Author in Depth-2

William Shakespeare

(1564-1616)

Because of his deep understanding of human nature, his compassion for all types of people, and the power and beauty of his language, William Shakespeare is regarded as the greatest writer in English.  Nearly four hundred years after his death, Shakespeare's plays continue to be read widely and produced throughout the world.  They have the same powerful impact on today's audiences as they had when they were first staged.

THE PLAYWRIGHT IN HIS OWN TIME

It is a myth that we know absolutely nothing about Shakespeare's life.  As critic Irving Ribner attests, "we know more about him than we do about virtually any other of his contemporary dramatist, with the eception of Ben Jonson."  Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratfor-on-Avon, which is northwest of London.  (The date is based on a record of his baptism on April 26.)  Stratford, with a population of about two thousand in Shakespeare's day, was the market town for a fertile agricultural region. 

Shakespeare's father, John, was a successful glove maker and businessman who held a number of positions in the town's government.  His mother, whose maiden name was Mary Arden, was the daughter of John's landlord.  Their marriage, therefore, boosted the Shakespeare family's holdings.  Nevertheless, there is evidence that in the late 1570s, John Shakespeare began to suffer financial reverses

SHAKESPEARE'S EDUCATION

No written evidence of Shakespeare's boyhood exists--not even a name on a school attendance list.  However, given his father's status, it is hightly probable that he attended the Stratford Grammar School, where he acquired a knowledge of Latin.

Although Shakespeare did not go on to study at a university, his attendance at the grammar school from ages seven to sixteen would have provided him with a good education.  Discipline at such a school was strict, and the school day lasted from 6:00 am in the summer (7:00 in the winter) until 5:00pm.  From 11:00 to 1:00, students were dismissed to eat lunch with their families.  At 3:00, they were allowed to play for a quarter of an hour!

SHAKESPEARE'S MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

Shakespeare's name enters the official records again in November 1582, when he received a license to marry Anne Hathaway.  The couple had a daughter, susanna, in 1583, and twins, Judith and Hamnet, in 1584.  Beyond names and years in which his children were born, we know little about his family life.  some writers have made much of the fact that Shakespeare left his wife and children behind when he went to London not long after his twins were born.  However, he visited his family in Stratford regularly during his years as a playwright, and they may have lived with him for a time in London.

ACTOR AND PLAYWRIGHT

It is uncertain how Shakespeare became connected with the theater in the late 1580s and early 1590s.  By 1594, however, he had become a part owner and the principal playwright of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, one of the most successful theater companies in London.

In 1599, the company built the famous Globe theater on the south bank of the Thames River, in Southwark.  This is where most of Shakespeare's plays were performed.  When James I became king in 1603, after the death of Elizabeth I, James took control of the Lord Chamberlain's Men and renamed the company the King's Men.

RETIREMENT

In about 1610, Skakespeare retired to Stratford, where he continued to write plays.  He was a prosperous middle-class man, who profited from his share in a successful theater company.  Six years later, on April 23, 1616, he died and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.  Because it was a common practice to move bodies after burial to make room for others, Shakespeare wrote the following as his epitaph:

     Blest be the man that spares these stones,

     And curst be he that moves my bones.

HIS LITERARY RECORD

Shakespeare did not think of himself as a man of letters.  He wrote his plays to be performed and did not bring out editions of them for the reading public.  The first published edition of his work, call the First Folio, was issued in 1623 by two members of his theater company.  John Heminges and Henry Condell.  It contained thirty-six of the thirty-seven plays now attributed to him.

Shakespeare's varied output includes romantic comedies, like a Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It; history plays, like Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2; tragedies, like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth; and later romances, like The Tempest.  In addition to his plays, he wrote 154 sonnets and three longer poems.