The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford, England. His father worked selling leather and grains, and was a town official. He was the third child out of eight children. His mother, Mary, came from a family of prosperous farmers and landowners.
On November 28, 1582, he married Anne Hathaway. She was the daughter of a farmer near Stratford. He had three children with her, two of them being twins.
In the 1590’s, Shakespeare went to London and joined a touring theater company. He worked as a lead actor of this company called “The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.”
By the late 1590’s Shakespeare had established himself as a writer. In 1599, he founded the Globe Theater with 6 other associates. The new theater was an open playhouse in London. Shakespeare and the other 6 called themselves “The King’s Men” starting 1603 with King James I permission.
Shakespeare was able to establish himself both as a playwright and a poet during this time. Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. During Shakespeare’s time, most people were very superstitious believing in witches, ghosts, and other supernatural beings. This is reflected in much of the literature from that time, and especially in Macbeth
William Shakespeare Works
His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558-1603) and James I (ruled 1603-1625), and he was a favorite of both monarchs. Indeed, James granted Shakespeare’s company the greatest possible compliment by bestowing upon its members the title of King’s Men. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two. At the time of Shakespeare’s death, literary luminaries such as Ben Jonson hailed his works as timeless.
Shakespeare’s works were collected and printed in various editions in the century following his death, and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as the greatest poet ever to write in English was well established. The unprecedented admiration garnered by his works led to a fierce curiosity about Shakespeare’s life, but the dearth of biographical information has left many details of Shakespeare’s personal history shrouded in mystery.
Some people have concluded from this fact and from Shakespeare’s modest education that Shakespeare’s plays were actually written by someone else-Francis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford are the two most popular candidates-but the support for this claim is overwhelmingly circumstantial, and the theory is not taken seriously by many scholars.
Shakespeare’s Life
Records survive relating to William Shakespeare’s family. Through these, we can gain 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 the town of Stratford by fulfilling civic positions. His elevated status meant that he was even more likely to have sent his children, including Shakespeare, to the local grammar school. John was awarded a coat of arms, now displayed on the monument above the Shakespeare grave in Holy Trinity Church. Versions of the Shakespeare coat of arms can also be seen on Shakespeare’s Birthplace, outside of the Shakespeare Centre, and above the entrance to Shakespeare’s New Place.
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. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born six months after the wedding and was later followed by twins Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet died when he was just 11 years old.
Shakespeare in London
Shakespeare’s career jump-started in London. When did he go there? We do know Shakespeare’s twins were baptised in 1585, and Shakespeare established his reputation in London by 1592. But the intervening years are considered a mystery. Scholars generally refer to these years as ‘The Lost Years’.
During his time in London, Shakespeare became a founding member of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a company of actors. The company would later become The King’s Men under the patronage of King James I (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.
New Place
In 1597, William Shakespeare bought a home called New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon. Recent archaeological evidence discovered on the site of Shakespeare’s New Place shows that Shakespeare was only ever an intermittent lodger in London. This suggests he divided his time between Stratford and London (a two or three-day commute). In his later years, he may have spent more time in Stratford-upon-Avon than scholars previously thought.
Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52. He is buried in the sanctuary of the parish church, Holy Trinity.