William Shakespeare was a renowned English poet, playwright, and actor born in 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon. His birthday is most commonly celebrated on 23 April which is also believed to be the date he died in 1616.
Shakespeare was a prolific writer during the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages of British theatre (sometimes called the English Renaissance or the early modern period).
Shakespeare's plays are perhaps his most enduring legacy but they are not all he wrote. Shakespeare's poems also remain popular to this day.
Shakespeare's Family Life
Records survive relating to William Shakespeare's family offer an understanding of the context of Shakespeare's early life and the lives of his family members.
John Shakespeare married Mary Arden, and together they had eight children. John and Mary lost two daughters as infants, so William became their eldest child.
John Shakespeare worked as a glove-maker but he also became an important figure in his town at Stratford by fulfilling civic positions.
His elevated status meant that he was even more likely to have sent his children, including william to the local grammar school.
William Shakespeare would have lived with his family in their house on Henley street until he turned eighteen.
When he was eighteen, shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was twenty-six.
It was a rushed marriage because Anne was already pregnant at the time of the ceremony.
Together they had three children, The first daughter Susanna, was born six months after the wedding and was later followed by twins Hamnet and Judith.
Shakespeare in London
During his time in london, shakespeare's first printed works where published, they were two long poems, Venus and Adonis (1593) and " The Rape of Lucrece" (1594).
He also became a founding member of The Lord Chamberlain's Men, a company of actors.
Shakespeare was the company's regular dramatist, producing an average two plays a year for almost twenty years.
He remained with company for the rest of his career during which time it evolved in to The Kings Men under the patronage of King James ( from 1603).
During his time in the company shakespeare wrote many of his most famous tragedies, such as King Lear, and Macbeth, as well as great romances, like " The Winter's Tale" and " The Tempest".
- Shakespeare's Works
Although Shakespeare works include 38 plays, 2 narrative poems, 154 sonnets, and a variety of other poems.
No original manuscripts of Shakespeare's plays are known to exist today. It is actually thanks to a group of actors from shakespeare's company that we have about half of the plays at all.
They collected them for publication after shakespeare died, preserving the plays.
These writings were bought together in what is known as the first folio ( folio's refers to the size of the paper used).
It contained 36 of his plays but none of his poetry.
- New Place; A home in Stratford-upon-avon
On his father death in 1601, William Shakespeare inherited the family home in Henley street part of which was then leased to tenants.
Further property investments in stratford followed, including the purchase of 107 acres of land in 1602.
Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52.
He was buried in the sanctuary of the parish church, holy Trinity.
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