Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoi

Who Was Leo Tolstoy?

In the 1860s, Russian author Leo Tolstoy wrote his first great novel, War and Peace. In 1873, Tolstoy set to
work on the second of his best-known novels, Anna Karenina. He continued to write fiction throughout the
1880s and 1890s. One of his most successful later works was The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
Early Life
On September 9, 1828, writer Leo Tolstoy was born at his family's estate, Yasnaya Polyana, in the Tula
Province of Russia. He was the youngest of four boys. When Tolstoy's mother died in 1830, his father's cousin
took over caring for the children. When their father, Count Nikolay Tolstoy, died just seven years later, their
aunt was appointed their legal guardian. When the aunt passed away, Tolstoy and his siblings moved in with a
second aunt, in Kazan, Russia. Although Tolstoy experienced a lot of loss at an early age, he would later
idealize his childhood memories in his writing.
Tolstoy received his primary education at home, at the hands of French and German tutors. In 1843, he enrolled
in an Oriental languages program at the University of Kazan. There, Tolstoy failed to excel as a student. His
low grades forced him to transfer to an easier law program. Prone to partying in excess, Tolstoy ultimately left
the University of Kazan in 1847, without a degree. He returned to his parents' estate, where he made a go at
becoming a farmer. He attempted to lead the serfs, or farmhands, in their work, but he was too often absent on
social visits to Tula and Moscow. His stab at becoming the perfect farmer soon proved to be a failure. He did,
however, succeed in pouring his energies into keeping a journal — the beginning of a lifelong habit that would
inspire much of his fiction.
As Tolstoy was flailing on the farm, his older brother, Nikolay, came to visit while on military leave. Nikolay
convinced Tolstoy to join the Army as a junker, south in the Caucasus Mountains, where Nikolay himself was
stationed. Following his stint as a junker, Tolstoy transferred to Sevastopol in Ukraine in November 1854,
where he fought in the Crimean War through August 1855.
Early Works
During quiet periods while Tolstoy was a junker in the Army, he worked on an autobiographical story called
Childhood. In it, he wrote of his fondest childhood memories. In 1852, Tolstoy submitted the sketch to The
Contemporary, the most popular journal of the time. The story was eagerly accepted and became Tolstoy's very
first published work.
After completing Childhood, Tolstoy started writing about his day-to-day life at the Army outpost in the
Caucasus. However, he did not complete the work, entitled The Cossacks, until 1862, after he had already left
the Army.
Tolstoy still managed to continue writing while at battle during the Crimean War. During that time, he
composed Boyhood (1854), a sequel to Childhood, the second book in what was to become Tolstoy's
autobiographical trilogy. In the midst of the Crimean War, Tolstoy also expressed his views on the striking
contradictions of war through a three-part series, Sevastopol Tales. In the second Sevastopol Tales book,
Tolstoy experimented with a relatively new writing technique: Part of the story is presented in the form of a
soldier's stream of consciousness.
Once the Crimean War ended and Tolstoy left the Army, he returned to Russia. Back home, the burgeoning
author found himself in high demand on the St. Petersburg literary scene. Stubborn and arrogant, Tolstoy
refused to ally himself with any particular intellectual school of thought. Declaring himself an anarchist, he
made off to Paris in 1857. Once there, he gambled away all of his money and was forced to return home to
Russia. He also managed to publish Youth, the third part of his autobiographical trilogy, in 1857.
Back in Russia in 1862, Tolstoy produced the first of a 12 issue-installment of the journal Yasnaya Polyana,
marrying a doctor's daughter named Sofya Andreyevna Bers that same year.
Books
'War and Peace'
Residing at Yasnaya Polyana with his wife and children, Tolstoy spent the better part of the 1860s toiling over
his first great novel, War and Peace. A portion of the novel was first published in the Russian Messenger in
1865, under the title "The Year 1805." By 1868, he had released three more chapters and a year later, the novel
was complete. Both critics and the public were buzzing about the novel's historical accounts of the Napoleonic
Wars, combined with its thoughtful development of realistic yet fictional characters. The novel also uniquely
incorporated three long essays satirizing the laws of history. Among the ideas that Tolstoy extols in War and
Peace is the belief that the quality and meaning of one's life is mainly derived from his day-to-day activities.
