing Shakespeare of reaching above his rank in trying to match university-educated writers, such as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe and Greene himself.[29] The italicised phrase parodying the line "Oh, tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide" from Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 3, along with the pun "Shake-scene", identifies Shakespeare as Greene’s target.[30]

Greene’s attack is the first recorded mention of Shakespeare’s career in the theatre. Biographers suggest that his career may have begun any time from the mid-1580s to just before Greene’s remarks.[31] From 1594, Shakespeare's plays were performed only by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, a company owned by a group of players, including Shakespeare, that soon became the leading playing company in London.[32] After the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the company was awarded a royal patent by the new king, James I, and changed its name to the King's Men.[33]

In 1599, a partnership of company members built their own theatre on the south bank of the Thames, which they called the Globe. In 1608, the partnership also took over the Blackfriars indoor theatre. Records of Shakespeare's property purchases and investments indicate that the company made him a wealthy man.[34] In 1597, he bought the second-largest house in Stratford, New Place, and in 1605, he invested in a share of the parish tithes in Stratford.[35]

Some of Shakespeare's plays were published in quarto editions from 1594. By 1598, his name had become a selling point and began to appear on the title pages.[36] Shakespeare continued to act in his own and other plays after his success as a playwright. The 1616 edition of Ben Jonson's Works names him on the cast lists for Every Man in His Humour (1598) and Sejanus, His Fall (1603).[37] The absence of his name from the 1605 cast list for Jonson’s Volpone is taken by some scholars as a sign that his acting career was nearing its end.[38] The First Folio of 1623, however, lists Shakespeare as one of "the Principal Actors in all these Plays", some of which were first staged after Volpone, although we cannot know for certain what roles he played.[39] In 1610, John Davies of Hereford wrote that "good Will" played "kingly" roles.[40] In 1709, Rowe passed down a tradition that Shakespeare played the ghost of Hamlet's father.[41] Later traditions maintain that he also played Adam in As You Like It and the Chorus in Henry V,[42] though scholars doubt the sources of the information.[43]

Shakespeare divided his time between London and Stratford during his career. In 1596, the year before he bought New Place as his family home in Stratford, Shakespeare was living in the parish of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, north of the River Thames.[44] He moved across the river to Southwark by 1599, the year his company constructed the Globe Theatre there.[45] By 1604, he had moved north of the river again, to an area north of St Paul's Cathedral with many fine houses. There he rented rooms from a French Huguenot called Christopher Mountjoy, a maker of ladies' wigs and other headgear.[46]
Later years and death

Rowe was the first biographer to pass down the tradition that Shakespeare retired to Stratford some years before his death;[47] but retirement from all work was uncommon at that time,[48] and Shakespeare continued to visit London.[47] In 1612 he was called as a witness in a court case concerning the marriage settlement of Mountjoy's daughter, Mary.[49] In March 1613 he bought a gatehouse in the former Blackfriars priory;[50] and from November 1614 he was in London for several weeks with his son-in-law, John Hall.[51]

Shakespeare's funerary monument in Stratford-upon-Avon.

After 1606–1607, Shakespeare wrote fewer plays, and none are attributed to him after 1613.[52] His last three plays were collaborations, probably with John Fletcher,[53] who succeeded him as the house playwright for the King’s Men.[54]

Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616[55] and was survived by his wife and two daughters. Susanna had married a physician, John Hall, in 1607,[56] and Judith had married Thomas Quiney, a vintner, two months before Shakespeare’s death.[57]

In his will, Shakespeare left the bulk of his large estate to his elder daughter Susanna.[58] The terms instructed that she pass it down intact to "the first son of her body".[59] The Quineys had three children, all of whom died without marrying.[60] The Halls had one child, Elizabeth, who married twice but died without children in 1670, ending Shakespeare’s direct line.[61] Shakespeare's will scarcely mentions his wife, Anne, who was probably entitled to one third of his estate automatically. He did make a point, however, of leaving her "my second best bed", a bequest that has led to much speculation.[62] Some scholars see the bequest as an insult to Anne, whereas others believe that the second-best bed would have been the matrimonial bed and therefore rich in significance.[63]

Shakespeare was buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church two days after his death.[64] The stone slab covering his grave is inscribed with a curse against moving his bones:

Shakespeare's grave.
Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare,
To digg the dvst encloased heare.
Blest be ye man yt spares thes stones,
And cvrst be he yt moves my bones.

Sometime before 1623, a monument was erected in his memory on the north wall, with a half-effigy of him in the act of writing. Its plaque compares him to Nestor, Socrates, and Virgil.[65] In 1623, in conjunction with the publication of the First Folio, the Droeshout engraving was published.[66]

Shakespeare has been commemorated in many statues and memorials around the world, including funeral monuments in Southwark Cathedral and Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey.
Plays
Main articles: Shakespeare's plays and Shakespeare's collaborations

Most playwrights of the period typically collaborated with others at some point, and critics agree that Shakespeare did the same, mostly early and late in his career.[67] Some attributions, such as Titus Andronicus and the early history plays, remain controversial, while The Two Noble Kinsmen and the lost Cardenio have well-attested contemporary documentation. Textual evidence also supports the view that several of the plays were revised by other writers after their original composition.

The first recorded works of Shakespeare are Richard III and the three parts of Henry VI, written in the early 1590s during a vogue for historical drama. Shakespeare's plays are difficult to date, however,[68] and studies of the texts suggest that Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona may also belong to Shakespeare’s earliest period.[69] His first histories, which draw heavily on the 1587 edition of Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland,[70] dramatise the destructive results of weak or corrupt rule and have been interpreted as a justification for the origins of the Tudor dynasty.[71] The early plays were influenced by the works of other Elizabethan dramatists, especially Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe, by the traditions of medieval drama, and by the plays of Seneca.[72] The Comedy of Errors was also based on classical models, but no source for the The Taming of the Shrew has been found, though it is related to a separate play of the same name and may have derived from a folk story.[73] Like The Two Gentlemen of Verona, in which two friends appear to approve of rape,[74] the Shrew's story of the taming of a woman's independent spirit by a man sometimes troubles modern critics and directors.[75]

Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing. By William Blake, c. 1786. Tate Britain.

Shakespeare's early classical and Italianate comedies, containing tight double plots and precise comic sequences, give way in the mid-1590s to the romantic atmosphere of his greatest comedies.[76] A Midsummer Night's Dream is a witty mixture of romance, fairy magic, and comic lowlife scenes.[77] Shakespeare's next comedy, the equally romantic The Merchant of Venice, contains a portrayal of the vengeful Jewish moneylender Shylock which reflected Elizabethan views but may appear derogatory to modern audiences.[78] The wit and wordplay of Much Ado About Nothing,[79] the charming rural setting of As You Like It, and the lively merrymaking of Twelfth Night complete Shakespeare's sequence of great comedies.[80] After the lyrical Richard II, written almost entirely in verse, Shakespeare introduced prose comedy into the histories of the late 1590s, Henry IV, parts 1 and 2, and Henry V. His characters become more complex and tender as he switches deftly between comic and serious scenes, prose and poetry, and achieves the narrative variety of his mature work.[81] This period begins and ends with two tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, the famous romantic tragedy of ***ually charged adolescence, love, and death;[82] and Julius Caesar—based on Sir Thomas North's 1579 translation of Plutarch's Parallel Lives—which introduced a new kind of drama.[83] According to Shakespearean scholar James Shapiro, in Julius Caesar "the various strands of politics, character, inwardness, contemporary events, even Shakespeare's own reflections on the act of writing, began to infuse each other".[84]

Hamlet, Horatio, Marcellus, and the Ghost of Hamlet's Father. Henry Fuseli, 1780–5. Kunsthaus Zürich.

