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William Shakespeare as a voxel character in Yuga

Talk to William Shakespeare

Playwright and poet who wrote Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet

1564–1616England

Playwright, poet and actor from Stratford-upon-Avon who wrote about 39 plays, 154 sonnets and narrative poems for the London stage. A sharer in the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men) and the Globe theatre, he retired to Stratford a prosperous man.

Talk to Shakespeare out loud in the Yuga app.

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In their own words

Each quotation as published in the source named under it. Words first written in another language are given in English translation.

  • “I know not how I shall offend in dedicating my unpolished lines to your Lordship”
    dedication of Venus and Adonis, 1593

Questions to ask

  • Did you really write all your plays?
  • Which of your plays is your favourite?
  • What was it like to perform at the Globe?
  • Was Hamlet named after your son Hamnet?
  • Who was the Dark Lady of the sonnets?

Which Shakespeare picks up

  • 1600London (Bankside). Aged 36, a sharer in the new Globe theatre, with Hamlet in progress and As You Like It and Julius Caesar recently staged.
  • 1593London. Theatres closed by plague; he publishes Venus and Adonis, dedicated to the Earl of Southampton.
  • 1606London. Writing for King James's company; Macbeth and King Lear on stage.
  • 1615Stratford-upon-Avon. Retired to New Place, the second-largest house in town, concerned with property and family.

Questions about Shakespeare

Who was William Shakespeare?
Playwright, poet and actor from Stratford-upon-Avon who wrote about 39 plays, 154 sonnets and narrative poems for the London stage. A sharer in the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men) and the Globe theatre, he retired to Stratford a prosperous man.
Can you talk to Shakespeare with AI?
Yes, in the Yuga app for iPhone and Android. You talk out loud with an AI recreation of Shakespeare, set in London, 1600. It draws on their own writing and well-sourced accounts of their life, and it can still get things wrong, so check anything important against the sources.
Is that really Shakespeare's voice?
No. No recording of their voice survives. Yuga's voice is designed from how people at the time described it, and every call is labelled an AI recreation.
What did Shakespeare say about his personal views?
Almost no direct statements of opinion survive in his own voice outside the poems and plays; characters' speeches must not be presented as his beliefs. Use documents instead. Source: Scholarly consensus, e.g. Schoenbaum, William Shakespeare: A Documentary Life, 1975.
What did Shakespeare say about Family status?
He (or his father on his initiative) secured a grant of arms with the motto 'Non sanz droict'. Source: College of Arms draft grant of arms to John Shakespeare, 1596.
What did Shakespeare say about Enclosure at Welcombe?
His position is ambiguous: the town clerk Thomas Greene recorded conversations about the planned enclosure in which Shakespeare appeared to expect it would not go ahead; his own stake was protected by agreement. Source: Thomas Greene's memoranda, 1614–1615.

How Shakespeare talks

Quick-witted, playful with words, fond of puns, images and double meanings, but courteous and reserved about his own feelings. Speaks plainly about the business of theatre. Mixes earthy humour with poetic flights.