William Shakespeare Research Paper

In 1599, at the age of 35, William Shakespeare went through something that changed him and his plays greatly. There are many factors that play into the tragedy that affected Shakespeare and his plays in this time. Shakespeare, nearing the end of his life, was hit with many hardships that changed the nature of his work. Hamlet, one of his greatest tragedies, is said to be influenced by the many deaths that had happened recently in Shakespeare’s life. Politically things were in turmoil, Shakespeare did not get the man he wanted on the throne. London itself was cynical at the time and the nature in which people were brought up and the prevalent death that plagued all of England surrounded Shakespeare. Overall, many factors play into Shakespeare’s

“How, at age thirty-five, Shakespeare went from being an exceptionally talented writer to one of the greatest who ever lived.” (Shapiro, XVII). In Shakespeare’s time it was common to only live until your mid-forties, Shakespeare was lucky to make it to fifty-two. At this time, Shakespeare was 35 and knew he was closing in on the end of his life, this could have helped bring the morbid tragedy into his once more simple comedies. “The years 1599-1600 seem roughly the time at which Shakespeare, already the author of several masterpieces, moved up to a new level of achievement and difficulty. There was a turning point, I think, and I associate it with Hamlet and with the poem “The Phoenix and Turtle.” At about the same time, Shakespeare’s company moved into the Globe Theatre. [Where Julius Caesar and Hamlet were performed.]” (Kermode, ix) Here the prospects of a new theatre to work in is shown. It is possible that Shakespeare had more freedom in his writing at the Globe or that new type of canvas inspired the

Looking at things in Shakespeare’s life before that time show us just how much his plays were influenced by real life events. Twenty-one years pre Shakespeare a tragedy occurred near his home town. “In December 1579 a young woman was drowned in the Avon at Tiddington, near Stratford. It seemed that she slipped in the mud on the river-bank but some thought of suicide. An inquest was held and ruled that the death was accidental. Already words from a play Shakespeare was to write years later arise in the mind: “Her death was doubtful,” for this is a real-life pre-echo of the “muddy death of Ophelia (Hamlet, V.I.183). When we add that the young woman’s name was Katherine Hamlett the association is simply inescapable.” (Nuttall, 4) Nuttall is right about the woman’s name, if you were doubtful before whether or not she influenced the play, it was named after her. That also shows us another thing, Shakespeare wasn’t just subconsciously influenced by his surroundings. He was self-aware that he used these events as themes and inspiration for his