In the early 1600s, Shakespeare wrote the so-called "problem plays" Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida, and All's Well That Ends Well and a number of his best known tragedies.[85] Many critics believe that Shakespeare's greatest tragedies represent the peak of his art. The hero of the first, Hamlet, has probably been more discussed than any other Shakespearean character, especially for his famous soliloquy "To be or not to be; that is the question."[86] Unlike the introverted Hamlet, whose fatal flaw is hesitation, the heroes of the tragedies that followed, Othello and King Lear, are undone by hasty errors of judgement.[87] The plots of Shakespeare's tragedies often hinge on such fatal errors or flaws, which overturn order and destroy the hero and those he loves.[88] In Othello, the villain Iago stokes Othello's ***ual jealousy to the point where he murders the innocent wife who loves him.[89] In King Lear, the old king commits the tragic error of giving up his powers, initiating the events which lead to the murder of his daughter and the torture and blinding of the Earl of Gloucester. According to the critic Frank Kermode, "the play offers neither its good characters nor its audience any relief from its cruelty".[90] In Macbeth, the shortest and most compressed of Shakespeare's tragedies,[91] uncontrollable ambition incites Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, to murder the rightful king and usurp the throne, until their own guilt destroys them in turn.[92] In this play, Shakespeare adds a supernatural element to the tragic structure. His last major tragedies, Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus, contain some of Shakespeare's finest poetry and were considered his most successful tragedies by the poet and critic T. S. Eliot.[93]

In his final period, Shakespeare turned to romance or tragicomedy and completed three more major plays: Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest, as well as the collaboration, Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Less bleak than the tragedies, these four plays are graver in tone than the comedies of the 1590s, but they end with reconciliation and the forgiveness of potentially tragic errors.[94] Some commentators have seen this change in mood as evidence of a more serene view of life on Shakespeare's part, but it may merely reflect the theatrical fashion of the day.[95] Shakespeare collaborated on two further surviving plays, Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen, probably with John Fletcher.[96]
Performances
Main article: Shakespeare in performance

It is not clear for which companies Shakespeare wrote his early plays. The title page of the 1594 edition of Titus Andronicus reveals that the play had been acted by three different troupes.[97] After the plagues of 1592–3, Shakespeare's plays were performed by his own company at The Theatre and the Curtain in Shoreditch, north of the Thames.[98] Londoners flocked there to see the first part of Henry IV, Leonard Digges recording, "Let but Falstaff come, Hal, Poins, the rest...and you scarce shall have a room".[99] When the company found themselves in dispute with their landlord, they pulled The Theatre down and used the timbers to construct the Globe Theatre, the first playhouse built by actors for actors, on the south bank of the Thames at Southwark.[100] The Globe opened in autumn 1599, with Julius Caesar one of the first plays staged. Most of Shakespeare's greatest post-1599 plays were written for the Globe, including Hamlet, Othello and King Lear.[101]

The reconstructed Globe Theatre, London.

After the Lord Chamberlain's Men were renamed the King's Men in 1603, they entered a special relationship with the new King James. Although the performance records are *****y, the King's Men performed seven of Shakespeare's plays at court between 1 November 1604 and 31 October 1605, including two performances of The Merchant of Venice.[102] After 1608, they performed at the indoor Blackfriars Theatre during the winter and the Globe during the summer.[103] The indoor setting, combined with the Jacobean fashion for lavishly staged masques, allowed Shakespeare to introduce more elaborate stage devices. In Cymbeline, for example, Jupiter descends "in thunder and lightning, sitting upon an eagle: he throws a thunderbolt. The ghosts fall on their knees."[104]

The actors in Shakespeare's company included the famous Richard Burbage, William Kempe, Henry Condell and John Heminges. Burbage played the leading role in the first performances of many of Shakespeare's plays, including Richard III, Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear.[105] The popular comic actor Will Kempe played the servant Peter in Romeo and Juliet and Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, among other characters.[106] He was replaced around the turn of the sixteenth century by Robert Armin, who played roles such as Touchstone in As You Like It and the fool in King Lear.[107] In 1613, Sir Henry Wotton recorded that Henry VIII "was set forth with many extraordinary circumstances of pomp and ceremony".[108] On 29 June, however, a cannon set fire to the thatch of the Globe and burned the theatre to the ground, an event which pinpoints the date of a Shakespeare play with rare precision.[108]
Textual sources

Title page of the First Folio, 1623. Copper engraving of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout.

In 1623, John Heminges and Henry Condell, two of Shakespeare's friends from the King's Men, published the First Folio, a collected edition of Shakespeare's plays. It contained 36 texts, including 18 printed for the first time.[109] Many of the plays had already appeared in quarto versions—flimsy books made from sheets of paper folded twice to make four leaves.[110] No evidence suggests that Shakespeare approved these editions, which the First Folio describes as "stol'n and surreptitious copies".[111] Alfred Pollard termed some of them "bad quartos" because of their adapted, paraphrased or garbled texts, which may in places have been reconstructed from memory.[112] Where several versions of a play survive, each differs from the other. The differences may stem from copying or printing errors, from notes by actors or audience members, or from Shakespeare's own papers.[113] In some cases, for example Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida and Othello, Shakespeare could have revised texts between the quarto and folio editions. The folio version of King Lear is so different from the 1608 quarto that the Oxford Shakespeare prints them both, since they cannot be conflated without confusion.[114]
Poems

In 1593 and 1594, when the theatres were closed because of plague, Shakespeare published two narrative poems on erotic themes, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. He dedicated them to Henry Wriothesley, earl of Southampton. In Venus and Adonis, an innocent Adonis rejects the ***ual advances of Venus; while in The Rape of Lucrece, the virtuous wife Lucrece is raped by the lustful Tarquin.[115] Influenced by Ovid's Metamorphoses,[116] the poems show the guilt and moral confusion that result from uncontrolled lust.[117] Both proved popular and were often reprinted during Shakespeare's lifetime. A third narrative poem, A Lover's Complaint, in which a young woman laments her seduction by a persuasive suitor, was printed in the first edition of the Sonnets in 1609. Most scholars now accept that Shakespeare wrote A Lover's Complaint. Critics consider that its fine qualities are marred by leaden effects.[118] The Phoenix and the Turtle, printed in Robert Chester's 1601 Love's Martyr, mourns the deaths of the legendary phoenix and his lover, the faithful turtle dove. In 1599, two early drafts of sonnets 138 and 144 appeared in The Passionate Pilgrim, published under Shakespeare's name but without his permission.[119]
Sonnets
Main article: Shakespeare's sonnets

Title page from 1609 edition of Shake-Speares Sonnets.