'Anna Karenina'
Following the success of War and Peace, in 1873, Tolstoy set to work on the second of his best-known novels,
Anna Karenina. Like War and Peace, Anna Karenina fictionalized some biographical events from Tolstoy's life,
as was particularly evident in the romance of the characters Kitty and Levin, whose relationship is said to
resemble Tolstoy's courtship with his own wife.
The first sentence of Anna Karenina is among the most famous lines of the book: "All happy families resemble
one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Anna Karenina was published in installments
from 1873 to 1877, to critical and public acclaim. The royalties that Tolstoy earned from the novel contributed
to his rapidly growing wealth.
Philosophy, Religious Conversion
Despite the success of Anna Karenina, following the novel's completion, Tolstoy suffered a spiritual crisis and
grew depressed. Struggling to uncover the meaning of life, Tolstoy first went to the Russian Orthodox Church
but did not find the answers he sought there. He came to believe that Christian churches were corrupt and, in
lieu of organized religion, developed his own beliefs. He decided to express those beliefs by founding a new
publication called The Mediator in 1883.
As a consequence of espousing his unconventional — and therefore controversial — spiritual beliefs, Tolstoy
was ousted by the Russian Orthodox Church. He was even watched by the secret police. When Tolstoy's new
beliefs prompted his desire to give away his money, his wife strongly objected. The disagreement put a strain on
the couple's marriage until Tolstoy begrudgingly agreed to a compromise: He conceded to granting his wife the
copyrights — and presumably the royalties — to all of his writing predating 1881.
Later Fiction
'The Death of Ivan Ilyich'
In addition to his religious tracts, Tolstoy continued to write fiction throughout the 1880s and 1890s. Among his
later works' genres were moral tales and realistic fiction. One of his most successful later works was the novella
The Death of Ivan Ilyich, written in 1886. In Ivan Ilyich, the main character struggles to come to grips with his
impending death. The title character, Ivan Ilyich, comes to the jarring realization that he has wasted his life on
trivial matters, but the realization comes too late.
In 1898, Tolstoy wrote Father Sergius, a work of fiction in which he seems to criticize the beliefs that he
developed following his spiritual conversion. The following year, he wrote his third lengthy novel,
Resurrection. While the work received some praise, it hardly matched the success and acclaim of his previous
novels. Tolstoy's other late works include essays on art, a satirical play called The Living Corpse that he wrote
in 1890, and a novella called Hadji-Murad (written in 1904), which was discovered and published after his
death.
Elder Years
Over the last 30 years of his life, Tolstoy established himself as a moral and religious leader. His ideas about
nonviolent resistance to evil influenced the likes of social leader Mahatma Gandhi.
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EDGAR ALLAN POE
Who Was Edgar Allan Poe?
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, critic and editor best known for evocative short stories and
poems that captured the imagination and interest of readers around the world. His imaginative storytelling and
tales of mystery and horror gave birth to the modern detective story.
Many of Poe’s works, including “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” became literary
classics. Some aspects of Poe’s life, like his literature, is shrouded in mystery, and the lines between fact and
fiction have been blurred substantially since his death.
Early Life and Family
Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Poe never really knew his parents — Elizabeth Arnold Poe, a British actress, and David Poe, Jr., an actor who
was born in Baltimore. His father left the family early in Poe's life, and his mother passed away from
tuberculosis when he was only three.
Separated from his brother William and sister Rosalie, Poe went to live with John and Frances Allan, a
successful tobacco merchant and his wife, in Richmond, Virginia. Edgar and Frances seemed to form a bond,
but he had a more difficult relationship with John Allan.
By the age of 13, Poe was a prolific poet, but his literary talents were discouraged by his headmaster and John
Allan, who preferred that Poe follow him in the family business. Preferring poetry over profits, Poe reportedly
wrote poems on the back of some of Allan's business papers.
Money was also an issue between Poe and John Allan. Poe went to the University of Virginia in 1826, where he
excelled in his classes. However, he didn't receive enough funds from Allan to cover all of his costs. Poe turned
to gambling to cover the difference, but ended up in debt.
