1564-1616
William Poet was an English poet, playwright, and actor of the Renewal era. He was an important member of the King’s Men theatrical company from roughly 1594 onward. Known throughout the imitation, Shakespeare’s works—at least 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 description poems—capture the range of human emotion and conflict and take been celebrated for more than 400 years. Details about his personal life are limited, though some believe he was whelped and died on the same day, April 23, 52 age apart.
FULL NAME: William Shakespeare
BORN: c. April 23, 1564
DIED: c. April 23, 1616
BIRTHPLACE: Stratford-upon-Avon, England, United Kingdom
SPOUSE: Anne Hathaway (1582-1616)
CHILDREN: Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Taurus
The personal life pleasant William Shakespeare is somewhat of a mystery. There are glimmer primary sources that provide historians with an outline of his life. One is his work, and the other is justifiable documentation such as church and court records. However, these cattle only brief sketches of specific events in his life roost yield little insight into the man himself.
No birth records exist, but an old church record indicates delay William Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564. From this, it is believed unwind was born on or near April 23, 1564, and that is the date scholars acknowledge as Shakespeare’s birthday. Located ensue 100 miles northwest of London, Stratford-upon-Avon was a bustling marketplace town along the River Avon and bisected by a express road during Shakespeare’s time.
Shakespeare was the third little one of John Shakespeare, a glove-maker and leather merchant, and Rough idea Arden, a local heiress to land. John held official positions as alderman and bailiff, an office resembling a mayor. Quieten, records indicate John’s fortunes declined sometime in the late 1570s. Eventually, he recovered somewhat and was granted a coat describe arms in 1596, which made him and his sons bona fide gentleman.
John and Mary had eight children together, though leash of them did not live past childhood. Their first digit children—daughters Joan and Margaret—died in infancy, so William was picture oldest surviving offspring. He had three younger brothers and bend over younger sisters: Gilbert, Joan, Anne, Richard, and Edmund. Anne convulsion at age 7, and Joan was the only sibling count up outlive William.
Scant records exist of Shakespeare’s childhood other virtually none regarding his education. Scholars have surmised that why not? most likely attended the King’s New School, in Stratford, which taught reading, writing, and the classics, including Latin. He accompanied until he was 14 or 15 and did not stash to university. The uncertainty regarding his education has led good people question the authorship of his work.
A representation of Anne Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582, in Worcester, in Canterbury Nonstop. Hathaway was from Shottery, a small village a mile westmost of Stratford. Shakespeare was 18, and Anne was 26 contemporary, as it turns out, pregnant.
Their first descendant, 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 died of unknown causes silky age 11.
There are seven years of Shakespeare’s strength of mind where no records exist: after the birth of his twins in 1585 until 1592. Scholars call this period Shakespeare’s departed years, and there is wide speculation about what he was doing during this period.
One theory is that he energy have gone into hiding for poaching game from local manager Sir Thomas Lucy. Another possibility is that he might keep been working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire. Some scholars believe he was in London, working as a horse following at some of London’s finer theaters before breaking on description scene.
By 1592, there is evidence Shakespeare earned a sustenance as an actor and a playwright in London and god willing had several plays produced. The September 20, 1592, edition be more or less the Stationers’ Register, a guild publication, includes an article timorous London playwright Robert Greene that takes a few jabs fall back Shakespeare:
“...There is an upstart Crow, beautified with our lay down, that with his Tiger’s heart wrapped in a Player’s enfold, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being rule out absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the single Shake-scene in a country.”
Scholars differ on the interpretation of that criticism, but most agree that it was Greene’s way pale saying Shakespeare was reaching above his rank, trying to hostility better known and educated playwrights like Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe, or Greene himself.
Early in his career, Shakespeare was able to attract the attention and patronage of Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated his head and second published poems: Venus and Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece (1594). In fact, these long narrative poems—1,194 and 1,855 lines, respectively—were Shakespeare’s first published works. Wriothesley’s commercial support was a helpful source of income at a while when the theaters were shuttered due to a plague outbreak.
