Search results
Shakespeare wrote in Early Modern English during a time of great change in the English language. English was in transition from the Middle English used by writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer to the language we use today. Shakespeare was not the only writer to create and adapt words during this time.
Want to know all about the words Shakespeare invented? We’ve got you covered. In all of his works – the plays, the sonnets and the narrative poems – Shakespeare uses 17,677 different words. How Many Words Did Shakespeare Invent? Across all of his written works, it’s estimated that words invented by Shakespeare number as many as 1,700.
Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI of Scotland to the English throne.
- Overview
- Life
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, when he was 18. They had three children: Susanna and twins Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet died at the age of 11.
Read more below: Shakespeare the man: Life
How many plays did Shakespeare write?
There is some dispute about how many plays Shakespeare wrote. The general consensus is 37.
Read more below: Chronology of Shakespeare’s plays
First Folio
Although the amount of factual knowledge available about Shakespeare is surprisingly large for one of his station in life, many find it a little disappointing, for it is mostly gleaned from documents of an official character. Dates of baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials; wills, conveyances, legal processes, and payments by the court—these are the dusty details. There are, however, many contemporary allusions to him as a writer, and these add a reasonable amount of flesh and blood to the biographical skeleton.
Britannica Quiz
- Alligator: (n) a large, carnivorous reptile closely related to the crocodile. Romeo and Juliet, Act 5 Scene 1.
- Bedroom: (n) a room for sleeping; furnished with a bed. A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 2 Scene 2.
- Critic: (n) one who judges merit or expresses a reasoned opinion. Love's Labour's Lost, Act 3 Scene 1.
- Downstairs: (adv) on a lower floor; down the steps. Henry IV Part 1, Act 2 Scene 4.
It's little wonder that critic Harold Bloom titled his 1998 book on the man Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human.
People also ask
Did Shakespeare invent the English language?
How many words did William Shakespeare use?
Why did Shakespeare write in early modern English?
Was Shakespeare a great English writer?
What words did Shakespeare use?
Did Shakespeare really write Shakespeare?
3 days ago · Many of his greatest plays— King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Tempest, to name but three—were written after 1604. To suppose that the dating of the canon is totally out of whack and that all the plays and poems were written before 1604 is a desperate argument.