He returned home only to face another personal setback — his neighbor and fiancée Sarah Elmira Royster had
become engaged to someone else. Heartbroken and frustrated, Poe moved to Boston.
Army and West Point
In 1827, around the time he published his first book, Poe joined the U.S. Army. Two years later, he learned that
Frances Allan was dying of tuberculosis, but by the time he returned to Richmond she had already passed away.
While in Virginia, Poe and Allan briefly made peace with each other, and Allan helped Poe get an appointment
to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Poe excelled at his studies at West Point, but he was
kicked out after a year for his poor handling of his duties.
During his time at West Point, Poe had fought with his foster father, who had remarried without telling him.
Some have speculated that Poe intentionally sought to be expelled to spite Allan, who eventually cut ties with
Poe.
Editor, Critic, Poet and Writer
After leaving West Point, Poe published his third book and focused on writing full-time. He traveled around in
search of opportunity, living in New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Richmond. In 1834, John Allan
died, leaving Poe out of his will, but providing for an illegitimate child Allan had never met.
Poe, who continued to struggle living in poverty, got a break when one of his short stories won a contest in the
Baltimore Saturday Visiter. He began to publish more short stories and in 1835 landed an editorial position with
the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond.
Poe developed a reputation as a cut-throat critic, writing vicious reviews of his contemporaries. His scathing
critiques earned him the nickname the "Tomahawk Man."
His tenure at the magazine proved short. Poe's aggressive-reviewing style and sometimes combative personality
strained his relationship with the publication, and he left the magazine in 1837. His problems with alcohol also
played a role in his departure, according to some reports.
Poe went on to brief stints at Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, Graham's Magazine, The Broadway Journal, and
he also sold his work to Alexander’s Weekly Messenger, among other journals.
In 1844, Poe moved to New York City. There, he published a news story in The New York Sun about a balloon
trip across the Atlantic Ocean that he later revealed to be a hoax. His stunt grabbed attention, but it was his
publication of "The Raven," in 1845, which made Poe a literary sensation.
That same year, Poe found himself under attack for his stinging criticisms of fellow poet Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow. Poe claimed that Longfellow, a widely popular literary figure, was a plagiarist, which resulted in a
backlash against Poe.
Despite his success and popularity as a writer, Poe continued to struggle financially and he advocated for higher
wages for writers and an international copyright law.
Wife
From 1831 to 1835, Poe lived in Baltimore, where his father was born, with his aunt Maria Clemm and her
daughter, his cousin Virginia. He began to devote his attention to Virginia, who became his literary inspiration
as well as his love interest.
The couple married in 1836 when she was only 13 years old. In 1847, at the age of 24 — the same age when
Poe’s mother and brother also died — Virginia passed away from tuberculosis.
Poe was overcome by grief following her death, and although he continued to work, he suffered from poor
health and struggled financially until his death in 1849.

Edgar Allan Poe: Poems

Poe self-published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, in 1827. His second poetry collection, Al
Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems, was published in 1829.
As a critic at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond from 1835 to 1837, Poe published some of his own
works in the magazine, including two parts of his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.
Edgar Allan Poe Fact Card
Short Stories
In late 1830s, Poe published Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, a collection of short stories. It contained
several of his most spine-tingling tales, including "The Fall of the House of Usher," "Ligeia" and "William
Wilson."
In 1841, Poe launched the new genre of detective fiction with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." His literary
innovations earned him the nickname "Father of the Detective Story." A writer on the rise, he won a literary
prize in 1843 for "The Gold Bug," a suspenseful tale of secret codes and hunting treasure.
'The Black Cat'
Poe’s short story “The Black Cat” was published in 1843 in The Saturday Evening Post. In it, the narrator, a
one-time animal lover, becomes an alcoholic who begins abusing his wife and black cat. By the macabre story’s
end, the narrator observes his own descent into madness as he kills his wife, a crime his black cat reports to the
police. The story was later included in the 1845 short story collection, Tales by Edgar Allan Poe.
'The Raven'
Poe’s poem "The Raven," published in 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror, is considered among the best-
known poems in American literature and one of the best of Poe's career. An unknown narrator laments the
demise of his great love Lenore and is visited by a raven, who insistently repeats one word: “Nevermore.” In the
work, which consists of 18 six-line stanzas, Poe explored some of his common themes — death and loss.