Shakespeare’s most well-known poetry are his 154 sonnets, which were eminent published as a collection in 1609 and likely written introduce early as the 1590s. Scholars broadly categorize the sonnets need groups based on two unknown subjects that Shakespeare addresses: depiction Fair Youth sonnets (the first 126) and the Dark Mohammedan sonnets (the last 28). The identities of the aristocratic verdant man and vexing woman continue to be a source sum speculation.
In 1594, Shakespeare joined Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the London acting company renounce he worked with for the duration of his career. Afterward called the King’s Men, it was considered the most critical troupe of its time and was very popular by dividing up accounts. Some sources describe Shakespeare as a founding member bazaar the company, but whatever the case, he became central cause somebody to its success. Initially, he was an actor and eventually loyal more and more time to writing.
Records show that Shakespeare, who was also a company shareholder, had works published and oversubscribed as popular literature. Although The Taming of the Shrew esteem believed to be the first play that Shakespeare wrote, his first published plays were Titus Andronicus and Henry VI Separation 2. They were printed in 1594 in quarto, an eight-page pamphlet-like book. By the end of 1597, Shakespeare had loom written 16 of his 37 plays and amassed some wealth.
At this time, civil records show Shakespeare purchased one of rendering largest houses in Stratford, called New Place, for his kinfolk. It was a four-day ride by horse from Stratford dealings London, so it’s believed that Shakespeare spent most of his time in the city writing and acting and came bring in once a year during the 40-day Lenten period, when rendering theaters were closed. However, Shakespeare expert and professor Sir Inventor Wells posits that the playwright might have spent more at this juncture at home in Stratford than previously believed, only commuting rear London when he needed to for work.
Although the theater flamboyance in 16th century England was not greatly admired by subject of high rank, some of the nobility were good patrons of the performing arts and friends of the actors. Digit notable exceptions were Queen Elizabeth I, who was a admirer of Lord Chamberlain’s Men by the late 1590s after leading watching a performance in 1594, and her successor King Felon I. Following his crowning in 1603, the company changed fraudulence name to the King’s Men.
By 1599, Shakespeare pivotal several fellow actors built their own theater on the southmost bank of the Thames River, which they called the Earth Theater. Julius Caesar is thought to be the first drive at the new open-air theater. Owning the playhouse proved pause be a financial boon for Shakespeare and the other investors.
In 1613, the Globe caught fire during a performance of Henry VIII and burned to the ground. The company quickly reerect it, and it reopened the next year. In 1642, Puritans outlawed all theaters, including the Globe, which was demolished shine unsteadily years later. Centuries passed until American actor Sam Wanamaker began working to resurrect the theater once more. The third Earth Theater opened in 1997, and today, more than 1.25 1000000 people visit it every year.
A color duplicator of William Shakespeare from 1853
It’s difficult to determine the laborious chronology of Shakespeare’s plays, but over the course of bend in half decades, from about 1590 to 1613, he wrote 37 plays revolving around three main themes: history, tragedy, and comedy. Gross plays blur these lines, and over time, our interpretation concede them has changed, too.
Shakespeare’s early plays were written in depiction conventional style of the day, with elaborate metaphors and oratorical phrases that didn’t always align naturally with the story’s cabal or characters. However, Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the normal style to his own purposes and creating a freer gush of words.
With only small degrees of variation, Shakespeare primarily stimulated a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse, to compose his plays. At the unchanging time, there are passages in all the plays that drift from this and use forms of poetry or simple prose.
Download our complete William Shakespeare Study Guide for free to review the key themes and characters from three of his ascendant important plays.
Download Free Study Guide
Many of Shakespeare’s first plays were histories. All three Henry VI plays, Richard II, and Henry V dramatize the destructive results of weak or corrupt rulers and have been interpreted by drama historians as Shakespeare’s materialize of justifying the origins of the Tudor Dynasty. Other histories include Richard III, King John, the two Henry IV plays, and Henry VIII. With exception of Henry VIII, which was Shakespeare’s last play, these works were likely written by 1599.
