资源描述：
《牛津译林版高中英语选修八unit 1《the written word》文化背景》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在教育资源-天天文库。
1、WilliamShakespeareWilliamShakespeare(1564–1616)wasanEnglishpoetandplaywright,widelyregardedasthegreatestwriterintheEnglishlanguageandtheworld'spreeminentdramatist.HeisoftencalledEngland'snationalpoetandthe"BardofAvon"(orsimply"TheBard").Shakespeareproducedmostofhisknownworkbetween1590an
2、d1613.Hisearlyplaysweremainlycomediesandhistories,genresheraisedtothepeakofsophisticationandartistrybytheendofthesixteenthcentury.Hethenwrotemainlytragediesuntilabout1608,includingHamlet,KingLear,andMacbeth,consideredsomeofthefinestworksintheEnglishlanguage.Shakespearewasarespectedpoeta
3、ndplaywrightinhisownday,buthisreputationdidnotrisetoitspresentheightsuntilthenineteenthcentury.Inthetwentiethcentury,hisworkwasrepeatedlyadoptedandrediscoveredbynewmovementsinscholarshipandperformance.Hisplaysremainhighlypopulartodayandareconstantlystudied,performedandreinterpretedindiv
4、erseculturalandpoliticalcontextsthroughouttheworld.LifeWilliamShakespearewasthesonofJohnShakespeare,asuccessfulgloverandaldermanoriginallyfromSnitterfield,andMaryArden,thedaughterofanaffluentlandowningfarmer.HewasborninStratford-upon-Avonandbaptisedon26April1564.Hisunknownbirthdayistrad
5、itionallyobservedon23April,StGeorge'sDay.Thisdate,whichcanbetracedbacktoaneighteenth-centuryscholar'smistake,hasprovedappealingbecauseShakespearediedon23April1616.Hewasthethirdchildofeightandtheeldestsurvivingson.JohnShakespeare'shouse,believedtobeShakespeare'sbirthplace,inStratford-upo
6、n-Avon.Attheageof18,Shakespearemarriedthe26-year-oldAnneHathaway.Sixmonthsafterthemarriage,shegavebirthtoadaughter,Susanna,whowasbaptisedon26May1583.Twins,sonHamnetanddaughterJudith,followedalmosttwoyearslaterandwerebaptisedon2February1585.Between1585and1592,Shakespearebeganasuccessfulc
7、areerinLondonasanactor,writer,andpartownerofaplayingcompanycalledtheLordChamberlain'sMen,laterknownastheKing'sMen.HeappearstohaveretiredtoStratfordaround1613,wherehediedthreeyearslater.WorksofShakespeareComedyHistoryTragedyPoetryAll'sWellThatEndsWellAsYouLikeItTheComedyofErrors
