BACKGROUND

Brief Biography

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor. He was born on the 26th of April 1564
in Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the
world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and nicknamed the Bard of Avon.
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway at the age of 18. He was a very private person and only a few records of his
private life survived, but he is thought to have spent most of his time in London writing and performing in his
plays. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a
playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. Around 1613, at the age of
49, he retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. He died on April 23, 1616, at the age of 52. He died
within a month of signing his will, a document which he begins by describing himself as being in "perfect health".
In his will, Shakespeare left the bulk of his large estate to his elder daughter Susanna.

PHILOSPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

William Shakespeare's philosophical anthropology is best portrayed on his works as it shows how he
sees human nature as a complex subject due to the many desires and personalities humans have which lead to
actions that could affect the lives of others. In his writings, he gives insight on the human condition and discusses
what it means to be human. In here, we find optimism, truth, pragmatism, straightforwardness, morals and
didacticism, and the mingling of tragic and comic elements. Some of his plays are concerned with the external
behavior of men. He denotes his views on faith by showing that humans have little control over their destinies.
He also views human nature as an eternal beast, never ending, and perhaps never changing. He also makes fun of
the romanticization of love versus of what it is in reality. Also, seeing that Shakespeare’s plays revolved around
realism and skepticism, one can conclude that he is a realist and a skeptic.

QUESTIONS AND CRITICISM

There is little surprise that we find Shakespeare's works to be no longer universal, no longer unknowable,
and no longer ‘for all time’, but rather a product very specifically of the late 1590s and early 1600s - works that
speak primarily to the ideological concerns of their immediate circumstances. Modern criticism states that
Shakespeare, just like his contemporaries, was a sexist, racist, royalist, and colonialist. His plays have not endured
through their universality, but rather they have been forced onto us by centuries of cultural imperialism, and
policed by various education systems. As interpreted in Hamlet, Shakespeare showed the idea of mankind,
however he did not create the idea of humanity. Criticism from Leo Tolstoy, George Bernard, and J.R.R. Tolkien
questions his lawless and mere presence of morality, humor, writing style, and skeptic view.

OWN PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

We believe that Shakespeare had not thought that the society would soon change. We believe that, as a
writer, one should consider the dynamic nature of our society and try to make sure that his or her works would
still be applicable in the future. We also sense that his ideologies of men and women are mostly patriarchal, which
we don't agree on. We believe that one should be an equalist. He is too nationalistic and an Elizabethan which
makes him sexist, racist, royalist, and colonialist. As a member of a more diverse society, we try our best to not
become any of those things so as to avoid misunderstandings. He also had some contrasting view of him hailing
Christianity and absence of morality, at the same time. However, we believe that self-reflection is indeed one of
the truest way to understand human nature.