WEEK 2 - SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE AND BIOGRAPHY

RESEARCH: Research Shakespeare’s life, ensuring you include information about his origins, family, relationships, the world he lived in and questions surrounding his work.

Visit the Folger Shakespeare Library Website and working from the ‘Discover Shakespeare’ Tab you work through the information regarding Shakespeare’s Life. http://www.folger.edu/Content/Discover-Shakespeare/Shakespeares-Life/

You can also read the ‘William Shakespeare Fact Sheet’ on the Globe website.

http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/education/discovery-space/fact-sheets

Research on William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is a famous English playwright and poet, he is also known to do some acting in his time.  

Due to the fact his was born over 400 years ago, it hard to know everything about his life, and the time period his was live in, as many files from that time were lost or they never existed.  It is most likely shakespeare was born around April 26th 1564, near the area of Northwest of London,  as there’s proof he was Baptized on this date at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-Upon-Avon. He is the children of John and Mary Shakespeare and the oldest children to survive out of his siblings. This father was a leatherworker, making material often used for gloves. John rose in the business world and when William was 5 John became the town bailiff which is similar to a mayor.  Since his dad was wealthy and high up in the social system it’s most certain William attended Stratford’s grammar school, studying mainly latin.  He mostly likely attended school until the age of 15.

In the later side of 1582,  not long after he left school, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare was 18, and Anne Hathaway was 26.  She gave birth to their first born Susanna not long after their marriage, then at the start of 1585 they had twins Judith and Hamnet which was the last children they would have. Shakespeare bought a house in Stratford where him and his family lived, however he spent most of his time in London due to his work . Unfortunately in 1596 his son Hamnet died at the age of 11, how his daughter did go on to marry, Susanna married a well of doctor John Hall, and made Shakespeare and grandparent with their daughter Elizabeth in 1608. Not long before his died Judith married Thomas Quiney who was a Vintner.

There is a break in the record as to what Shakespeare was doing after the birth of his twins in 1585, apart from that he created his own theatre.  However in there is proof that by 1952 he was an established London actor and playwright. He also had several roles as an actor, writer and occasionally as a major business partner with the  acting company, Lord Chamberlain's Men.  Over the years he became more well known.

Most of Shakespeare’s investments went into real-estate, he purchased the second largest house in the town New Place in 1597, so he was definitely a wealthy man.   One of the last play that he work on was The Two Noble Kinsmen, which was written in collaboration with John Fletcher.  It commonly thought that he died on April 23rd 1616, he cause of his death being unknown. He was buried at the Holy Trinity Church, the place of his Baptism.