William Shakespeare
1564–1616
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1564, and died there in 1616, his life unfolding within an Elizabethan England where theater was becoming the preeminent art form of a vibrant era. Between these two dates lay an existence perfectly in tune with its century, that of a late yet dazzling English Renaissance, where the language itself was being forged in the verses of poets and on the stages of London theaters.
At eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway and became the father of three children: Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith. The premature death of his son Hamnet in 1596, when the boy was only eleven, left a deep scar on his life. Yet it was in London that Shakespeare built his career, not only as a playwright but also as an actor and a shrewd businessman within the Lord Chamberlain's Men acting company, in which he held shares.
His theatrical work has bequeathed us monumental masterpieces: Hamlet with its melancholic prince questioning the very nature of existence, Othello and his destructive passion, King Lear, which pushes madness and filial ingratitude to the point of cosmic rupture, and Macbeth, where ambition devours those it possesses. In these tragedies, Shakespeare plumbs the depths of the human soul with an acuity that transcends centuries, creating characters whose psychological complexity remains unparalleled.
His material success attests to a keen business sense: he purchased the prestigious home New Place in Stratford in 1597, became a partner in the construction of the famous Globe Theatre in 1599, and later took control of the Blackfriars Theatre in 1608. This prosperity allowed him to retire to his hometown around 1613, where he would live out his final years as a respected notable.
Seven years after his death, in 1623, two of his actor friends gathered and published his plays in what is known as the First Folio, an act of devotion that saved his work from oblivion. Without this posthumous edition, how many of his dramas would have been lost? This publication reminds us that genius sometimes requires custodians to traverse time and continue speaking to us of who we are, of our passions and our torments, with a truthfulness that makes every performance a rediscovery.
Bibliography
- HamletExplored
- Othello
- King Lear
- Macbeth
In the library
Original profile — La Lettre Littéraire, from verified public sources.