William Shakespeare

By: Anthony Solis Mrs. Nicastro

Period 1

Childhood

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, a quiet market town on April 23, 1564.

He was baptized at Holy Trinity Church on April 26,1564. William Shakespeare was the third of eight children born to Mary

Arden and John Shakespeare, but he was the first of their children to survive past infancy.

Three of the children died in there youth.

Fandel, Jennifer. Voices In Poetry: William Shakespeare.123 South Broad Street, Mankato, Minnesota 56001: Creative Education, 2004.

Childhood

The Stratford of William Shakespeare’s childhood was a peaceful town surrounded by farms, woods, fields, and the flow of the river Avon.

William attended his first professional theater performance at the age of eleven.

All of these performances had an impact on the early development of William’s dramatic and poetic interests.Claybourne, Anna and Treays, Rebecca. The World of Shakespeare. Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT, England: Usborne Publishing Ltd, 1996.

Parents

His father, John Shakespeare, had a remarkable run of success as a tradesman, alderman, and high bailiff(mayor) of Stratford. He was a glover(maker of gloves and leather goods.)

His mother, Mary Arden, was a local heiress. She was a woman who inherits or has a right of inheritance.

Swisher, Clarice. Readings on the Histories: William Shakespeare. Greenhaven Press, San Diego, California: Bender L. David, 1998.

The family home

Shakespeare’s birthplace has been restored and turned into a museum.

William Shakespeare’s birthplace was on Henley Street, where his father had lived for several years.

John was married to Mary Arden, a wealthy landowner’s daughter.

Kay, Dennis. Shakespeare: His Life, Work, and Era. Great Britain: Sidgwick & Jackson Limited, 1992.

Shakespeare’s schooldays

At the age of five, Shakespeare began attending school six days a week at King Edward VI Grammar School.

The long school day began around seven in the morning and ended around five at night.

At school, boys studied mostly Latin.Swisher, Clarice. Readings on the Histories: William Shakespeare. Greenhaven Press, San Diego, California: Bender L. David, 1998.

Schooldays

Shakespeare was removed from school to serve in his father’s glove-making business at the age of fifteen.

He did not go to a university, but he read what books he could get hold of in his spare time.

William didn’t spend all of his teenage years working. He found time for play and romance in Stratford, attracting the woman who was soon to become his wife.

Shakespeare Biography at Absolute Shakespeare. 17 May. 2000<http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/biography/shakespeare_biography.htm>

A hasty marriage

When William was eighteen years old, he married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older than him and pregnant.

The marriage was a hurried affair, taking place in secret rather than in a public ceremony.

At the age of twenty, Shakespeare had a wife and three children to provide for.

Claybourne, Anna and Treays, Rebecca. The World of Shakespeare. Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT, England: Usborne Publishing Ltd, 1996.

Six months after their marriage, in May of 1583, their first child, Susanna, was born.

Two years later, William and Anne welcomed twins, a girl and a boy, into their family. The girl, Judith, was a healthy child, but the boy, Hamnet, did not live through his later childhood years.

Shakespeare would see his wife and children little in the next eleven years, most likely visiting only once a year.

Kay, Dennis. Shakespeare: His Life, Work, and Era. Great Britain: Sidgwick & Jackson Limited, 1992

Buying a New Place

Shakespeare bought a large, expensive Stratford house, “New Place”, in 1597. It was the second largest house in Stratford.

This was quite early in his career. He was still working in London most of the time, but it gave his wife and children their own home, and proved to everyone that Shakespeare had paid off all his family’s debts.

At the end of his career, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and lived at New Place until he died in 1616.

Shakespeare’s Resource Center: Shakespeare’s biography. 23 Nov. 2009 <http://www.bardweb.net/man.html>

Theater

William Shakespeare is the most influential writer in the world, but he left us no journals or letters, however, he left us only his poems and his plays.

He had an ability to capture the interests and imaginations of playgoers of that time.

Shakespeare had became an actor and playwright in 1592.

Shakespeare’s Resource Center: Shakespeare’s biography. 23 Nov. 2009 <http://www.bardweb.net/man.html>

The theater was divided into higher-priced balcony seats and the cheap floor space, where the groundlings stood.

Shakespeare’s plays had a darling mixture of violence and romance, and Shakespeare’s words brought his audiences straight into the heart of each and every character.

As a playwright, he mad little money for the writing he did, and he made even less money for his acting.

Shakespeare became part owner of London’s Globe Theater, which became the home of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.

Fandel, Jennifer. Voices In Poetry: William Shakespeare.123 South Broad Street, Mankato, Minnesota 56001: Creative Education, 2004.

Finale

At the age of 46, Shakespeare moved back to Stratford as a wealthy gentleman.

He continued to write plays and hold his connections to the Globe Theater, but in 1613, the Globe Theater burned down, indicating Shakespeare’s retirement from the theater.

Shakespeare entertained Ben Jonson and the poet Michael Brayton one night in April 1616. They had a entertaining time together, drinking wine, eating, and laughing about their lives.

“Arts & Entertainment: William Shakespeare.”Britannica Encyclopedia. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 7 Dec.2009<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/537853/William-Shakespeare>

Soon after that night, Shakespeare felt ill.He died on his birthday, April 23, at the age of 52, and was

buried two days later inside the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.

By the time of his death at age fifty-two, Shakespeare had produced nearly 40 plays and more than 150 sonnets. He had earned a good reputation as a poet of the people.

Shakespeare’s Resource Center: Shakespeare’s biography. 23 Nov. 2009 <http://www.bardweb.net/man.html>

Works Cited Page1. Fandel, Jennifer. Voices In Poetry: William Shakespeare.123 South Broad Street,

Mankato, Minnesota 56001: Creative Education, 2004.

2. Claybourne, Anna and Treays, Rebecca. The World of Shakespeare. Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT, England: Usborne Publishing Ltd, 1996.

3. Kay, Dennis. Shakespeare: His Life, Work, and Era. Great Britain: Sidgwick & Jackson Limited, 1992.

4. Swisher, Clarice. Readings on the Histories: William Shakespeare. Greenhaven Press, San Diego, California: Bender L. David, 1998.

5. “Arts & Entertainment: William Shakespeare.”Britannica Encyclopedia. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 7 Dec.2009<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/537853/William-Shakespeare>

6. Shakespeare’s Resource Center: Shakespeare’s biography. 23 Nov. 2009 <http://www.bardweb.net/man.html>

7. Shakespeare Biography at Absolute Shakespeare. 17 May. 2000<http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/biography/

shakespeare_biography.htm>