13.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Brief biography: William Shakespeare is one of the Britain's most famous writers. His plays and
sonnets (a type of poem) have been translated and read all over the world. He was born in Stratfordupon-Avon in 1564, where he grew up. He married Anne Hathaway and they had three children, but
he left his family behind and travelled to London to become a playwright. In London, Shakespeare
started a very successful career as an actor and writer. He was also part owner of a playing
company (company of actors) called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later the King's Men. The
company built their own open-air theatre on the south bank of the River Thames the Globe. Going
to the theatre became very popular in the 1600s so Shakespeare became a very well-known
playwright. Even Queen Elizabeth I. was a big fan of his plays. When he eventually retired and
moved back to Stratford he was a rich and successful man. He died in 1616 aged 52 and is buried in
Stratford.
Periods of work: He was active writer about 20 years and his works can be divided into the 4
periods. In the first period there are mainly historical plays like Richard III. And early comedies like
The Taming of the Shrew. In the second period he wrote the only one tragedy Romeo and Juliet,
then some historical plays and optimistic comedies like The Merchant of Venice. The third period is
known like a period of tragedies and it's the top of his work. He wrote Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth
and King Lear. In the last forth period, he wrote for example The Winter's Tale or The Tempest.
Shakespeare's works (Titles): Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and 157 sonnets. His plays are written
mostly in blank-verse. One of his most famous plays is Romeo and Juliet, which is a tragic love
story about two lovers from feuding families. Hamlet is thought to be his best play and is about a
prince who gets revenge on his uncle for the murder of the king, the prince's father. Shakespeare's
plays are often classified as being either tragedies, like King Lear or Macbeth, comedies like A
Midsummer Night's Dream or The Taming of the Shrew, or they are historical, like Henry IV or
King John.
Poetry: About the poetry, there are lots of really famous pieces like Shakespeares sonnets, Venus
and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, The Passionate Pilgrim, The Phoenix and the Turtle and
A Lover's Comlaint.
ROMEO AND JULIET
Genre: I think that Romeo and Juliet is the best known tragedy all over the world. It is about the
unhappy love and death.
Scene: Play Romeo and Juliet takes place around the late 1400s and the plot is located in the Italian
city called Verona.
Characters: The main character are Romeo Montague and Julie Capulet the only children of two
powerful houses of Verona, which hate each other. Julie is the 13-year-old daughter of Capulet, and
the play's female protagonist. Romeo is the play's male protagonist. Then there are Tybalt, cousin of
Juliet, Benvolio, cousin of Romeo, and Mercutio, Romeo's best friend.
Plot: Romeo fell in love with Juliet. They got married in secret because their families hated one
other and did not want to allow them to become husband and wife. In a quarrel, a few days after

wedding, Romeo unfortunately killed one of Juliet's cousins Tybalt, so prince of Verona sent him to
the exile outside Verona. Juliet's parents didn't know about the secret wedding of their daughter and
they wished her to marry a rich nobleman called Paris. To escape this, she took a dug which made
her fallen into such a deep sleep that people thought her to be dead. Meanwhile Romeo wanted to
come secretly to Verona and take Juliet away with him. Unlucky he found his loved beauty in her
deep sleep and he believed Juliet to be dead, so he poisoned himself. When Juliet awoke and saw
Romeo's dead body, she killed herself too. Over the death children their parents made peace but too
late for their children.