Author, Actor, Poet

Life and Death

Shakespeare's reputation as dramatist and poet-actor is unique and he is considered by many to be the greatest playwright of all time, although many of the facts of his life remain mysterious.

S’peareWilliam Shakespeare was born in

Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and was baptised on 26 April 1564.

Shakespeare’s actual birthday is unknown, but because of high rates in infant mortality, babies were usually baptized quickly.

Therefore, most assume his birthday is 23 April, which makes it easy on historians, because this is also the day he died in 1616.

His father was a glove maker and wool merchant and his mother, Mary Arden, the daughter of a well-to-do local landowner.

Shakespeare was probably educated in Stratford's grammar school.

The next documented event in Shakespeare's life is his marriage in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, daughter of a farmer.

The couple had a daughter the following year and twins in 1585.

Shakespeare’s wife was 8 years older than him, and he was married very young. Men at the time were marrying in their mid to late twenties, while S’peare was only 18.

It could’ve been that Hathaway was 3 months pregnant when the wed. (?)

After 1585, there is now another gap, referred to by some scholars as 'the lost years', with Shakespeare only reappearing in London in 1592, when he was already working in the theatre.

Shakespeare spent from 1593 to 1615 writing poems and plays.

Shakespeare spent the last five years of his life in Stratford, by now a wealthy man.

He died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.

The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623 and is known as 'the First Folio'

Stats and Fun FactsShakespeare wrote 154 sonnets.He also wrote 37 plays including tragedies,

comedies, romances, and histories.He survived the epidemic BLACK PLAGUE.Shakespeare performed in almost all of his own

plays and in the plays of other people.Shakespeare never published any of his plays.Shakespeare's family were all illiterate.Many eminent Authors and Politicians do not

believe that Shakespeare wrote his plays.

Shakespeare is rumored to be the father of an illegitimate son - William Davenant.

We do not really know what Shakespeare looked like! Not one portrait was painted of Shakespeare whilst he was still alive.

Scandalous Facts! Shakespeare's daughter, Judith married a man called Thomas Quiney - but failed to get a special license to marry and, on March 12th 1616, Judith and Thomas Quiney were both excommunicated.

It transpired that Thomas Quiney had made another girl pregnant and was prosecuted for 'carnal copulation.’

The only mention that Shakespeare specifically makes of his wife in his Last Will and testament was to leave her his "second best bed."

Shakespeare's grandchildren all died - he had no descendents.

Elizabethan EnglandLife was conspicuously vulnerable for one in

the late 1500’s.No more than 60% of those born lived past

their mid-teens.Entire towns had been, will be, ravaged by

plague and influenza.Fire was a constant threat to civilization.Insects, rats, crop failure, and many other

problems continued to plague those in both towns and cities.

William had 8 siblings, all who died at varying ages, two before the age of one. He was the oldest to die at 52, and therefore his family was a striking case of how hard life could be in England at this point.

Politically, just before Shakespeare’s birth in 1564, Queen Elizabeth took the throne (1558).

She succeeded the reign of Queen Mary, who was devoutly Catholic and would even harass and terrorize Protestants.

Also under Mary, England subordinated itself to the Catholic Spain, continued a ruinous war with France, and experienced a debasing of the English currency.

Things were great.The world that Shakespeare was born into was

still not great. England was a fringe nation with a poor government.

Tension could be sensed everywhere, and the tension between Catholics and Protestants was still there for sure.

At this time, the English language itself was a minor, hardly spoken anywhere outside the borders of England.

Queen Elizabeth changed everything, but not overnight.

Elizabeth became a charming and successful queen. She established England as a formally Protestant nation, but did so without angering or ostracizing Catholics.

The so-called “Elizabethan Settlement” created a broad Christian community.

Elizabeth had very few imperial ambitions, except maybe to save England from invasion.

She bolstered trade with Spain and almost accidentally became a world heavy weight.

England was no longer considered a satellite nation.

Gradually the Spanish became a rival of England and the two countries went to war.

Though England’s forces were outmatched, the famous defeat of the Spanish Armada happened under Elizabeth.

The defeat of the Spanish was viewed as God’s favor and Elizabeth gained support.

The only problem was that she had never married or produced an heir.

The looming unrest bothered many.Upon her death, King James of Scotland took

over the throne and unrest was avoided. He ruled both countries, but kept them separate.

He was an impersonal king, concerned with the theory of government, but cared little for daily operations.

In short, Shakespeare wrote in a time of great prosperity and growth for England.

It is his writing in part that lives on as a legacy of the Elizabethan Renaissance.