William Shakespeare is one of the greatest playwrights in history. His works have served as the basis for countless theatrical productions and films, although, of course, his most famous novels remain Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.

1. William Shakespeare is deservedly considered the greatest of the English language writers and the most successful playwright in the world - no other writer's works can be compared with his plays in the frequency of productions in theaters around the globe.
2. Very little information has been preserved about Shakespeare's life, so the point of view is still quite popular that the works attributed to him were written by another person or even a group of people. Skeptics note that Shakespeare was an uneducated native of the outback, but his works are distinguished by a rich vocabulary, excellent knowledge of history and literature.
3. Another topic for fierce debate is Shakespeare's appearance - no lifetime portraits of the playwright or descriptions of his appearance have been preserved, which creates the basis for various conjectures.
4. When Shakespeare married, he was 18 years old and his wife was 26. They had three children - two daughters and a son who died at the age of 11.
5. Shakespeare was a co-owner of the Lord Chamberlain's Servants theater company, for which he not only wrote plays, but also performed on stage as an actor himself.
6. Although the works of Shakespeare were favorably received by his contemporaries, the real popularity came to the English poet only a few centuries later.
7. Shakespeare's date of birth is not exactly known, but there is a legend according to which he was born on April 23 and died on the same day 51 years later.
8. "Shakespeare" literally translated from English means "stunning with a spear." The Shakespeare family coat of arms depicted a yellow and black shield with a tournament spear and a knight's helmet. Below, the motto was inscribed in French: "Not without a right."
9. In addition to William, Shakespeare's parents had seven children.
10. The father of the future writer paid huge fines for refusing to attend church services. It is believed that he could secretly profess Catholicism.
11. According to one version, Shakespeare moved from his native Stratford to London, fleeing accusations of poaching on the lands of a local squire.
12. The theater made Shakespeare so rich that he bought the New Place estate, the second largest in Stratford, for his family. In addition, together with partners, they built the Globe Theater in London and acquired the bankrupt Blackfriars Theater.
13. During the production of Hamlet, Shakespeare played the shadow of the murdered father of the Danish prince.
14. In London, Shakespeare rented from a Frenchman who made women's wigs.
15. Shakespeare bequeathed most of his property to his eldest daughter, and his wife, according to the will, was entitled to "the second best bed." Some researchers consider these words an insult, others believe that Shakespeare had in mind the marital bed.
16. None of Shakespeare's four grandchildren produced a single heir, so there were no direct descendants of the playwright pretty soon.
17. Leo Tolstoy severely criticized Shakespeare as a playwright and devoted an essay to a devastating study of his work.
18. Love and romance began to be considered worthy themes for tragedies only after Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
19. According to scientists, at least 20 thousand musical works of various genres are associated with the works of Shakespeare.
20. Sigmund Freud's research on human nature is largely based on the characters of Shakespeare - for example, on the psychology of Hamlet.
21. Shakespeare's works are considered to have laid the foundation for modern English.

Shakespeare is considered to be one of the greatest playwrights in England, and indeed the whole world. However, even those people who are well acquainted with the biography of the author and his work probably do not know everything about Shakespeare. It is difficult to find a literary figure whose life and work is shrouded in so many hypotheses and assumptions. About his biographystillthere are heated debates, and many scientists are seriously asking the question: was Shakespeare really the author of all these greatest works?

We have selected some interesting facts about Shakespeare, about his life and his work.

1. Shakespeare ranks second in terms of citation, second only to sayings from the Bible. The author's vocabulary consists of 12,000 words. For comparison, the average person's vocabulary is only 4,000.

2. In addition to the word "murder", which was first used by Shakespeare, his works contain another 2035 words, the authorship of which belongs to this playwright. Previously, these words had never been seen in print. Among them: "excellent" - "magnificent", "critical" - "critical", "countless" - "endless" and many others.

3. Shakespeare never studied at the university, but the lack of education did not prevent him from creating works of literature that later became world classics. The only educational institution that the playwright attended was a small school in his hometown, where he studied writing and reading. But despite this, there are many facts indicating that Shakespeare was an excellent connoisseur of ancient history, geography, and European languages.

4. Shakespeare wrote about 38 plays, 2 very long poems, 154 sonnets and many poems in his life. Some of the works were written in collaboration. There are many scientific theories that Shakespeare is not the author of his works at all. According to various assumptions, these literary creations could have been written by different authors who worked independently of each other, as well as such well-known personalities of that era as Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, writer Francis Bacon.

5. Almost all the plays of the great playwright have been translated into the main languages ​​of the world, and their productions are staged much more often than any other playwright. So, the play "Macbeth" is staged all over the world every 4 hours!

