who is shakespeare?

Answer 1

who is shakespeare?


Welcome to Yahoo! Answers, jithu c!

Thank you for asking such a significant question. I apologize for the rudeness of some US high-school students and graduates who assume their "little knowledge" is shared by people of all cultures, countries, and backgrounds. What their "little knowledge” prevents their admitting is how very little we do know in answer to your question.

The most famous literature in the English language, including some 38 plays (farces, problem comedies, historical fiction, tragedies, romances), and 154 sonnets, as well as a few other works, are attributed to one William Shakespeare (or Shakspere, or Shake-spear). Though scores of books (even hundreds) have been written about his life and probably hundreds of thousands about his works, we actually do not know for sure who he was or very much about him personally. Think of him along with the authors of the Iliad (whom we call Homer), the Torah (whom we call Moses), the Ramayana, the Mahabarata, the Nibelungenlied, El Cid, and other massive literary works whom speakers of other languages have enjoyed and studied for hundreds of years. Whether we know their names, whether they were each a single person, doesn’t matter. We admire their work. English, a comparatively young language, focuses on works written more recently than most of these ancient classics.

Shake-spear has been most often identified with a young actor from an English village, who at age 18 had married an older woman, already three months pregnant. He separated from her and came too London in the 1890s, where be developed a reputation as a vociferous actor and established his own company, He was there perhaps as long as 25 years and then retired home, where he died at age 52, with little or no public recognition.

Though there is some scant legal documentation of this actor’s life and work, there is no actual proof that he, single-handedly, wrote any of the works attributed to him. In fact, if he did, it is indeed the greatest literary miracle of all times, for there clearly was nothing in his education, experience, travels, documented achievements, or cultural background that would have prepared him to write, using all the classical and modern allusions, little-known stories, historical details, geographical authenticity, and philosophical depth represented in the plays attributed to him.

There have been a number of theories to explain this inexplicable genius:

(1) Just that: he was a genius, inspired by God or the Muses to do the impossible.

(2) He was assisted in his writing by members of his acting company and/or noblemen, interested in theatre, but unwilling or unable to take public credit.

(3) His simply assumed the public identity of another writer, who for whatever reason needed to maintain his anonymity. One suggestion is that Christopher Marlowe, a playwright, roustabout, and probably a spy, faked his death, but continued writing over the signature of the actor.

(4) He was another person, who wrote under the pseudonym Shake-[a]-spear because he wanted to satirize Elizabethan and later Jacobean courtiers but not to subject himself and/or his family to the disdain, even punishment, that might have been leveled against such a sharp-tongued, witty, iconoclastic author.

Recently, in a book entitled “Shakespeare” by Another Name, a provocative case has been made for theory #4. The courtier is identified as the Earl of Oxford, born Edward de Vere, whose education, life, travels, escapades, feuds, travails, languages, interests in writing and in theatre, and need for anonymity are remarkably well aligned with the plays. The author, a researcher named Mark Anderson, even makes a convincing case that the painting ordinarily presented as the portrait of William Shakespeare is actually one of Oxford, at one time held (and perhaps disguised) by his family.

So to answer your question, we do not really know who Shakespeare was, not for sure about his life at least. But we do know him through his work, and in that role he is still the undisputed #1 author in the English language and perhaps the most distinguished dramatist of all time in the whole world. Whoever he was (whether the “deceased” Marlowe or the controversial Earl of Oxford or the actor from Stratford-upon-Avon), he is dead and buried. But his creations, Hamlet and Falstaff and Bottom and Shylock and Iago and Lady Macbeth and Rosalind and Juliet and Lear and Prospero will live on and on.

Ben Jonson, his critic and rival, in a eulogy published as a preface to his works when they were first collected and published, called him a Star among the poets. So be it!

Answer 2

Terry Shakespeare has directed the following movies, ordered with the most recent movie first.

Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows (2005)
Starring: Kathleen Barr, Paul Dobson
Directors: David Molina, Terry Shakespeare


Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui (2004)
Starring: Michael Dobson, Christopher Gaze
Directors: David Molina, Terry Shakespeare


Bionicle: Mask of Light (2003)
Starring: Michael Dobson, Leslie Ewan
Directors: Terry Shakespeare, David Molina


All true.

Answer 3

If that's what you mean, there's no absolute certainty that Shakeapeare's plays were all written by the very same person. That having been said, if there was more than one, nobody knows who they were. From the style though, and because there was a Shakespeare that founded the Globe Theatre in London and wrote several important plays, I suppose it's possible that there may have been one Shakespeare and not more.

Answer 4

William Shakespeare (baptised April 26, 1564 – died April 23, 1616)[1] was an English poet and playwright widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language, as well as one of the greatest in Western literature, and the world's preeminent dramatist.[2] He wrote about 38 plays and 154 sonnets, as well as a variety of other poems. Already a popular writer in his own lifetime, Shakespeare's reputation became increasingly celebrated after his death and his work adulated by numerous prominent cultural figures through the centuries.[3] In addition, Shakespeare is the most quoted writer in the literature and history of the English-speaking world.[4] He is often considered to be England's national poet[5] and is sometimes referred to as the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard") [6] or the "Swan of Avon".

Answer 5

William Shakespeare or the guy who lives under the bridge screaming at the children to bring goats to him?

The guy under the bridge is called Shakespeare and he cannot fly.

William Shakespeare's bio can be found on wikipedia.

Answer 6

William Shakespeare, he is rated as one of the best people in the world for his English literature. He was the Author of many plays, poems and sonnets. He was an English man and although long dead, his works live on.

Answer 7

Shakespeare, William

1564—1616, English dramatist and poet, b. Stratford-on-Avon. He is considered the greatest playwright who ever lived.

Answer 8

Well, you have two choices,
1. he was the play write who wrote, Richard III, Hamlet, Mid summers Night Dream, Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo & Juliet, several sonnets and poems,
2. a company that used to make fishing rods.

Answer 9

are you delusional???? i wanted and convinced my mom to buy me the complete works of william shakespeare...when i was 8!!!
google him if you honestly don't know who the guy is.

Answer 10

CORRECTION....Who was Shakespeare!