WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
SHAKESPEARE VIDEO
Who was Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare was a poet and a playwright.
He is considered the greatest writer in the English language.
When was he born?
He was born in 1564, probably on April the 23rd.
Where was he born?
He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
What do we know about his family?
His father, John, was a glove-maker. His mother, Mary, was a farmer’s daughter.
He had two older sisters, two younger sisters and three younger brothers.
What did he do when he was young?
William probably studied Latin, Greek and History, and left school when he was 14 or 15.
Three years later, when he was 18, in 1592, he married Anne Hathaway.
They had 3 children: a daughter called Susanna and twins named Judith and Hamnet.
Shakespeare in London
He liked the theatre, so he left Stratford and went to London, the capital city of England.
His family remained in Stratford.
Shakespeare worked in London as an actor and then started writing plays too.
When he was 30 years old, in 1594, the plague, a terrible disease, killed thousands of people.
Theatres were closed. During this time William wrote poems instead of plays. His short poems are called sonnets.
The Globe Theatre
With the money he earned, Shakespeare helped build a new theatre called The Globe. It was round and had space for 3,000 people. At The Globe some people stood in front of the stage and others had seats. The audience shouted, clapped, booed and laughed during the plays. Musicians created special noises to make the plays more exciting and they had a cannon to make big bangs! No women acted in Shakespeare’s time: men and boys played all the parts
His plays
Shakespeare wrote comedies with happy endings, like A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
He wrote tragedies with sad endings, like Romeo and Juliet.
His history plays are about kings and queens, like Henry V.
Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, maybe more.
He loved language and invented 1700 new words and expressions that we still use today.
William became rich and famous. He had houses in London and in Stratford.
He died when he was 52, in 1616.
His plays and poetry were very popular 400 years ago and they are still popular today.
People all over the world love his work because he wrote wonderful stories about very interesting people.
Shakespeare’s First Folio (a collection of 36 plays) was published in 1623.
https://youtu.be/AhEQDKZxvZY?feature=shared
Altri video
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/listen-watch/short-stories/hamlet
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/listen-watch/short-stories/macbeth
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/listen-watch/short-stories/romeo-juliet
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/listen-watch/short-stories/twelfth-night
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/listen-watch/short-stories/much-ado-about-nothing
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/listen-watch/short-stories/midsummer-nights-dream
Let’s practice talking about Shakespeare. Answer to the following questions:
Who was William Shakespeare?
When was he born?
Where was he born?
Who were his parents?
What did he probably study at school?
How old was he when he left school?
Who was his wife?
How many children did he have?
Why did he go to London?
What was his job there?
- What happened when he was 30 years old?
What did he write when theatres were closed?
What was the name of the new theatre?
How many people could watch a play there?
What did the audience do during the plays?
What did the musicians do?
Could women act in the plays?
What kind of plays did Shakespeare write?
Was he rich and famous?
When did he die?
Why do people love his works?
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