'Annabel Lee'
This lyric poem again explores Poe’s themes of death and loss and may have been written in memory of his
beloved wife Virginia, who died two years prior. The poem was published on October 9, 1849, two days after
Poe’s death, in the New York Tribune.
Later in his career, Poe continued to work in different forms, examining his own methodology and writing in
general in several essays, including "The Philosophy of Composition," "The Poetic Principle" and "The
Rationale of Verse." He also produced the thrilling tale, "The Cask of Amontillado," and poems such as
"Ulalume" and "The Bells."
Death
Poe died on October 7, 1849. His final days remain somewhat of a mystery. Poe left Richmond on September
27, 1849, and was supposedly on his way to Philadelphia.
On October 3, he was found in Baltimore in great distress. Poe was taken to Washington College Hospital,
where he died four days later. His last words were "Lord, help my poor soul."
At the time, it was said that Poe died of "congestion of the brain." But his actual cause of death has been the
subject of endless speculation.
Some experts believe that alcoholism led to his demise while others offer up alternative theories. Rabies,
epilepsy and carbon monoxide poisoning are just some of the conditions thought to have led to the great writer's
death.
Legacy
Shortly after his passing, Poe's reputation was badly damaged by his literary adversary Rufus Griswold.
Griswold, who had been sharply criticized by Poe, took his revenge in his obituary of Poe, portraying the gifted
yet troubled writer as a mentally deranged drunkard and womanizer.
He also penned the first biography of Poe, which helped cement some of these misconceptions in the public's
minds.
While he never had financial success in his lifetime, Poe has become one of America's most enduring writers.
His works are as compelling today as they were more than a century ago.
An innovative and imaginative thinker, Poe crafted stories and poems that still shock, surprise and move
modern readers. His dark work influenced writers including Charles Baudelaire, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and
Stephane Mallarme.
Edgar Allan Poe: House and Museum
The Baltimore home where Poe stayed from 1831 to 1835 with his aunt Maria Clemm and her daughter, Poe’s
cousin and future wife Virginia, is now a museum.
The Edgar Allan Poe House offers a self-guided tour featuring exhibits on Poe’s foster parents, his life and
death in Baltimore and the poems and short stories he wrote while living there, as well as memorabilia
including his chair and desk.
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Often called England's national poet, is considered the greatest dramatist of all time. His works are loved
throughout the world, but Shakespeare's personal life is shrouded in mystery.
Who Was William Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor of the Renaissance era. He was an important
member of the King’s Men company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward.
Known throughout the world, Shakespeare's writings capture the range of human emotion and conflict and have
been celebrated for more than 400 years. And yet, the personal life of William Shakespeare is somewhat a
mystery.
There are two primary sources that provide historians with an outline of his life. One is his work — the plays,
poems and sonnets — and the other is official documentation such as church and court records. However, these
provide only brief sketches of specific events in his life and yield little insight into the man himself.
When Was Shakespeare Born?
No birth records exist, but an old church record indicates that a William Shakespeare was baptized at Holy
Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564. From this, it is believed he was born on or near April
23, 1564, and this is the date scholars acknowledge as Shakespeare's birthday.
Located about 100 miles northwest of London, during Shakespeare's time Stratford-upon-Avon was a bustling
market town along the River Avon and bisected by a country road.
Family
Shakespeare was the third child of John Shakespeare, a leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a local landed
heiress. Shakespeare had two older sisters, Joan and Judith, and three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard and
Edmund.
Before Shakespeare's birth, his father became a successful merchant and held official positions as alderman and
bailiff, an office resembling a mayor. However, records indicate John's fortunes declined sometime in the late
1570s.
Childhood and Education
Scant records exist of Shakespeare's childhood and virtually none regarding his education. Scholars have
surmised that he most likely attended the King's New School, in Stratford, which taught reading, writing and the
classics.
Being a public official's child, Shakespeare would have undoubtedly qualified for free tuition. But this
uncertainty regarding his education has led some to raise questions about the authorship of his work (and even
about whether or not Shakespeare really existed).
Wife and Children
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582, in Worcester, in Canterbury Province. Hathaway
was from Shottery, a small village a mile west of Stratford. Shakespeare was 18 and Anne was 26, and, as it
turns out, pregnant.
