William Shakespeare

Jennifer Bassett

Oxford Bookworms LibraryLevel 2

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Retold for Learners of English by Jennifer Bassett.

William Shakespeare. Born April 1564, at Stratford-upon-Avon. Died April 1616. Married Anne Hathaway: two daughters, one son. Actor, poet, famous playwright. Wrote nearly forty plays.

But what was he like as a man? What did he think about when he rode into London for the first time . . . or when he was writing his plays Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet . . . or when his only son died?

We know the facts of his life, but we can only guess at his hopes, his fears, his dreams.

JENNIFER BASSETT

William Shakespeare

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Stratford-upon-Avon, 1578. A boy is sitting at a schooldesk. He listens to the teacher, reads his books, learns his lessons. What is he thinking about?

London, 1587. A young man is riding into London for the first time. He listens to the noise of the crowded streets, sees the great walls of the Tower of London, looks down at the waters of the River Thames. �Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.’

London, 1601. The boatmen on the River Thames are shouting to the crowds: �Hurry, hurry, hurry! The Globe theatre is filling fast!’ Two thousand people are crossing the river to see the latest play – Hamlet, by William Shakespeare.

This story about Shakespeare’s life is told by his friend Toby. Toby is not a real person – perhaps Shakespeare had a friend like that, but we don’t know. But all the other characters in the story were real people, who knew Will Shakespeare as a friend, actor, poet, and playwright. �Gentle Shakespeare,’ they called him, and they knew he was the greatest poet in England. His friend Ben Jonson wrote of him:

�He was not of an age, but for all time.’

For my father

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ISBN 978 0 19 479076 5

A complete recording of this Bookworms edition of William Shakespeare is available on audio CD ISBN 978 0 19 478999 8

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Original illustrations by: Richard Allen

The publishers would like to thank the following for their permission to reproduce illustrations:

Alamy Images pp15 (Henry Wriothesley 3rd Earl of Southampton/The Art Gallery Collection), 23 (Shakespeare New Place drawing/Mary Evans Picture Library), 30 (Title page for Hamlet/Lebrecht Mus