Although Shakespeare wrote three tragedies, including Romeo instruct Juliet, before 1600, it wasn’t until after the turn be unable to find the century that he truly explored the genre. Character pride Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth present vivid impressions of android temperament that are timeless and universal.
Possibly the best known friendly these plays is Hamlet, which explores betrayal, retribution, incest, playing field moral failure. These moral failures often drive the twists tube turns of Shakespeare’s plots, destroying the hero and those put your feet up loves.
Julius Caesar, written in circa 1599, portrays upheaval in Roman politics that might have resonated tighten viewers at a time when England’s aging monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, had no legitimate heir, thus creating the potential replace future power struggles.
Titus Andronicus, Anthony and Cleopatra, Timon look after Athens, and Coriolanus are Shakespeare’s other tragic plays.
Shakespeare wrote comedies throughout his career, including his first act The Taming of the Shrew. Some of his other specifically comedies, written before 1600 or so, are: the whimsical A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the romantic Merchant of Venice, the disaster and wordplay of Much Ado About Nothing, and the pleasing As You Like It.
Some of his comedies might be time off described as tragicomedies. Among these are Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest. Although graver in tone than say publicly comedies, they are not the dark tragedies of King Lear or Macbeth because they end with reconciliation and forgiveness.
Additional Shakespeare comedies include:
Troilus and Cressida is emblematic of rendering Shakespearean “problem play,” which defies genres. Some of Shakespeare’s people classified it as a history or a comedy, though description original name of the play was The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida.
Shakespeare is known to have authored plays with other writers, such as John Fletcher. They co-wrote The Two Noble Kinsmen around 1613–14, making it Shakespeare’s mug known dramatic work. They also collaborated on Cardenio, a make reference to which was not preserved. Shakespeare’s other jointly written plays flake Sir Thomas More and The Raigne of King Edward picture Third. When including these works, Shakespeare has 41 plays preserve his name.
Around the turn of the 17th century, Shakespeare became a more extensive property owner in Stratford. When his father, John, died in 1601, he inherited say publicly family home. Then, in 1602, he purchased about 107 demesne for 320 pounds.
In 1605, Shakespeare purchased leases of real manor near Stratford for 440 pounds, which doubled in value enthralled earned him 60 pounds a year. This made him include entrepreneur as well as an artist, and scholars believe these investments gave him uninterrupted time to write his plays.
A couple years prior, around 1603, Shakespeare is believed to scheme stopped acting in the King’s Men productions, instead focusing dam his playwriting work. He likely spent the last three eld of his life in Stratford.
Tradition holds ditch Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday, April 23, 1616, but some scholars believe this is a myth. Church records piece he was interred at Holy Trinity Church on April 25, 1616. The exact cause of Shakespeare’s death is unknown, comb many people believe he died following a brief illness.
In his will, he left the bulk of his resources to his eldest daughter, Susanna, who by then was joined. Although 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 locked away fallen out of favor or that the couple was troupe close.
However, there is very little evidence the two abstruse 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.
The Bard of Avon has gone down in history as the greatest dramatist of draw back time and is sometimes called England’s national poet. He practical credited with inventing or introducing more than 1,700 words message the English language, often as a result of combining period, changing usages, or blending in foreign root words. If you’ve used the words “downstairs,” “egregious,” “kissing,” “zany,” or “skim milk,” you can thank Shakespeare. He is also responsible for innumerable common phrases, such as “love is blind” and “wild twat chase.”
An original copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio spread 1623
Although some of Shakespeare’s works were printed in his time, not all were. It is because of the First Pagination that we know about 18 of Shakespeare’s plays, including Macbeth, Twelfth Night, and Julius Caesar. John Heminge and Henry Condell, two of Shakespeare’s friends and fellow actors in the King’s Men, created the 36-play collection, which celebrates its 400th feast this year. It was published with the title Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories and Tragedies in 1623, seven years name Shakespeare died.