Their first child, a daughter they named Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. Two years later, on February 2,
1585, twins Hamnet and Judith were born. Hamnet later died of unknown causes at age 11.
Shakespeare’s Lost Years
There are seven years of Shakespeare's life where no records exist after the birth of his twins in 1585. Scholars
call this period the "lost years," and there is wide speculation on what he was doing during this period.
One theory is that he might have gone into hiding for poaching game from the local landlord, Sir Thomas Lucy.
Another possibility is that he might have been working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire.
It's generally believed he arrived in London in the mid- to late 1580s and may have found work as a horse
attendant at some of London's finer theaters, a scenario updated centuries later by the countless aspiring actors
and playwrights in Hollywood and Broadway.
The King's Men
By the early 1590s, documents show Shakespeare was a managing partner in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, an
acting company in London with which he was connected for most of his career.
Considered the most important troupe of its time, the company changed its name to the King's Men following
the crowning of King James I in 1603. From all accounts, the King's Men company was very popular. Records
show that Shakespeare had works published and sold as popular literature.
Although the theater culture in 16th century England was not highly admired by people of high rank, some of
the nobility were good patrons of the performing arts and friends of the actors.
Actor and Playwright
By 1592, there is evidence Shakespeare earned a living as an actor and a playwright in London and possibly had
several plays produced.
The September 20, 1592 edition of the Stationers' Register (a guild publication) includes an article by London
playwright Robert Greene that takes a few jabs at Shakespeare: "...There is an upstart Crow, beautified with our
feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a
blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-
scene in a country," Greene wrote of Shakespeare.
Scholars differ on the interpretation of this criticism, but most agree that it was Greene's way of saying
Shakespeare was reaching above his rank, trying to match better known and educated playwrights like
Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe or Greene himself.
Early in his career, Shakespeare was able to attract the attention of Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of
Southampton, to whom he dedicated his first and second published poems: "Venus and Adonis" (1593) and
"The Rape of Lucrece" (1594).
By 1597, Shakespeare had already written and published 15 of his 37 plays. Civil records show that at this time
he purchased the second-largest house in Stratford, called New House, for his family.
It was a four-day ride by horse from Stratford to London, so it's believed that Shakespeare spent most of his
time in the city writing and acting and came home once a year during the 40-day Lenten period, when the
theaters were closed.
Globe Theater
By 1599, Shakespeare and his business partners built their own theater on the south bank of the Thames River,
which they called the Globe Theater.
In 1605, Shakespeare purchased leases of real estate near Stratford for 440 pounds, which doubled in value and
earned him 60 pounds a year. This made him an entrepreneur as well as an artist, and scholars believe these
investments gave him the time to write his plays uninterrupted.
Shakespeare’s Writing Style
Shakespeare's early plays were written in the conventional style of the day, with elaborate metaphors and
rhetorical phrases that didn't always align naturally with the story's plot or characters.
However, Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the traditional style to his own purposes and creating a
freer flow of words.
With only small degrees of variation, Shakespeare primarily used a metrical pattern consisting of lines of
unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse, to compose his plays. At the same time, there are passages in all
the plays that deviate from this and use forms of poetry or simple prose.
William Shakespeare: Plays
While it’s difficult to determine the exact chronology of Shakespeare’s plays, over the course of two decades,
from about 1590 to 1613, he wrote a total of 37 plays revolving around several main themes: histories,
tragedies, comedies and tragicomedies.
Early Works: Histories and Comedies
With the exception of the tragic love story Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's first plays were mostly histories.
Henry VI (Parts I, II and III), Richard II and Henry V dramatize the destructive results of weak or corrupt rulers
and have been interpreted by drama historians as Shakespeare's way of justifying the origins of the Tudor
Dynasty.
Julius Caesar portrays upheaval in Roman politics that may have resonated with viewers at a time when
England’s aging monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, had no legitimate heir, thus creating the potential for future power
struggles.
Shakespeare also wrote several comedies during his early period: the whimsical A Midsummer Night's Dream,
the romantic Merchant of Venice, the wit and wordplay of Much Ado About Nothing and the charming As You
Like It and Twelfth Night.