Published in 1609, the Sonnets were the last of Shakespeare's non-dramatic works to be printed. Scholars are not certain when each of the 154 sonnets was composed, but evidence suggests that Shakespeare wrote sonnets throughout his career for a private readership.[120] Even before the two unauthorised sonnets appeared in The Passionate Pilgrim in 1599, Francis Meres had referred in 1598 to Shakespeare's "sugred Sonnets among his private friends".[121] Few analysts believe that the published collection follows Shakespeare's intended sequence.[122] He seems to have planned two contrasting series: one about uncontrollable lust for a married woman of dark complexion (the "dark lady"), and one about conflicted love for a fair young man (the "fair youth"). It remains unclear if these figures represent real individuals, or if the authorial "I" who addresses them represents Shakespeare himself, though Wordsworth believed that with the sonnets "Shakespeare unlocked his heart".[123] The 1609 edition was dedicated to a "Mr. W.H.", credited as "the only begetter" of the poems. It is not known whether this was written by Shakespeare himself or by the publisher, Thomas Thorpe, whose initials appear at the foot of the dedication page; nor is it known who Mr. W.H. was, despite numerous theories, or whether Shakespeare even authorised the publication.[124] Critics praise the Sonnets as a profound meditation on the nature of love, ***ual passion, procreation, death, and time.[125]
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate..."
Lines from Shakespeare's Sonnet 18.[126]


The production of Shakespeare's Sonnets was in some way influenced by the Italian sonnet: it was popularised by Dante and Petrarch and refined in Spain and France by DuBellay and Ronsard.[127] Shakespeare probably had access to these last two authors, and read English poets as Richard Field and John Davies.[127] The French and Italian poets gave preference to the Italian form of sonnet—two groups of four lines, or quatrains (always rhymed a-b-b-a a-b-b-a) followed by two groups of three lines, or tercets (variously rhymed c-c-d e-e-d or c-c-d e-d-e)—which created a sonorous music in the vowel rich Romance languages, but in Shakespeare it is artificial and monotonous for the English language. To overcome this problem derived from the difference of language, Shakespeare chose to follow the idiomatic rhyme scheme used by Philip Sidney in his Astrophel and Stella (published posthumously in 1591), where the rhymes are interlaced in two pairs of couplets to make the quatrain.[127]
Style
Main article: Shakespeare's style

Shakespeare's first plays were written in the conventional style of the day. He wrote them in a stylised language that does not always spring naturally from the needs of the characters or the drama.[128] The poetry depends on extended, sometimes elaborate metaphors and conceits, and the language is often rhetorical—written for actors to declaim rather than speak. The grand speeches in Titus Andronicus, in the view of some critics, often hold up the action, for example; and the verse in Two Gentlemen of Verona has been described as stilted.[129]

Soon, however, Shakespeare began to adapt the traditional styles to his own purposes. The opening soliloquy of Richard III has its roots in the self-declaration of Vice in medieval drama. At the same time, Richard’s vivid self-awareness looks forward to the soliloquies of Shakespeare's mature plays.[130] No single play marks a change from the traditional to the freer style. Shakespeare combined the two throughout his career, with Romeo and Juliet perhaps the best example of the mixing of the styles.[131] By the time of Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, and A Midsummer Night's Dream in the mid-1590s, Shakespeare had begun to write a more natural poetry. He increasingly tuned his metaphors and images to the needs of the drama itself.

Pity by William Blake, 1795, Tate Britain, is an illustration of two similes in Macbeth: "And pity, like a ***** new-born babe, / Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, hors'd / Upon the sightless couriers of the air".

Shakespeare's standard poetic form was blank verse, composed in iambic pentameter. In practice, this meant that his verse was usually unrhymed and consisted of ten syllables to a line, spoken with a stress on every second syllable. The blank verse of his early plays is quite different from that of his later ones. It is often beautiful, but its sentences tend to start, pause, and finish at the end of lines, with the risk of monotony.[132] Once Shakespeare mastered traditional blank verse, he began to interrupt and vary its flow. This technique releases the new power and flexibility of the poetry in plays such as Julius Caesar and Hamlet. Shakespeare uses it, for example, to convey the turmoil in Hamlet's mind:[133]
Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting
That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly—
And prais'd be rashness for it—let us know
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well...
Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2, 4–8[133]

After Hamlet, Shakespeare varied his poetic style further, particularly in the more emotional passages of the late tragedies. The literary critic A. C. Bradley described this style as "more concentrated, rapid, varied, and, in construction, less regular, not seldom twisted or elliptical".[134] In the last phase of his career, Shakespeare adopted many techniques to achieve these effects. These included run-on lines, irregular pauses and stops, and extreme variations in sentence structure and length.[135] In Macbeth, for example, the language darts from one unrelated metaphor or simile to another: "was the hope drunk/ Wherein you dressed yourself?" (1.7.35–38); "...pity, like a ***** new-born babe/ Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, hors'd/ Upon the sightless couriers of the air..." (1.7.21–25). The listener is challenged to complete the sense.[135] The late romances, with their shifts in time and surprising turns of plot, inspired a last poetic style in which long and short sentences are set against one another, clauses are piled up, subject and object are reversed, and words are omitted, creating an effect of spontaneity.[136]

Shakespeare's poetic genius was allied with a practical sense of the theatre.[137] Like all playwrights of the time, Shakespeare dramatised stories from sources such as Petrarch and Holinshed.[138] He reshaped each plot to create several centres of interest and show as many sides of a narrative to the audience as possible. This strength of design ensures that a Shakespeare play can survive translation, cutting and wide interpretation without loss to its core drama.[139] As Shakespeare’s mastery grew, he gave his characters clearer and more varied motivations and distinctive patterns of speech. He preserved aspects of his earlier style in the later plays, however. In his late romances, he deliberately returned to a more artificial style, which emphasised the illusion of theatre.[140]
Influence
Main article: Shakespeare's influence

Macbeth Consulting the Vision of the Armed Head. By Henry Fuseli, 1793–94. Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington.

Shakespeare's work has made a lasting impression on later theatre and literature. In particular, he expanded the dramatic potential of characterisation, plot, language, and genre.[141] Until Romeo and Juliet, for example, romance had not been viewed as a worthy topic for tragedy.[142] Soliloquies had been used mainly to convey information about characters or events; but Shakespeare used them to explore characters' minds.[143] His work heavily influenced later poetry. The Romantic poets attempted to revive Shakespearean verse drama, though with little success. Critic George Steiner described all English verse dramas from Coleridge to Tennyson as "feeble variations on Shakespearean themes."[144]

Shakespeare influenced novelists such as Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner, and Charles Dickens. The American novelist Herman Melville's soliloquies owe much to Shakespeare; his Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick is a classic tragic hero, inspired by King Lear.[145] Scholars have identified 20,000 pieces of music linked to Shakespeare's works. These include two operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Otello and Falstaff, whose critical standing compares with that of the source plays.[146] Shakespeare has also inspired many painters, including the Romantics and the Pre-Raphaelites. The Swiss Romantic artist Henry Fuseli, a friend of William Blake, even translated Macbeth into German.[147] The psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud drew on Shakespearean psychology, in particular that of Hamlet, for his theories of human nature.

In Shakespeare's day, English grammar and spelling were less standardised than they are now, and his use of language helped shape modern English.[148] Samuel Johnson quoted him more often than any other author in his A Dictionary of the English Language, the first serious work of its type.[149] Expressions such as "with bated breath" (Merchant of Venice) and "a foregone conclusion" (Othello) have found their way into everyday English speech.[150]
Critical reputation
Main articles: Shakespeare's reputation and Timeline of Shakespeare criticism
"He was not of an age, but for all time."
Ben Jonson[151]


Shakespeare was never revered in his lifetime, but he received his share of praise.[152] In 1598, the cleric and author Francis Meres singled him out from a group of English writers as "the most excellent" in both comedy and tragedy.[153] And the authors of the Parnassus plays at St John's College, Cambridge, numbered him with Chaucer, Gower and Spenser.[154] In the First Folio, Ben Jonson called Shakespeare the "Soul of the age, the applause, delight, the wonder of our stage", though he had remarked elsewhere that "Shakespeare wanted art".[155]

Ophelia (detail). By John Everett Millais, 1851–52. Tate Britain.