6. The first play was written by Shakespeare at the age of 25, and he began his career as a handyman (according to some sources - a groom) in the theater. It remains a mystery how, in a fairly short period of time, Shakespeare was able to turn from an insignificant employee into a co-owner of the theater, and subsequently open the world-famous first stationary theater in England, the Globe. By the way, created in 1599, this theater functioned until 1613, when it completely burned to the ground. The cause of the fatal fire was a volley from a cannon during one of the scenes of the play "Henry VIII".

7. But this fact will surely surprise you: the English playwright was against his plays being published. The main purpose of works is to stage them, and not to be replicated and read by ordinary people.

8. In his work, Shakespeare actively used various additional sources - stories, poems, plays. By the way, in the theater of that time there were no scenery, except for a single curtain. The whole situation accompanying the story was described right in the course of the play.

9. Shakespeare has no descendants. The writer married at the age of 18 to Anne Hathaway, who was much older than him - she was already 26 years old. He had three children and only one granddaughter, who, unfortunately, had no children. Fed up with family life, which lasted for 8 years, Shakespeare leaves his relatives and goes to London, where he devotes himself to the theater. Then, having reached certain heights in his literary career and received a title of nobility, the author returns home and spends the last 4 years of his life with his family, being engaged in usury and brewing.

10. Shakespeare managed to survive the so-called "Black Death" - the plague in London in 1603. Therefore, such a big blow for Shakespeare was the death of his 11-year-old son, who died precisely from the plague.

11. No one knows for sure the true date of birth of the author, but it is generally accepted that the author died at 52 years old. His tombstone bears a posthumous epitaph written by Shakespeare himself. This is a kind of warning that anyone who dares to disturb the ashes of the playwright will be punished.

The action of Shakespeare's plays develops in Italy, France, Denmark, but the playwright himself, most likely, never left his native Britain. Goethe said that no matter where the events of the play take place, the audience always finds "England washed by the seas" in front of the audience.

Word Inventor

Shakespeare is believed to have coined more than 2,000 words with his plays. For example, it was he who first printed the word excellent (“magnificent” - English) and critical (“critical” - English). Perhaps the word murder belongs to him.

There is no sadder story

In the most romantic play, Romeo and Juliet, the word "love" is mentioned 150 times.

Was it William?

Some historians believe that in fact a person named Shakespeare did not exist. Indeed, his biography is full of white spots: for example, almost no handwritten documents under his authorship have survived. There is no evidence that Shakespeare was educated, knew foreign languages... Several years of his life generally "fell out" of history - even the most meticulous biographers do not know where he lived then and what he did.

controversial issue

There is also controversy about Shakespeare's sexual orientation. Despite the fact that the playwright was married and had several offspring, many of his poignant and romantic sonnets are dedicated to a man.

Worldwide popularity

One of the playwright's most popular plays is Macbeth. It is believed that in different parts of the world this performance takes place every four hours.

Bad shot

In the company of like-minded people, Shakespeare opened his own theater in London - it was called the Globe. In 1613, the theater burned down as a result of a cannon shot. The cannon fired in the course of the play "Henry VIII".

space scale

There is a crater on Mercury called Shakespeare.

trendsetter

Thanks to the plays of the playwright, the fashion spread throughout Britain, and then throughout the English-speaking world, to call girls Olivia, Miranda and Jessica.

prolific author

You can find out interesting facts from the life (biography), creativity of the famous playwright in this article.

Shakespeare: interesting facts

2. The exact date of birth of William Shakespeare is not known until today. The official date of his birth is considered to be April 23, 1564. On the same day in 1616, the brilliant playwright died.

3. Shakespeare never didn't go to university, but this did not prevent him from gaining worldwide popularity.

Shakespeare wrote his first play about at 25.

4. William Shakespeare had a perfect memory: he perfectly knew not only English history, but also the most important processes in European countries, had awareness of ancient philosophy, jurisprudence, understood navigation, the intricacies of international diplomacy, medicine, spoke several foreign languages, including Latin, Greek, French, Italian and Spanish. In addition, the playwright was well versed in politics, music and botany (researchers counted 63 plant names in his works).
Wife and kids

5. William was married to Anne Hathaway. Their marriage was concluded in November 1582, when he was 18 years old and she was 26. Throughout their family life, they had three children together - two daughters, Susanna and Judith, and a son, Hamnet, who died at the age of 11.

6. Despite Shakespeare's marriage and having children, creative scholars offer different opinions about his sexual orientation, speculating about his attraction to men, referring to some of his plays, as well as the fact that Shakespeare lived separately for a long time from family. The playwright's best friend was Henry Risley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, who used to wear women's clothes and wear casual make-up.