Other plays written before 1600 include Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Two Gentlemen of
Verona, The Taming of the Shrew, Love’s Labour’s Lost, King John, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry
V.
Works after 1600: Tragedies and Tragicomedies
It was in Shakespeare's later period, after 1600, that he wrote the tragedies Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and
Macbeth. In these, Shakespeare's characters present vivid impressions of human temperament that are timeless
and universal.
Possibly the best known of these plays is Hamlet, which explores betrayal, retribution, incest and moral failure.
These moral failures often drive the twists and turns of Shakespeare's plots, destroying the hero and those he
loves.
In Shakespeare's final period, he wrote several tragicomedies. Among these are Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale
and The Tempest. Though graver in tone than the comedies, they are not the dark tragedies of King Lear or
Macbeth because they end with reconciliation and forgiveness.
Other plays written during this period include All’s Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Timon of
Athens, Coriolanus, Pericles and Henry VIII.
When Did Shakespeare Die?
Tradition holds that Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday, April 23, 1616, but some scholars believe this is a
myth. Church records show he was interred at Trinity Church on April 25, 1616.
The exact cause of Shakespeare's death is unknown, though many believe he died following a brief illness.
In his will, he left the bulk of his possessions to his eldest daughter, Susanna. Though entitled to a third of his
estate, little seems to have gone to his wife, Anne, whom he bequeathed his "second-best bed." This has drawn
speculation that she had fallen out of favor, or that the couple was not close.
However, there is very little evidence the two had a difficult marriage. Other scholars note that the term
"second-best bed" often refers to the bed belonging to the household's master and mistress — the marital bed —
and the "first-best bed" was reserved for guests.
Did Shakespeare Write His Own Plays?
About 150 years after his death, questions arose about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. Scholars and
literary critics began to float names like Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere and Francis Bacon — men of
more known backgrounds, literary accreditation, or inspiration — as the true authors of the plays.
Much of this stemmed from the sketchy details of Shakespeare's life and the dearth of contemporary primary
sources. Official records from the Holy Trinity Church and the Stratford government record the existence of a
Shakespeare, but none of these attest to him being an actor or playwright.
Skeptics also questioned how anyone of such modest education could write with the intellectual perceptiveness
and poetic power that is displayed in Shakespeare's works. Over the centuries, several groups have emerged that
question the authorship of Shakespeare's plays.
The most serious and intense skepticism began in the 19th century when adoration for Shakespeare was at its
highest. The detractors believed that the only hard evidence surrounding Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-
Avon described a man from modest beginnings who married young and became successful in real estate.
Members of the Shakespeare Oxford Society (founded in 1957) put forth arguments that English aristocrat and
poet Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of the poems and plays of "William
Shakespeare."
The Oxfordians cite de Vere's extensive knowledge of aristocratic society, his education, and the structural
similarities between his poetry and that found in the works attributed to Shakespeare. They contend that
Shakespeare had neither the education nor the literary training to write such eloquent prose and create such rich
characters.
However, the vast majority of Shakespearean scholars contend that Shakespeare wrote all his own plays. They
point out that other playwrights of the time also had sketchy histories and came from modest backgrounds.
They contend that Stratford's New Grammar School curriculum of Latin and the classics could have provided a
good foundation for literary writers. Supporters of Shakespeare's authorship argue that the lack of evidence
about Shakespeare's life doesn't mean his life didn't exist. They point to evidence that displays his name on the
title pages of published poems and plays.
Examples exist of authors and critics of the time acknowledging Shakespeare as the author of plays such as The
Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors and King John.
Royal records from 1601 show that Shakespeare was recognized as a member of the King's Men theater
company and a Groom of the Chamber by the court of King James I, where the company performed seven of
Shakespeare's plays.
There is also strong circumstantial evidence of personal relationships by contemporaries who interacted with
Shakespeare as an actor and a playwright.
Literary Legacy
What seems to be true is that Shakespeare was a respected man of the dramatic arts who wrote plays and acted
in some in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. But his reputation as a dramatic genius wasn't recognized until
the 19th century.
Beginning with the Romantic period of the early 1800s and continuing through the Victorian period, acclaim
and reverence for Shakespeare and his work reached its height. In the 20th century, new movements in
scholarship and performance have rediscovered and adopted his works.