Between the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the end of the seventeenth century, classical ideas were in vogue. As a result, critics of the time mostly rated Shakespeare below John Fletcher and Ben Jonson.[156] Thomas Rymer, for example, condemned Shakespeare for mixing the comic with the tragic. Nevertheless, poet and critic John Dryden rated Shakespeare highly, saying of Jonson, "I admire him, but I love Shakespeare".[157] For several decades, Rymer's view held sway; but during the eighteenth century, critics began to respond to Shakespeare on his own terms and acclaim what they termed his natural genius. A series of scholarly editions of his work, notably those of Samuel Johnson in 1765 and Edmond Malone in 1790, added to his growing reputation.[158] By 1800, he was firmly enshrined as the national poet.[159] In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, his reputation also spread abroad. Among those who championed him were the writers Voltaire, Goethe, Stendhal and Victor Hugo.[160]

During the Romantic era, Shakespeare was praised by the poet and literary philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge; and the critic August Wilhelm Schlegel translated his plays in the spirit of German Romanticism.[161] In the nineteenth century, critical admiration for Shakespeare's genius often bordered on adulation.[162] "That King Shakespeare," the essayist Thomas Carlyle wrote in 1840, "does not he shine, in crowned sovereignty, over us all, as the noblest, gentlest, yet strongest of rallying signs; indestructible".[163] The Victorians produced his plays as lavish spectacles on a grand scale.[164] The playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw mocked the cult of Shakespeare worship as "bardolatry". He claimed that the new naturalism of Ibsen's plays had made Shakespeare obsolete.[165]

The modernist revolution in the arts during the early twentieth century, far from discarding Shakespeare, eagerly enlisted his work in the service of the avant garde. The Expressionists in Germany and the Futurists in Moscow mounted productions of his plays. Marxist playwright and director Bertolt Brecht devised an epic theatre under the influence of Shakespeare. The poet and critic T. S. Eliot argued against Shaw that Shakespeare's "primitiveness" in fact made him truly modern.[166] Eliot, along with G. Wilson Knight and the school of New Criticism, led a movement towards a closer reading of Shakespeare's imagery. In the 1950s, a wave of new critical approaches replaced modernism and paved the way for "post-modern" studies of Shakespeare.[167] By the eighties, Shakespeare studies were open to movements such as structuralism, feminism, New Historicism, African American studies, and queer studies.[168][169]
Speculation about Shakespeare
Authorship
Main article: Shakespeare authorship question

Around 150 years after Shakespeare's death, doubts began to emerge about the authorship of the works attributed to him.[170] Proposed alternative candidates include Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.[171] Several "group theories" have also been proposed.[172] While only a small minority of academics believe there is reason to question the traditional attribution,[173] popular interest in the subject, particularly the Oxfordian theory, continues into the 21st century.[174]
Religion
Main article: Shakespeare's religion

Some scholars claim that members of Shakespeare's family were Catholics, at a time when Catholic practice was against the law.[175] Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, certainly came from a pious Catholic family. The strongest evidence might be a Catholic statement of faith signed by John Shakespeare, found in 1757 in the rafters of his former house in Henley Street. The document is now lost, however, and scholars differ on its authenticity.[176] In 1591, the authorities reported that John had missed church "for fear of process for debt", a common Catholic excuse.[177] In 1606, William's daughter Susanna was listed among those who failed to attend Easter communion in Stratford.[177] Scholars find evidence both for and against Shakespeare's Catholicism in his plays, but the truth may be impossible to prove either way.[178]
***uality
Main article: ***uality of William Shakespeare

Few details of Shakespeare's ***uality are known. At 18, he married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant. Susanna, the first of their three children, was born six months later on 26 May 1583. However, over the centuries readers have pointed to Shakespeare's sonnets as evidence of his love for a young man. Others read the same passages as the expression of intense friendship rather than ***ual love.[179] At the same time, the twenty-six so-called "Dark Lady" sonnets, addressed to a married woman, are taken as evidence of hetero***ual liaisons.[180]
Portraiture
Main article: Portraits of Shakespeare

There is no written description of Shakespeare's physical appearance and no evidence that he ever commissioned a portrait, so the Droeshout engraving, which Ben Jonson approved of as a good likeness,[181] and his Stratford monument provide the best evidence of his appearance. From the eighteenth century, the desire for authentic Shakespeare portraits fueled claims that various surviving pictures depicted Shakespeare. That demand also led to the production of several fake portraits, as well as misattributions, repaintings and relabelling of portraits of other people.[182][183]
List of works
Further information: List of Shakespeare's works and Chronology of Shakespeare plays
Classification of the plays

The Plays of William Shakespeare. By Sir John Gilbert, 1849.

Shakespeare's works include the 36 plays printed in the First Folio of 1623, listed below according to their folio classification as comedies, histories and tragedies.[184] Two plays not included in the First Folio, The Two Noble Kinsmen and Pericles, Prince of Tyre, are now accepted as part of the canon, with scholars agreed that Shakespeare made a major contribution to their composition.[185] No poems were included in the First Folio.

In the late nineteenth century, Edward Dowden classified four of the late comedies as romances, and though many scholars prefer to call them tragicomedies, his term is often used.[186] These plays and the associated Two Noble Kinsmen are marked with an asterisk (*) below. In 1896, Frederick S. Boas coined the term "problem plays" to describe four plays: All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida and Hamlet.[187] "Dramas as singular in theme and temper cannot be strictly called comedies or tragedies", he wrote. "We may therefore borrow a convenient phrase from the theatre of today and class them together as Shakespeare's problem plays."[188] The term, much debated and sometimes applied to other plays, remains in use, though Hamlet is definitively classed as a tragedy.[189] The other problem plays are marked below with a double dagger (‡).

Plays thought to be only partly written by Shakespeare are marked with a dagger (†) below. Other works occasionally attributed to him are listed as apocrypha.and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political

This article is about the poet and playwright. For other persons of the same name, see William Shakespeare For other uses of "Shakespeare", see Shakespeare (disambiguation).
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – died 23 April 1616)[a] was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist.[1] He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".[2][b] His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of 38 plays,[c] 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.[3]

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, ***uality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.[4]

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613.[5][d] His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.

Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry".[6] In the twentieth 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 Early life

William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, a successful glover and alderman originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer.[7] He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised on 26 April 1564. His actual birthdate is unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, St George's Day.[8] This date, which can be traced back to an eighteenth-century scholar's mistake, has proved appealing because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616.[9] He was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son.[10]

Although no attendance records for the period survive, most biographers agree that Shakespeare was educated at the King's New School in Stratford,[11] a free school chartered in 1553,[12] about a quarter of a mile from his home. Grammar schools varied in quality during the Elizabethan era, but the curriculum was dictated by law throughout England,[13] and the school would have provided an intensive education in Latin grammar and the classics.

