William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Life
He is considered to be the greatest of all dramatists all over the world. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was the son of a glove maker John Shakespeare and his wife Mary Arden. He was their youngest son (he had one sister and one brother). William attended the local grammar school. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway from a nearby village Shottery. She was 8 years older than William and they had two daughters - Susan and Judith. Judith had a twin Hamnet but he died at the age of 11.
Little of Shakespeare's life is known until 1592 when he came to London and joined a group of actors known as the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which became the King's Men under the patronage of James I. In 1599 he bought the Globe Theatre. First he helped adapt or re-write older plays but later he started to write his own plays and he was very successful. Both the Queen Elizabeth I and James I liked him very much. His plays were first published in 1623.
After acting and writing and after his son's death he went back to Stratford and lived a quiet life with his family. He made a fortune so he could buy a new fine house in Stratford. He died on the same day as he was born (on 23rd April). The legend says that he died after a louder and noisier birthday celebration with his friends. He is buried at local Trinity Church. There are only two portraits of Shakespeare, which are authentic and one of them is the bust in Stratford at Trinity Church.
Work
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and beautiful sonnets. His mastery lies in his human vision, which recognizes the complexity of moral questions and in the richness of his language. He wrote comedies, history plays and tragedies.
Comedies
The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentleman of Verona, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer-Night’s dream, Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado about Nothing, As You Like It, Twelfth Night.
History plays
Henry VI, Richard III. Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Julius, Caesar.
Tragedies
Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello.
Romeo and Juliet is about the unhappy love and death of Romeo and Juliet, the only children of two powerful houses of Verona - the House of Montague and the House of Capulet. These two houses hate each other and Romeo Montague meets Juliet at the ball. He falls in love with her although he knows that she is Capulet. They love each other very much and ask Friar Laurence to marry them. Their love and marriage are secret and by an unfortunate coincidence Romeo kills Tybalt who is Julie’s cousin. Prince of Verona sends Romeo to the exile outside Verona and young Juliet is forced to get married to a young nobleman called Paris. She asks Friar Laurence for help again and he gives her magic drops after which she fells asleep for several hours and looks as if she was dead. Romeo learns about Juliet’s death in Mantua and hurries to the Capulet’s Monument in a churchyard. He does not know about the trick and kills himself. Soon after that Juliet wakes up and when she sees Romeo dead, she kills herself too. Both Montague and Capulet Houses reconcilied after the death of their beloved children. "See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love."
In Hamlet, Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, has succeeded Hamlet’s father (the king of Denmark) and marries the Queen. The ghost of the dead king appears to Hamlet at Elsinor Castle and tells him about his murder (Claudius and the Queen killed him). Hamlet wants to revenge his father's death. He pretends to be mad because he does not know how to find some proof against Claudius and he seems to be too weak to decide, he hesitates if he is the right person to punish others' sins. He tries to test the story of the murder with a theatrical performance during which the murder is re-enacted and, by seeing the story, King Claudius betrays himself. He sends Hamlet to England to be killed. Later Hamlet returns to Denmark and sees Ophelia's funeral. Ophelia loves Hamlet but they cannot fulfill their love because of Hamlet’s plans. He pretends his madness even before Ophelia and she, crazed with grief, perlshes by drowning. Claudius is alarmed and wants to destroy Hamlet. When Hamlet kills only by mistake Polonius, Ophelia’s father, Claudius sends Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, to a fencing match with Hamlet. Hamlet is wounded by Laertes’s poisoned sword. He manages to stab Claudius, and Laertes is dying too. Hamlet's mother drinks poisoned wine destined for Hamlet. This is a tragedy of the sufferings and hesitation of an honest, strong and responsible man who is not able to kill or punish without having a clear proof or guilt.
King Lear is a tragedy of loyalty and treason. King Lear banishes his youngest daughter Cordelia who, being asked how much she loves her father, does not speak to him with insincere affection like her sisters Regan and Goneril, but says that she loves him according to her duty. King Lear is also later banished by his two daughters, between whom he has divided his kingdom. He is left in a cruel storm and loses his wits. Cordelia comes to help him, but she is imprisoned and hanged and King Lear dies of grief. The tragedy illustrates the complete chaos whichprevai1s in a state not properly governed by a weak ruler.
Inspiration for Czech Artists
Shakespeare's heroes, moral questions and human sufferings inspired many artists or the periods after him: e.g. Guiseppe Verdi, Sergej Prokofjev, L. v. Beethoven, P. I. Čajkovský.
Many artists from our country were inspired as Will Shakespeare’s plays were translated for the first time only in 1786 (Macbeth by Karel Ignác Thám) and staged after the beginning of the 19th century (J. J. Kolár: Macbeth, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice). Neruda and Hálek pushed his plays on a Czech stage. The most important translator here was Josef Václav Sládek who translated nearly all work of Shakespeare in the-second half of the 19th century. Among further translators belong: A. Klášterský, E. A. Saudek, B. Franěk, Josef Topol, M. Žantovský, M. Hilský.
Lots of painters, poets and other artists here draw from Shakespeare's motives, e.g. Karel Purkyně, Vladimír Holan, Voskovec and Werich, Ota Gutfreund, František Mužik and Josef Šíma, Ota Janeček, Jiří Trnka, Jan Zrzavý, Ivan Vyskočil.
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