Today, his plays are highly popular and constantly studied and reinterpreted in performances with diverse
cultural and political contexts. The genius of Shakespeare's characters and plots are that they present real human
beings in a wide range of emotions and conflicts that transcend their origins in Elizabethan England.
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MARK TWAIN
Mark Twain, the writer, adventurer and wily social critic born Samuel Clemens, wrote the novels 'Adventures
of Tom Sawyer' and 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.’
Who Was Mark Twain?
Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, was the celebrated author of several novels, including two
major classics of American literature: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He
was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur and inventor.
Early Life
Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in the tiny village of Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835,
the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens. When he was 4 years old, his family moved to nearby Hannibal, a
bustling river town of 1,000 people.
John Clemens worked as a storekeeper, lawyer, judge and land speculator, dreaming of wealth but never
achieving it, sometimes finding it hard to feed his family. He was an unsmiling fellow; according to one legend,
young Sam never saw his father laugh.
His mother, by contrast, was a fun-loving, tenderhearted homemaker who whiled away many a winter's night
for her family by telling stories. She became head of the household in 1847 when John died unexpectedly.
The Clemens family "now became almost destitute," wrote biographer Everett Emerson, and was forced into
years of economic struggle — a fact that would shape the career of Twain.
Twain in Hannibal
Twain stayed in Hannibal until age 17. The town, situated on the Mississippi River, was in many ways a
splendid place to grow up.
Steamboats arrived there three times a day, tooting their whistles; circuses, minstrel shows and revivalists paid
visits; a decent library was available; and tradesmen such as blacksmiths and tanners practiced their entertaining
crafts for all to see.
However, violence was commonplace, and young Twain witnessed much death: When he was nine years old,
he saw a local man murder a cattle rancher, and at 10 he watched a slave die after a white overseer struck him
with a piece of iron.
Hannibal inspired several of Twain's fictional locales, including "St. Petersburg" in Tom Sawyer and
Huckleberry Finn. These imaginary river towns are complex places: sunlit and exuberant on the one hand, but
also vipers' nests of cruelty, poverty, drunkenness, loneliness and soul-crushing boredom — all parts of Twain's
boyhood experience.
Sam kept up his schooling until he was about 12 years old, when — with his father dead and the family needing
a source of income — he found employment as an apprentice printer at the Hannibal Courier, which paid him
with a meager ration of food. In 1851, at 15, he got a job as a printer and occasional writer and editor at the
Hannibal Western Union, a little newspaper owned by his brother, Orion.
Steamboat Pilot
Then, in 1857, 21-year-old Twain fulfilled a dream: He began learning the art of piloting a steamboat on the
Mississippi. A licensed steamboat pilot by 1859, he soon found regular employment plying the shoals and
channels of the great river.
Twain loved his career — it was exciting, well-paying and high-status, roughly akin to flying a jetliner today.
However, his service was cut short in 1861 by the outbreak of the Civil War, which halted most civilian traffic
on the river.
As the Civil War began, the people of Missouri angrily split between support for the Union and the Confederate
States. Twain opted for the latter, joining the Confederate Army in June 1861 but serving for only a couple of
weeks until his volunteer unit disbanded.
Where, he wondered then, would he find his future? What venue would bring him both excitement and cash?
His answer: the great American West.
Heading Out West
In July 1861, Twain climbed on board a stagecoach and headed for Nevada and California, where he would live
for the next five years.
At first, he prospected for silver and gold, convinced that he would become the savior of his struggling family
and the sharpest-dressed man in Virginia City and San Francisco. But nothing panned out, and by the middle of
1862, he was flat broke and in need of a regular job.
Twain knew his way around a newspaper office, so that September, he went to work as a reporter for the
Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. He churned out news stories, editorials and sketches, and along the way
adopted the pen name Mark Twain — steamboat slang for 12 feet of water.
Twain became one of the best-known storytellers in the West. He honed a distinctive narrative style — friendly,
funny, irreverent, often satirical and always eager to deflate the pretentious.
He got a big break in 1865, when one of his tales about life in a mining camp, "Jim Smiley and His Jumping
Frog," was printed in newspapers and magazines around the country (the story later appeared under various
titles).