John Shakespeare's house, believed to be Shakespeare's birthplace, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. The consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. Two of Hathaway's neighbours posted bonds the next day as surety that there were no impediments to the marriage.[14] The couple may have arranged the ceremony in some haste, since the Worcester chancellor allowed the marriage banns to be read once instead of the usual three times.[15] Anne's pregnancy could have been the reason for this. Six months after the marriage, she gave birth to a daughter, Susanna, who was baptised on 26 May 1583.[16] Twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised on 2 February 1585.[17] Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried on 11 August 1596.[18]

After the birth of the twins, there are few historical traces of Shakespeare until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. Because of this gap, scholars refer to the years between 1585 and 1592 as Shakespeare's "lost years".[19] Biographers attempting to account for this period have reported many apocryphal stories. Nicholas Rowe, Shakespeare’s first biographer, recounted a Stratford legend that Shakespeare fled the town for London to escape prosecution for deer poaching.[20] Another eighteenth-century story has Shakespeare starting his theatrical career minding the horses of theatre patrons in London.[21] John Aubrey reported that Shakespeare had been a country schoolmaster.[22] Some twentieth-century scholars have suggested that Shakespeare may have been employed as a schoolmaster by Alexander Hoghton of Lancashire, a Catholic landowner who named a certain "William Shakeshafte" in his will.[23] No evidence substantiates such stories other than hearsay collected after his death.[24]
London and theatrical career
"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..."
As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7, 139–42.[25]


It is not known exactly when Shakespeare began writing, but contemporary allusions and records of performances show that several of his plays were on the London stage by 1592.[26] He was well enough known in London by then to be attacked in print by the playwright Robert Greene:

...there is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country.[27]

Scholars differ on the exact meaning of these words,[28] but most agree that Greene is accusing Shakespeare of reaching above his rank in trying to match university-educated writers, such as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe and Greene himself.[29] The italicised phrase parodying the line "Oh, tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide" from Shakespeare’s Henry VI, part 3, along with the pun "Shake-scene", identifies Shakespeare as Greene’s target.[30]

Greene’s attack is the first recorded mention of Shakespeare’s career in the theatre. Biographers suggest that his career may have begun any time from the mid-1580s to just before Greene’s remarks.[31] From 1594, Shakespeare's plays were performed only by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, a company owned by a group of players, including Shakespeare, that soon became the leading playing company in London.[32] After the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the company was awarded a royal patent by the new king, James I, and changed its name to the King's Men.[33]

In 1599, a partnership of company members built their own theatre on the south bank of the Thames, which they called the Globe. In 1608, the partnership also took over the Blackfriars indoor theatre. Records of Shakespeare's property purchases and investments indicate that the company made him a wealthy man.[34] In 1597, he bought the second-largest house in Stratford, New Place, and in 1605, he invested in a share of the parish tithes in Stratford.[35]

Some of Shakespeare's plays were published in quarto editions from 1594. By 1598, his name had become a selling point and began to appear on the title pages.[36] Shakespeare continued to act in his own and other plays after his success as a playwright. The 1616 edition of Ben Jonson's Works names him on the cast lists for Every Man in His Humour (1598) and Sejanus, His Fall (1603).[37] The absence of his name from the 1605 cast list for Jonson’s Volpone is taken by some scholars as a sign that his acting career was nearing its end.[38] The First Folio of 1623, however, lists Shakespeare as one of "the Principal Actors in all these Plays", some of which were first staged after Volpone, although we cannot know for certain what roles he played.[39] In 1610, John Davies of Hereford wrote that "good Will" played "kingly" roles.[40] In 1709, Rowe passed down a tradition that Shakespeare played the ghost of Hamlet's father.[41] Later traditions maintain that he also played Adam in As You Like It and the Chorus in Henry V,[42] though scholars doubt the sources of the information.[43]

Shakespeare divided his time between London and Stratford during his career. In 1596, the year before he bought New Place as his family home in Stratford, Shakespeare was living in the parish of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, north of the River Thames.[44] He moved across the river to Southwark by 1599, the year his company constructed the Globe Theatre there.[45] By 1604, he had moved north of the river again, to an area north of St Paul's Cathedral with many fine houses. There he rented rooms from a French Huguenot called Christopher Mountjoy, a maker of ladies' wigs and other headgear.[46]
Later years and death

Rowe was the first biographer to pass down the tradition that Shakespeare retired to Stratford some years before his death;[47] but retirement from all work was uncommon at that time,[48] and Shakespeare continued to visit London.[47] In 1612 he was called as a witness in a court case concerning the marriage settlement of Mountjoy's daughter, Mary.[49] In March 1613 he bought a gatehouse in the former Blackfriars priory;[50] and from November 1614 he was in London for several weeks with his son-in-law, John Hall.[51]

Shakespeare's funerary monument in Stratford-upon-Avon.

After 1606–1607, Shakespeare wrote fewer plays, and none are attributed to him after 1613.[52] His last three plays were collaborations, probably with John Fletcher,[53] who succeeded him as the house playwright for the King’s Men.[54]

Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616[55] and was survived by his wife and two daughters. Susanna had married a physician, John Hall, in 1607,[56] and Judith had married Thomas Quiney, a vintner, two months before Shakespeare’s death.[57]

In his will, Shakespeare left the bulk of his large estate to his elder daughter Susanna.[58] The terms instructed that she pass it down intact to "the first son of her body".[59] The Quineys had three children, all of whom died without marrying.[60] The Halls had one child, Elizabeth, who married twice but died without children in 1670, ending Shakespeare’s direct line.[61] Shakespeare's will scarcely mentions his wife, Anne, who was probably entitled to one third of his estate automatically. He did make a point, however, of leaving her "my second best bed", a bequest that has led to much speculation.[62] Some scholars see the bequest as an insult to Anne, whereas others believe that the second-best bed would have been the matrimonial bed and therefore rich in significance.[63]

Shakespeare was buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church two days after his death.[64] The stone slab covering his grave is inscribed with a curse against moving his bones:

Shakespeare's grave.
Good frend for Iesvs sake forbeare,
To digg the dvst encloased heare.
Blest be ye man yt spares thes stones,
And cvrst be he yt moves my bones.

Sometime before 1623, a monument was erected in his memory on the north wall, with a half-effigy of him in the act of writing. Its plaque compares him to Nestor, Socrates, and Virgil.[65] In 1623, in conjunction with the publication of the First Folio, the Droeshout engraving was published.[66]

Shakespeare has been commemorated in many statues and memorials around the world, including funeral monuments in Southwark Cathedral and Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey.
Plays
Main articles: Shakespeare's plays and Shakespeare's collaborations

Most playwrights of the period typically collaborated with others at some point, and critics agree that Shakespeare did the same, mostly early and late in his career.[67] Some attributions, such as Titus Andronicus and the early history plays, remain controversial, while The Two Noble Kinsmen and the lost Cardenio have well-attested contemporary documentation. Textual evidence also supports the view that several of the plays were revised by other writers after their original composition.

The first recorded works of Shakespeare are Richard III and the three parts of Henry VI, written in the early 1590s during a vogue for historical drama. Shakespeare's plays are difficult to date, however,[68] and studies of the texts suggest that Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona may also belong to Shakespeare’s earliest period.[69] His first histories, which draw heavily on the 1587 edition of Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland,[70] dramatise the destructive results of weak or corrupt rule and have been interpreted as a justification for the origins of the Tudor dynasty.[71] The early plays were influenced by the works of other Elizabethan dramatists, especially Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe, by the traditions of medieval drama, and by the plays of Seneca.[72] The Comedy of Errors was also based on classical models, but no source for the The Taming of the Shrew has been found, though it is related to a separate play of the same name and may have derived from a folk story.[73] Like The Two Gentlemen of Verona, in which two friends appear to approve of rape,[74] the Shrew's story of the taming of a woman's independent spirit by a man sometimes troubles modern critics and directors.[75]

Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing. By William Blake, c. 1786. Tate Britain.

