Who was William Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare grew up in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire.
His family were rich so he went to a good school and grew up to be a playwright.
He wrote different types of plays – histories, tragedies and comedies.
Watch: William Shakespeare
Today we watch stories through TV, computers or on phones. But 450 years ago, people could only watch stories acted in front of them on the streets or in theatres.
People loved watching plays. They were as popular then as TV shows are now and some of the actors became just as famous.
One of these actors was William Shakespeare.
He's still famous today. Not for acting but because he was, and still is, one of the best known writers in the English language.
Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He went to school there and learned Latin and Greek. He got married at 18 and had children.
Shakespeare moved to London, and became a rather famous actor there.
He also wrote plays which everyone, rich and poor, even royalty, paid to watch.
Soon Shakespeare was rich enough to help build a new theatre, called ‘The Globe’.
Shakespeare wrote many different types of plays. Sad tragedies like Romeo and Juliet, funny comedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream and important histories about kings like Henry V.
They were fun, scary, exciting and serious!
He also wrote poetry and invented new words like 'eyeball' and 'bedroom'. He truly changed the way we speak English!
William Shakespeare lived over 450 years ago, but his name, plays and poetry are still known all over the world today.
Students learn about him at school and at university. People come from many countries to see where he lived and his plays are just as popular now as when they were first performed all those years ago!
Summary of The Tempest
One of Shakespeare's most famous comedies is a play called The Tempest. A tempest is a fierce storm.
In the past Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, and his infant daughter Miranda were abandoned at sea because his wicked brother, Antonio, seized power.
Prospero and Miranda survived as they landed on a remote island. Here they lived alone, apart from the spirit Ariel and the beast Caliban, who were Prospero’s servants.
Prospero has magic powers. He decides to use them to raise a storm and trap his enemies on the island with him. The storm causes Antonio’s ship to be destroyed. The shipwreck victims wash up in different places on the island. One of those shipwrecked is Ferdinand, the Prince of Naples.
Ferdinand and Miranda fall in love as soon as they set eyes on each other. They then become engaged.
Later, the other shipwreck victims, including evil Antonio, find Prospero. Prospero confronts his enemies and forgives them because of the love between his daughter and Ferdinand.
He gives up his magic powers and makes plans to set sail for home to take up his rightful position as Duke. Before he does so he frees Ariel and only the evil beast Caliban is left behind.
Watch: The Tempest
Animated version of Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Imagine you are Miranda or Ferdinand. You are shipwrecked on the island and feel lonely.
Write a message in a bottle to your friends back home. You might include:
- What has happened.
- How you feel.
- How your friends can help.
- Other thoughts and feelings.
Activity 4
Write your own newspaper article about the events of The Tempest.
Discuss the features as follows:
Headline: usually short and snappy, perhaps featuring alliteration or a pun.
By-line: the name of the author of the article.
Orientation paragraph: the first paragraph with details of the WHO, WHAT, WHEN and WHERE of the story.
Main body: lots more detail about the story, clarifying HOW and WHY things happened and usually including some quotes from key witnesses or people involved in the story.
Reorientation: summarising the story at the end and perhaps including some additional details of what the characters are up toNOW.
Past tense: this is something that has already happened.
Check out The Tempest animations at 鶹Լ Teach to watch the play in full.
Play our fun English game Crystal Explorers. game
Use grammar, punctuation and spelling skills to explore jungles, caves and tombs on your mission!
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