7. The mystery remains William's creed. Some researchers believe that he and all members of his family were Catholics, but in the time of Shakespeare this religion was prohibited.

8. William Shakespeare left to posterity 38 plays, 4 poems, 154 sonnets, 3 epitaphs. In total, his works have been translated into many languages ​​and have had a significant impact on the development of world literature. And the language contributed to the formation of modern English, enriching it with rich phraseological units.

Shakespeare never published his plays. He wanted all of his plays to be performed directly on the stage and was opposed to having his plays distributed in print runs and read at home.

9. In the theatrical field, Shakespeare worked first as a watchman, then was an actor and theater producer, who made a fortune from his activities, later became a pawnbroker, brewer and homeowner.

10. William Shakespeare's will is the only handwritten document of the author that has survived to this day. It is noteworthy that Shakespeare's testament, which scrupulously lists all household items, down to spoons and forks, does not contain information to whom he bestows his literary heritage.

11. There are a number of hypotheses that a completely different historical person is hiding under the name of Shakespeare. The Oxford Count Edward de Vere, who stopped publishing in 1593, was named as the author, while Shakespeare announced himself in 1594. The pseudonym "Shakespeare" was not chosen by chance. The de Veres family coat of arms depicts a knight with a spear in his hand, and the literal translation of Shake-speares is “stunning with a spear”.

Almost all of Shakespeare's plays are a vivid parody of the mores of the court, therefore, hiding behind a pseudonym, the count could continue to create. In addition, Edouard de Vere could not publicly declare himself a playwright: in those days, writing was not to face for aristocrats. He died in 1604, it is not known where his grave is, the researchers claim that his works continued to be published by the family under a pseudonym until 1616 (that was the year Shakespeare died). In 1975, the Encyclopædia Britannica confirmed this hypothesis, stating: "Edward de Vere is the most likely contender for the authorship of Shakespeare's plays."

William Shakespeare (1564-1606) is one of the most famous poets, writers and playwrights in the world. 154 of his sonnets, 38 plays, 4 poems and 3 epitaphs have come down to us. His most famous works are considered to be "Macbeth", "Romeo and Juliet", "King Lear" and "Hamlet" (a monologue from which everyone knows - to be or not to be). Of course, his other works are no less famous.

1. The period from 1585 to 1592 is called the lost years of Shakespeare, since there is no information about this time. There are only a lot of assumptions, but not one of them, even for a milligram, has been confirmed and cannot be considered reliable.

Some believe that he worked as a groom, others that he poached, and others generally believe that he was a school teacher.

2. Shakespeare never wanted his plays to be written down and published, as he was opposed to being read anywhere and anytime. He believed that his plays should only be performed on the stage.

3. The lineage of Shakespeare himself was interrupted rather quickly. He had three children, one of whom (son Hemnet) died at the age of 11. The youngest daughter Judith never had children, despite the fact that she was married. The eldest daughter had a daughter, Elizabeth, who lived all her life childless, despite the fact that she was already married 2 times. She died in 1670. So he has no descendants.

4. Statistically, Shakespeare is the most quoted author in the world outside of biblical authors.

5. Before his death, Shakespeare wrote cursing lines to those who would try to remove him from the grave or rebury him. They sounded something like this: "Curse the person who touches these stones, I will curse the one who will move my bones."

6. William Shakespeare introduced over 3,000 new words into the English language. All his contemporaries failed to do this, even if you add up their achievements.

7. Not a single original manuscript of the great author has survived to this day. All that has been preserved, written by his hand, is his personal signature on official documents.

8. In 1593-1594 all theaters were closed due to the plague. At this time, Shakespeare even wrote two erotic poems - "Veneoa and Adonis" and "Dishonored Lucretia."

9. Judging by all of Shakespeare's works, his vocabulary was about 25,000 words, when the average Englishman's vocabulary was about 4,000 words.

10. There is an opinion that many of Shakespeare's works were not actually written by him, but another author was hiding under the pseudonym Shakespeare, or perhaps a whole group of authors.

People explain their disbelief by the fact that the entire Shakespeare family was illiterate and no document on Shakespeare's literacy was found either. In addition, as mentioned above, not a single manuscript of his has been found, which may indicate that he did not even know how to write.

These are the arguments put forward by the opponents of Shakespeare.

11. Also, some lovers of "yellowness" like to argue that Shakespeare was a representative of non-traditional sexual orientation. Their proof is based on the fact that most of his sonnets are dedicated to some friend.

12. Until now, there is no exact opinion about the appearance of William Shakespeare, but it is argued that the closest is the Droeshout portrait, which most accurately describes Shakespeare's appearance and is similar to the bust on Shakespeare's grave.