Shakespeare's early classical and Italianate comedies, containing tight double plots and precise comic sequences, give way in the mid-1590s to the romantic atmosphere of his greatest comedies.[76] A Midsummer Night's Dream is a witty mixture of romance, fairy magic, and comic lowlife scenes.[77] Shakespeare's next comedy, the equally romantic The Merchant of Venice, contains a portrayal of the vengeful Jewish moneylender Shylock which reflected Elizabethan views but may appear derogatory to modern audiences.[78] The wit and wordplay of Much Ado About Nothing,[79] the charming rural setting of As You Like It, and the lively merrymaking of Twelfth Night complete Shakespeare's sequence of great comedies.[80] After the lyrical Richard II, written almost entirely in verse, Shakespeare introduced prose comedy into the histories of the late 1590s, Henry IV, parts 1 and 2, and Henry V. His characters become more complex and tender as he switches deftly between comic and serious scenes, prose and poetry, and achieves the narrative variety of his mature work.[81] This period begins and ends with two tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, the famous romantic tragedy of ***ually charged adolescence, love, and death;[82] and Julius Caesar—based on Sir Thomas North's 1579 translation of Plutarch's Parallel Lives—which introduced a new kind of drama.[83] According to Shakespearean scholar James Shapiro, in Julius Caesar "the various strands of politics, character, inwardness, contemporary events, even Shakespeare's own reflections on the act of writing, began to infuse each other".[84]

Hamlet, Horatio, Marcellus, and the Ghost of Hamlet's Father. Henry Fuseli, 1780–5. Kunsthaus Zürich.

In the early 1600s, Shakespeare wrote the so-called "problem plays" Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida, and All's Well That Ends Well and a number of his best known tragedies.[85] Many critics believe that Shakespeare's greatest tragedies represent the peak of his art. The hero of the first, Hamlet, has probably been more discussed than any other Shakespearean character, especially for his famous soliloquy "To be or not to be; that is the question."[86] Unlike the introverted Hamlet, whose fatal flaw is hesitation, the heroes of the tragedies that followed, Othello and King Lear, are undone by hasty errors of judgement.[87] The plots of Shakespeare's tragedies often hinge on such fatal errors or flaws, which overturn order and destroy the hero and those he loves.[88] In Othello, the villain Iago stokes Othello's ***ual jealousy to the point where he murders the innocent wife who loves him.[89] In King Lear, the old king commits the tragic error of giving up his powers, initiating the events which lead to the murder of his daughter and the torture and blinding of the Earl of Gloucester. According to the critic Frank Kermode, "the play offers neither its good characters nor its audience any relief from its cruelty".[90] In Macbeth, the shortest and most compressed of Shakespeare's tragedies,[91] uncontrollable ambition incites Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, to murder the rightful king and usurp the throne, until their own guilt destroys them in turn.[92] In this play, Shakespeare adds a supernatural element to the tragic structure. His last major tragedies, Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus, contain some of Shakespeare's finest poetry and were considered his most successful tragedies by the poet and critic T. S. Eliot.[93]

In his final period, Shakespeare turned to romance or tragicomedy and completed three more major plays: Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest, as well as the collaboration, Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Less bleak than the tragedies, these four plays are graver in tone than the comedies of the 1590s, but they end with reconciliation and the forgiveness of potentially tragic errors.[94] Some commentators have seen this change in mood as evidence of a more serene view of life on Shakespeare's part, but it may merely reflect the theatrical fashion of the day.[95] Shakespeare collaborated on two further surviving plays, Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen, probably with John Fletcher.[96]
Performances
Main article: Shakespeare in performance

It is not clear for which companies Shakespeare wrote his early plays. The title page of the 1594 edition of Titus Andronicus reveals that the play had been acted by three different troupes.[97] After the plagues of 1592–3, Shakespeare's plays were performed by his own company at The Theatre and the Curtain in Shoreditch, north of the Thames.[98] Londoners flocked there to see the first part of Henry IV, Leonard Digges recording, "Let but Falstaff come, Hal, Poins, the rest...and you scarce shall have a room".[99] When the company found themselves in dispute with their landlord, they pulled The Theatre down and used the timbers to construct the Globe Theatre, the first playhouse built by actors for actors, on the south bank of the Thames at Southwark.[100] The Globe opened in autumn 1599, with Julius Caesar one of the first plays staged. Most of Shakespeare's greatest post-1599 plays were written for the Globe, including Hamlet, Othello and King Lear.[101]

The reconstructed Globe Theatre, London.

After the Lord Chamberlain's Men were renamed the King's Men in 1603, they entered a special relationship with the new King James. Although the performance records are *****y, the King's Men performed seven of Shakespeare's plays at court between 1 November 1604 and 31 October 1605, including two performances of The Merchant of Venice.[102] After 1608, they performed at the indoor Blackfriars Theatre during the winter and the Globe during the summer.[103] The indoor setting, combined with the Jacobean fashion for lavishly staged masques, allowed Shakespeare to introduce more elaborate stage devices. In Cymbeline, for example, Jupiter descends "in thunder and lightning, sitting upon an eagle: he throws a thunderbolt. The ghosts fall on their knees."[104]

The actors in Shakespeare's company included the famous Richard Burbage, William Kempe, Henry Condell and John Heminges. Burbage played the leading role in the first performances of many of Shakespeare's plays, including Richard III, Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear.[105] The popular comic actor Will Kempe played the servant Peter in Romeo and Juliet and Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, among other characters.[106] He was replaced around the turn of the sixteenth century by Robert Armin, who played roles such as Touchstone in As You Like It and the fool in King Lear.[107] In 1613, Sir Henry Wotton recorded that Henry VIII "was set forth with many extraordinary circumstances of pomp and ceremony".[108] On 29 June, however, a cannon set fire to the thatch of the Globe and burned the theatre to the ground, an event which pinpoints the date of a Shakespeare play with rare precision.[108]
Textual sources

Title page of the First Folio, 1623. Copper engraving of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout.

In 1623, John Heminges and Henry Condell, two of Shakespeare's friends from the King's Men, published the First Folio, a collected edition of Shakespeare's plays. It contained 36 texts, including 18 printed for the first time.[109] Many of the plays had already appeared in quarto versions—flimsy books made from sheets of paper folded twice to make four leaves.[110] No evidence suggests that Shakespeare approved these editions, which the First Folio describes as "stol'n and surreptitious copies".[111] Alfred Pollard termed some of them "bad quartos" because of their adapted, paraphrased or garbled texts, which may in places have been reconstructed from memory.[112] Where several versions of a play survive, each differs from the other. The differences may stem from copying or printing errors, from notes by actors or audience members, or from Shakespeare's own papers.[113] In some cases, for example Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida and Othello, Shakespeare could have revised texts between the quarto and folio editions. The folio version of King Lear is so different from the 1608 quarto that the Oxford Shakespeare prints them both, since they cannot be conflated without confusion.[114]
Poems

In 1593 and 1594, when the theatres were closed because of plague, Shakespeare published two narrative poems on erotic themes, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. He dedicated them to Henry Wriothesley, earl of Southampton. In Venus and Adonis, an innocent Adonis rejects the ***ual advances of Venus; while in The Rape of Lucrece, the virtuous wife Lucrece is raped by the lustful Tarquin.[115] Influenced by Ovid's Metamorphoses,[116] the poems show the guilt and moral confusion that result from uncontrolled lust.[117] Both proved popular and were often reprinted during Shakespeare's lifetime. A third narrative poem, A Lover's Complaint, in which a young woman laments her seduction by a persuasive suitor, was printed in the first edition of the Sonnets in 1609. Most scholars now accept that Shakespeare wrote A Lover's Complaint. Critics consider that its fine qualities are marred by leaden effects.[118] The Phoenix and the Turtle, printed in Robert Chester's 1601 Love's Martyr, mourns the deaths of the legendary phoenix and his lover, the faithful turtle dove. In 1599, two early drafts of sonnets 138 and 144 appeared in The Passionate Pilgrim, published under Shakespeare's name but without his permission.[119]
Sonnets
Main article: Shakespeare's sonnets

Title page from 1609 edition of Shake-Speares Sonnets.

