Who Was Shakespeare?

In this search I went as follows:

1.)  Google.com

2.)  Wikipedia.com

3.) Back to Google and on to www.william-shakespeare.info

4.)  From there to link:  William Shakespeare Identity Problem

5.)  Back to Google and to www.online-literature/shakespeare/

Shakespeare was a poet and playwright who is known as the greatest writer in the English language.  We know quite a bit about him as far as the plays he wrote and his family.  But so much more is either vague or completely unknown and fervidly disputed.  Such as his physical appearance, religion, and authorship.


To students, he is, "that guy who writes plays we really can't understand and that we struggle to see as so significant."
When we first tackle Shakespeare as students in the 9th grade, we really only know him because of parents and the media.  He is so famous, you almost have to know who he is.  And we know he is difficult to understand.
However, in truth, once students learn to digest his language, Shakespeare wrote about ideas and themes that actually end up seeming modern and contemporary because those ideas and themes are still around and are so universal.
Also, Shakespeare is very mysterious.  The more you learn about him the more you realize how little we actually know.  There is a great deal more about him that we do not know than we do know.

In my understanding of Shakespeare, I have greatly progressed since my first encounter with Romeo and Juliet in the 9th grade.  I can more easily understand his language and I now see that not only is his vocabulary archaic, but it is manipulated and twisted to fit his rhythm which, I feel, made it hard to understand even in the period it was written.  For example, Shakespeare reverses word order like, "My Lord good" instead of, "My good Lord."

Furthermore, I enjoy Shakespeare a lot more now and can see him developing into a favorite author of mine.  If only I could translate the language as well as Dr. Preston does.