These slides were prepared for my students of AVS College of Arts & Science, Pantherankavu, near Calicut otherwise known as Kozhikkode. There my UG students have to study Shakespeare, his tragedies, comedies, historical plays, sonnets. Reading drama and appreciating it is what is to be taught to them.

1. William Shakespeare,
Retirement and Death
Babu Appat

2. Shakespeare retired from public life in
1610, right after the bubonic plague
began to subside its attack on London.

3. This act was unusual for the time, but
he was by no means less active.

4. In fact, the playwright continued to
make frequent trips to London to
collaborate with other playwrights, such
as John Fletcher, and to spend time
with his son-in-law John Hall, who
married his elder daughter Susanna in
1607.

5. The playwright was an active dramatist
and writer up until 1613 when the last
of his great works was finished.

6. From then on, Shakespeare spent most
of his time in Stratford-upon-Avon,
where he had purchased the second-
largest home in town for his family.

7. William Shakespeare died on April 23,
1616, and was buried at the Holy
Trinity Church in Stratford two days
later, with a curse written on his
tombstone to ward off those who would
disturb his bones.

8. He was 52 years old at the time of his
death and was survived by his wife,
Anna, and their two daughters.

9. There are no direct descendants from
Shakespeare's line, as both daughters
had children who did not make it to
adulthood.

10. The Shakespeare Canon

11. Shakespeare was noted both for poetry
and plays, with both mediums serving
different needs; the plays were related
to the theatrical fashion that was on
trend while his poetry served to provide
storytelling in erotic or romantic ways,
culminating in a canon of work that is
as diverse in language as the issues of
human nature that the works portray.

12. THANK
YOU
babuappat@gmail.com