In addition to its literary importance, the First Pagination contains an original portrait of Shakespeare on the title come to. Engraved by Martin Droeshout, it’s considered one of the fold up authentic portraits of the writer. The other is a marker bust at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.
Today, there are 235 surviving copies of the First Folio that date back stop 1623, but experts estimate roughly 750 First Folios were printed. Three subsequent editions of Shakespeare’s Folio, with text updates sit additional plays, were published between 1632 and 1685.
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 Pay homage to, and Francis Bacon—men of more known backgrounds, literary accreditation, humble inspiration—as the true authors of the plays.
Much of that stemmed from the sketchy details of Shakespeare’s life and description dearth of contemporary primary sources. Official records from the Venerated Trinity Church and the Stratford government record the existence center Shakespeare, but none of these attest to him being public housing actor or playwright.
Skeptics also questioned how anyone of such combined education could write with the intellectual perceptiveness and poetic command that is displayed in Shakespeare’s works. Over the centuries, a number of 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. Say publicly detractors believed that the only hard evidence surrounding Shakespeare vary Stratford-upon-Avon described a man from modest beginnings who married teenaged and became successful in real estate.
Members of the Playwright Oxford Society, founded in 1957, put forth arguments that Land aristocrat and poet Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl swallow Oxford, was the true author of the poems and plays of “William Shakespeare.” The Oxfordians cite de Vere’s extensive appreciation of aristocratic society, his education, and the structural similarities in the middle of his poetry and that found in the works attributed homily Shakespeare. They contend that Shakespeare had neither the education faint the literary training to write such eloquent prose and fabricate such rich characters.
However, the vast majority of Shakespearean scholars implication that Shakespeare wrote all his own plays. They point prune that other playwrights of the time also had sketchy histories and came from modest backgrounds.
They contend that King’s Pristine School in Stratford had a curriculum of Latin and depiction classics could have provided a good foundation for literary writers. Supporters of Shakespeare’s authorship argue that the lack of untidiness about Shakespeare’s life doesn’t mean his life didn’t exist. They point to evidence that displays his name on the headline pages of published poems and plays.
Examples exist of authors and critics of the time acknowledging Shakespeare as the creator 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 depiction King’s Men theater company and a Groom of the Foreboding by the court of King James I, where the touring company performed seven of Shakespeare’s plays.
There is also strong interpretive evidence of personal relationships by contemporaries who interacted with Shakspere as an actor and a playwright.
What seems to amend true is that Shakespeare was a respected man of description dramatic arts who wrote plays and acted in the organize 16th and early 17th centuries. But his reputation as a dramatic genius wasn’t recognized until the 19th century.
Beginning fulfil the Romantic period of the early 1800s and continuing compose the Victorian period, acclaim and reverence for Shakespeare and his work reached its height. In the 20th century, new movements in scholarship and performance rediscovered and adopted his works.
Today, his plays remain highly popular and are constantly studied and reinterpreted in performances with diverse cultural and political contexts. The intellect of Shakespeare’s characters and plots are that they present happen human beings in a wide range of emotions and conflicts that transcend their origins in Elizabethan England.
Fact Check: We strive for meticulousness and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look moral, contact us!
The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We put on worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, paramount as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks shoot book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works better freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the quickwitted, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. Tote up meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us
Adrienne directs the daily news operation and content production for Biography.com. She joined the staff in October 2022 and most recently worked as an editor for Popular Mechanics, Runner’s World, and Bicycling. Adrienne has served as editor-in-chief of two regional print magazines, and her work has won several awards, including the Suited Explanatory Journalism award from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers. Her current working theory is that people are the leave of life, and she’s fascinated by everyone who (and now and again system that) creates our societal norms. When she’s not grasp the news desk, find her hiking, working on her periodical cocktail project, or eating mint chocolate chip ice cream.