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10 things you didn't know about Shakespeare

On his 400th death anniversary, the literary world celebrates the its genius that is William Shakespeare.

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On Shakespeare's 400th death anniversary, the literary world is celebrating this genius in every way possible. Opening of the school in which he studied in Stratford-upon-Avon for public viewing is creating a lot of excitement among the literary circles in UK. While in Russia another interesting celebration is taking place, where schools across the country have decided to include a lesson on Shakespeare and his works to honour the 'Bard of Avon.'

The works of this master of English literature have been studied extensively across the world since centuries and show no signs of dying out.

Four hundred years after he passed, here are 10 lesser known facts about him:

1. Many reports suggest that Shakespeare died on his birthday, April 23. He was 52.

2. Shakespeare was not only a playwright and poet, he was also an actor! There have been reports of him playing a ghost in Hamlet and Adam in As You Like It.

3. Shakespeare's activities are unknown between 1585 and 1592. Historians speculate that he may have travelled, taught as a schoolteacher or joined an acting troop.

4. The epitaph on Shakespeare's grave is believed to be a curse to ward off grave robbers. It reads Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbeare, / To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, / And cursed be he that moves my bones. And what is most interesting is that it remains undisturbed even centuries later!

5. There's a lot of debate on how Shakespeare's name was spelt. Sources say that Shakespeare spelt his last name in many ways himself, ranging from 'Shappere' to 'Shaxberd' and his surname seems to have been derived from old English words "schakken" meaning "to brandish" and "speer" meaning "spear". This probably meant a confrontational person.

6. Shakespeare supposedly wore one gold hoop earring. We know what Shakespeare looked like from some 17th century portraits that may have been painted by the bard himself. In one famous depiction, we see that the subject has a full beard, loose shirt-ties, a receding hairline and one gold hoop in his left ear. Pretty fashionable for those times!

7. Shakespeare is responsible for introducing 3,000 new words to the Oxford English Dictionary. It has been estimated that his vocabulary ranged somewhere between 17,000 to 29,000 words - double of what an average conversationalist would have.

8. Most of Shakespeare's plays are not original. They're inspired from English and Latin poems, histories and plays. Romeo and Juliet arguably one of his most popular works was based on an Italian folk tale.

9. Romeo and Juliet has been performed in over 24 countries including the US, UK, Korea, France, Tibet, Austria, Poland, Israel, Thailand, Spain, Cuba, Mexico and Romania, in the last decade alone.

10. A lot of Hollywood and Bollywood films have been inspired by his work such as:

West Side Story - Romeo and Juliet10.

Kiss Me, Kate - The Taming of the Shrew

Omkara, Maqbool and Haider - Othello, Macbeth and Hamlet respectively

Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela - Romeo and Juliet

 

 

 

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