Published in 1609, the Sonnets were the last of Shakespeare's non-dramatic works to be printed. Scholars are not certain when each of the 154 sonnets was composed, but evidence suggests that Shakespeare wrote sonnets throughout his career for a private readership.[120] Even before the two unauthorised sonnets appeared in The Passionate Pilgrim in 1599, Francis Meres had referred in 1598 to Shakespeare's "sugred Sonnets among his private friends".[121] Few analysts believe that the published collection follows Shakespeare's intended sequence.[122] He seems to have planned two contrasting series: one about uncontrollable lust for a married woman of dark complexion (the "dark lady"), and one about conflicted love for a fair young man (the "fair youth"). It remains unclear if these figures represent real individuals, or if the authorial "I" who addresses them represents Shakespeare himself, though Wordsworth believed that with the sonnets "Shakespeare unlocked his heart".[123] The 1609 edition was dedicated to a "Mr. W.H.", credited as "the only begetter" of the poems. It is not known whether this was written by Shakespeare himself or by the publisher, Thomas Thorpe, whose initials appear at the foot of the dedication page; nor is it known who Mr. W.H. was, despite numerous theories, or whether Shakespeare even authorised the publication.[124] Critics praise the Sonnets as a profound meditation on the nature of love, ***ual passion, procreation, death, and time.[125]
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate..."
Lines from Shakespeare's Sonnet 18.[126]


The production of Shakespeare's Sonnets was in some way influenced by the Italian sonnet: it was popularised by Dante and Petrarch and refined in Spain and France by DuBellay and Ronsard.[127] Shakespeare probably had access to these last two authors, and read English poets as Richard Field and John Davies.[127] The French and Italian poets gave preference to the Italian form of sonnet—two groups of four lines, or quatrains (always rhymed a-b-b-a a-b-b-a) followed by two groups of three lines, or tercets (variously rhymed c-c-d e-e-d or c-c-d e-d-e)—which created a sonorous music in the vowel rich Romance languages, but in Shakespeare it is artificial and monotonous for the English language. To overcome this problem derived from the difference of language, Shakespeare chose to follow the idiomatic rhyme scheme used by Philip Sidney in his Astrophel and Stella (published posthumously in 1591), where the rhymes are interlaced in two pairs of couplets to make the quatrain.[127]
Style
Main article: Shakespeare's style

Shakespeare's first plays were written in the conventional style of the day. He wrote them in a stylised language that does not always spring naturally from the needs of the characters or the drama.[128] The poetry depends on extended, sometimes elaborate metaphors and conceits, and the language is often rhetorical—written for actors to declaim rather than speak. The grand speeches in Titus Andronicus, in the view of some critics, often hold up the action, for example; and the verse in Two Gentlemen of Verona has been described as stilted.[129]

Soon, however, Shakespeare began to adapt the traditional styles to his own purposes. The opening soliloquy of Richard III has its roots in the self-declaration of Vice in medieval drama. At the same time, Richard’s vivid self-awareness looks forward to the soliloquies of Shakespeare's mature plays.[130] No single play marks a change from the traditional to the freer style. Shakespeare combined the two throughout his career, with Romeo and Juliet perhaps the best example of the mixing of the styles.[131] By the time of Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, and A Midsummer Night's Dream in the mid-1590s, Shakespeare had begun to write a more natural poetry. He increasingly tuned his metaphors and images to the needs of the drama itself.

Pity by William Blake, 1795, Tate Britain, is an illustration of two similes in Macbeth: "And pity, like a ***** new-born babe, / Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, hors'd / Upon the sightless couriers of the air".

Shakespeare's standard poetic form was blank verse, composed in iambic pentameter. In practice, this meant that his verse was usually unrhymed and consisted of ten syllables to a line, spoken with a stress on every second syllable. The blank verse of his early plays is quite different from that of his later ones. It is often beautiful, but its sentences tend to start, pause, and finish at the end of lines, with the risk of monotony.[132] Once Shakespeare mastered traditional blank verse, he began to interrupt and vary its flow. This technique releases the new power and flexibility of the poetry in plays such as Julius Caesar and Hamlet. Shakespeare uses it, for example, to convey the turmoil in Hamlet's mind:[133]
Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting
That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly—
And prais'd be rashness for it—let us know
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well...
Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2, 4–8[133]

After Hamlet, Shakespeare varied his poetic style further, particularly in the more emotional passages of the late tragedies. The literary critic A. C. Bradley described this style as "more concentrated, rapid, varied, and, in construction, less regular, not seldom twisted or elliptical".[134] In the last phase of his career, Shakespeare adopted many techniques to achieve these effects. These included run-on lines, irregular pauses and stops, and extreme variations in sentence structure and length.[135] In Macbeth, for example, the language darts from one unrelated metaphor or simile to another: "was the hope drunk/ Wherein you dressed yourself?" (1.7.35–38); "...pity, like a ***** new-born babe/ Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, hors'd/ Upon the sightless couriers of the air..." (1.7.21–25). The listener is challenged to complete the sense.[135] The late romances, with their shifts in time and surprising turns of plot, inspired a last poetic style in which long and short sentences are set against one another, clauses are piled up, subject and object are reversed, and words are omitted, creating an effect of spontaneity.[136]

Shakespeare's poetic genius was allied with a practical sense of the theatre.[137] Like all playwrights of the time, Shakespeare dramatised stories from sources such as Petrarch and Holinshed.[138] He reshaped each plot to create several centres of interest and show as many sides of a narrative to the audience as possible. This strength of design ensures that a Shakespeare play can survive translation, cutting and wide interpretation without loss to its core drama.[139] As Shakespeare’s mastery grew, he gave his characters clearer and more varied motivations and distinctive patterns of speech. He preserved aspects of his earlier style in the later plays, however. In his late romances, he deliberately returned to a more artificial style, which emphasised the illusion of theatre.[140]
Influence
Main article: Shakespeare's influence

Macbeth Consulting the Vision of the Armed Head. By Henry Fuseli, 1793–94. Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington.

Shakespeare's work has made a lasting impression on later theatre and literature. In particular, he expanded the dramatic potential of characterisation, plot, language, and genre.[141] Until Romeo and Juliet, for example, romance had not been viewed as a worthy topic for tragedy.[142] Soliloquies had been used mainly to convey information about characters or events; but Shakespeare used them to explore characters' minds.[143] His work heavily influenced later poetry. The Romantic poets attempted to revive Shakespearean verse drama, though with little success. Critic George Steiner described all English verse dramas from Coleridge to Tennyson as "feeble variations on Shakespearean themes."[144]

Shakespeare influenced novelists such as Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner, and Charles Dickens. The American novelist Herman Melville's soliloquies owe much to Shakespeare; his Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick is a classic tragic hero, inspired by King Lear.[145] Scholars have identified 20,000 pieces of music linked to Shakespeare's works. These include two operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Otello and Falstaff, whose critical standing compares with that of the source plays.[146] Shakespeare has also inspired many painters, including the Romantics and the Pre-Raphaelites. The Swiss Romantic artist Henry Fuseli, a friend of William Blake, even translated Macbeth into German.[147] The psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud drew on Shakespearean psychology, in particular that of Hamlet, for his theories of human nature.

