William Shakespeare (1564- 1616)
William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon. The son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, he was probably educated at the King Edward IV Grammar School in Stratford, where he learned Latin and Greek and read the Roman dramatists. At eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, a woman seven or eight years older than him. Together they raised two daughters: Susanna, who was born in 1583, and Judith (whose twin brother died in boyhood)
Although William Shakespeare is viewed as the model English writer, Shakespeare's poems and plays have altered the course of European and World literature. The shadow that William Shakespeare has cast over the world has influenced artists, poets, philosophers, and thinkers.
Shakespeare influenced the Renaissance in the following ways:
William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon. The son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, he was probably educated at the King Edward IV Grammar School in Stratford, where he learned Latin and Greek and read the Roman dramatists. At eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, a woman seven or eight years older than him. Together they raised two daughters: Susanna, who was born in 1583, and Judith (whose twin brother died in boyhood)
Although William Shakespeare is viewed as the model English writer, Shakespeare's poems and plays have altered the course of European and World literature. The shadow that William Shakespeare has cast over the world has influenced artists, poets, philosophers, and thinkers.
Shakespeare influenced the Renaissance in the following ways:
- Shakespeare updated the simplistic, two-dimensional writing style of pre-renaissance drama. He focused on creating “human” characters with psychologically complexity.
- The upheaval in the accepted social hierarchy allowed Shakespeare to explore the humanity of every character regardless of their social position. Even monarchs are given human emotions and are capable of making mistakes.
- Shakespeare utilized his knowledge of Greek and Roman classics when writing his plays. Before the renaissance, these texts had been suppressed by the Catholic Church.