Hamlet - Act One

Scene 1. Elsinore Castle. The flatform of the guard.
(Enter Bernardo and Francisco, two Sentinels from oppose directions.)
Bernardo.   : Who's there?
Francisco.  : Nay, answer me. Stand and unfold yourself.
Bernardo.   : Long live the King!
Francisci.   : Bernardo?
Bernardo.   : He.
Francisco.  : You come most carefully upon your hour.
Bernardo.   : Tis now struck twelve. Get thee to bed, Francisco.
Francisco.  : For his relief much thanks. Tis bitter cold, and I am sick at heart.
Bernardo.  : Have you had quiet guard?
Francisco.  : Not a mouse strirring
Bernardo.   : Well, good night. If you meet Horation and Marcellus, the rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.
(Enter Horatio and Marcellus)
Francisco.  : I think I hear them. Stand! Who's there?
Horatio.       : Friends to this ground.
Marcellus.  : And liegemen to the Dane.
Francisco.  : Give you good night.
Marcellus.  : O, farewell, honest soldier. Who hath relieved you?
Francisco.  : Bernardo hath my place. Give you good night. (Leaves)

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is known as the greatest English writer of all time.

 Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. His father, John, was a glove maker and his mother, Mary, came from a farming family. He had two brothers and four sisters. William went to the village school.

 In 1582, Shakespeare married a local woman named Anne Hathaway. Their daughter Susanna was born in 1583 and their twins, Hamnet and Judith, were born in 1585.

 Nothing is known about Shakespeare’s life from 1585 to about 1591. It is known that, by 1592, he was an actor living in London. He started writing poems about this time and later wrote more than 150 sonnets, which were published in 1609. He was also writing plays.

 In 1594, Shakespeare and some other actors started a new theater company. It was sponsored by a wealthy nobleman, the Lord Chamberlain. When James I became king, he sponsored their company and it became known as the “King’s Men.”

 In 1599, the company built a new theatre, called the Globe. Shakespeare was one of its owners. For over 20 years, he wrote about two plays a year for the acting company to perform in the Globe theatre. Everyone, from royalty to peasants, came to see his plays.

 Shakespeare became a wealthy man and bought a large house in Stratford. After about 1611, he spent most of his time there. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried at Stratford. He was 52 years old.

 Shakespeare’s plays include comedies, tragedies, and histories. Scholars have studied his plays and poems for over 300 years. Some argue about whether he actually wrote some of the plays. Other scholars have tried to discover the identities of the man and woman he wrote about in his sonnets. 

Today, all of his plays are still performed and enjoyed by people around the world.