In Shakespeare's day, English grammar and spelling were less standardised than they are now, and his use of language helped shape modern English.[148] Samuel Johnson quoted him more often than any other author in his A Dictionary of the English Language, the first serious work of its type.[149] Expressions such as "with bated breath" (Merchant of Venice) and "a foregone conclusion" (Othello) have found their way into everyday English speech.[150]
Critical reputation
Main articles: Shakespeare's reputation and Timeline of Shakespeare criticism
"He was not of an age, but for all time."
Ben Jonson[151]


Shakespeare was never revered in his lifetime, but he received his share of praise.[152] In 1598, the cleric and author Francis Meres singled him out from a group of English writers as "the most excellent" in both comedy and tragedy.[153] And the authors of the Parnassus plays at St John's College, Cambridge, numbered him with Chaucer, Gower and Spenser.[154] In the First Folio, Ben Jonson called Shakespeare the "Soul of the age, the applause, delight, the wonder of our stage", though he had remarked elsewhere that "Shakespeare wanted art".[155]

Ophelia (detail). By John Everett Millais, 1851–52. Tate Britain.

Between the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the end of the seventeenth century, classical ideas were in vogue. As a result, critics of the time mostly rated Shakespeare below John Fletcher and Ben Jonson.[156] Thomas Rymer, for example, condemned Shakespeare for mixing the comic with the tragic. Nevertheless, poet and critic John Dryden rated Shakespeare highly, saying of Jonson, "I admire him, but I love Shakespeare".[157] For several decades, Rymer's view held sway; but during the eighteenth century, critics began to respond to Shakespeare on his own terms and acclaim what they termed his natural genius. A series of scholarly editions of his work, notably those of Samuel Johnson in 1765 and Edmond Malone in 1790, added to his growing reputation.[158] By 1800, he was firmly enshrined as the national poet.[159] In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, his reputation also spread abroad. Among those who championed him were the writers Voltaire, Goethe, Stendhal and Victor Hugo.[160]

During the Romantic era, Shakespeare was praised by the poet and literary philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge; and the critic August Wilhelm Schlegel translated his plays in the spirit of German Romanticism.[161] In the nineteenth century, critical admiration for Shakespeare's genius often bordered on adulation.[162] "That King Shakespeare," the essayist Thomas Carlyle wrote in 1840, "does not he shine, in crowned sovereignty, over us all, as the noblest, gentlest, yet strongest of rallying signs; indestructible".[163] The Victorians produced his plays as lavish spectacles on a grand scale.[164] The playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw mocked the cult of Shakespeare worship as "bardolatry". He claimed that the new naturalism of Ibsen's plays had made Shakespeare obsolete.[165]

The modernist revolution in the arts during the early twentieth century, far from discarding Shakespeare, eagerly enlisted his work in the service of the avant garde. The Expressionists in Germany and the Futurists in Moscow mounted productions of his plays. Marxist playwright and director Bertolt Brecht devised an epic theatre under the influence of Shakespeare. The poet and critic T. S. Eliot argued against Shaw that Shakespeare's "primitiveness" in fact made him truly modern.[166] Eliot, along with G. Wilson Knight and the school of New Criticism, led a movement towards a closer reading of Shakespeare's imagery. In the 1950s, a wave of new critical approaches replaced modernism and paved the way for "post-modern" studies of Shakespeare.[167] By the eighties, Shakespeare studies were open to movements such as structuralism, feminism, New Historicism, African American studies, and queer studies.[168][169]
Speculation about Shakespeare
Authorship
Main article: Shakespeare authorship question

Around 150 years after Shakespeare's death, doubts began to emerge about the authorship of the works attributed to him.[170] Proposed alternative candidates include Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.[171] Several "group theories" have also been proposed.[172] While only a small minority of academics believe there is reason to question the traditional attribution,[173] popular interest in the subject, particularly the Oxfordian theory, continues into the 21st century.[174]
Religion
Main article: Shakespeare's religion

Some scholars claim that members of Shakespeare's family were Catholics, at a time when Catholic practice was against the law.[175] Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, certainly came from a pious Catholic family. The strongest evidence might be a Catholic statement of faith signed by John Shakespeare, found in 1757 in the rafters of his former house in Henley Street. The document is now lost, however, and scholars differ on its authenticity.[176] In 1591, the authorities reported that John had missed church "for fear of process for debt", a common Catholic excuse.[177] In 1606, William's daughter Susanna was listed among those who failed to attend Easter communion in Stratford.[177] Scholars find evidence both for and against Shakespeare's Catholicism in his plays, but the truth may be impossible to prove either way.[178]
***uality
Main article: ***uality of William Shakespeare

Few details of Shakespeare's ***uality are known. At 18, he married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant. Susanna, the first of their three children, was born six months later on 26 May 1583. However, over the centuries readers have pointed to Shakespeare's sonnets as evidence of his love for a young man. Others read the same passages as the expression of intense friendship rather than ***ual love.[179] At the same time, the twenty-six so-called "Dark Lady" sonnets, addressed to a married woman, are taken as evidence of hetero***ual liaisons.[180]
Portraiture
Main article: Portraits of Shakespeare

There is no written description of Shakespeare's physical appearance and no evidence that he ever commissioned a portrait, so the Droeshout engraving, which Ben Jonson approved of as a good likeness,[181] and his Stratford monument provide the best evidence of his appearance. From the eighteenth century, the desire for authentic Shakespeare portraits fueled claims that various surviving pictures depicted Shakespeare. That demand also led to the production of several fake portraits, as well as misattributions, repaintings and relabelling of portraits of other people.[182][183]
List of works
Further information: List of Shakespeare's works and Chronology of Shakespeare plays
Classification of the plays

The Plays of William Shakespeare. By Sir John Gilbert, 1849.

Shakespeare's works include the 36 plays printed in the First Folio of 1623, listed below according to their folio classification as comedies, histories and tragedies.[184] Two plays not included in the First Folio, The Two Noble Kinsmen and Pericles, Prince of Tyre, are now accepted as part of the canon, with scholars agreed that Shakespeare made a major contribution to their composition.[185] No poems were included in the First Folio.

In the late nineteenth century, Edward Dowden classified four of the late comedies as romances, and though many scholars prefer to call them tragicomedies, his term is often used.[186] These plays and the associated Two Noble Kinsmen are marked with an asterisk (*) below. In 1896, Frederick S. Boas coined the term "problem plays" to describe four plays: All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida and Hamlet.[187] "Dramas as singular in theme and temper cannot be strictly called comedies or tragedies", he wrote. "We may therefore borrow a convenient phrase from the theatre of today and class them together as Shakespeare's problem plays."[188] The term, much debated and sometimes applied to other plays, remains in use, though Hamlet is definitively classed as a tragedy.[189] The other problem plays are marked below with a double dagger (‡).

Plays thought to be only partly written by Shakespeare are marked with a dagger (†) below. Other works occasionally attributed to him are listed as apocrypha.and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political

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