5. What kind of heroes Christopher Marlowe portrayed in
his tragedies?
6. Speak about “Сафе diem poetry”.
7. Recite any Carpe diem poem you know by heart and define
its idea.
8. Who is the author of the best English satirical comedies?
9. What contribution did Ben Jonson make to English literature?
10. What English writers can be listed as the followers o f Ben
Jonson?
William
Shakespeare
(1564 - 1616)
A poet and playwright William Shakespeare is the favorite
author of millions of readers all over the world. No other writer’s
plays have been produced so often and read so widely in so many
different countries. He had a greater
influence on the world
literature than any other author.
William Shakespeare was bom in 1564, on April 23 in Stratford-
on-Avon, in England. His father, John Shakespeare, was a
prosperous
glove maker of Stratford who, after holding miner
municipal offices, was elected high bailiff (the equivalent of mayor)
of Stratford. Shakespeare’s mother. Mary Arden, came from a
family oflandowners.
In his childhood Shakespeare attended the Stratford Grammar
School.
Shakespeare’s contemporaries first
admired him for his long
narrative poems “Venus and Adonis” (1593) and “The Rape of
Lucrece” (1594).
In 1599 the best-known of Elizabethan theatres,
the Globe,
was buili and Shakespeare became a leading shareholder and the
principal playwright to the theatre company. He was also an actor,
but not a first-rate one: the parts he played were the old servant
Adam in “As You like It” and the Ghost in “Hamlet”.
In 1613, after the Globe had been destroyed by fire during a
performance of “Henry VIII” he retired and stopped writing. By
then he was very ill. He died on April 23, 1616 and was buried in
the Holy Trinity church in Stratford where he was christened.
Although some o f Shakespeare’s plays were published during
his life-time, noi until his death was any
attempt made to collect
them in a single volume. The first edition of Shakespeare’s
collected plays appeared in 1623.
Shakespeare’s works are truly immortal, and will retain their
immortality as long as the human race exists. He is a true classic;
every new generation finds something new and unperceived in
his works. His popularity all over the world grows from year to
year. More than four hundred years after his birth the plays of
Shakespeare are performed even more often than they were during
his lifetlne. They are performed on the stage, in the movies, and
on television. They are read by millions of people all over the
world.
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