William Shakespeare
As his father was now a bailiff, young William probably attended the local grammar school. Religious education was also important, and Shakespeare drew on these sources in his later work with classical and religious allusions. Shakespeare probably attended school until about age 15. There is no record of him going to university.
"BBC - IWonder - William Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of England's Bard." BBC News, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z8k2p39#z3cxsg8. Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.
William is thought to have revived his father's lapsed application for a family coat of arms in 1596. Scholars suggest the application showed he was now a successful businessman as much as a talented playwright. In 1602 he had to defend his title against accusations that "Shakespeare ye player" did not merit the honor of a coat of arms. By this time Shakespeare's company had performed Romeo and Juliet, Richard II and a Midsummer Night's Dream.
"BBC - IWonder - William Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of England's Bard." BBC News, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z8k2p39#z3s82p3. Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.
After Elizabeth I died, Shakespeare's company was awarded a royal patent by King James I, and became the King's Men. King Lear, took divided kingdoms as its theme mirroring James I's new domain of England, Scotland and Wales. Meanwhile Macbeth, also written early in James's reign, gives a kind portrayal of James's ancestor Banquo and was probably intended to honour the new king's Scottish ancestry.
"BBC - IWonder - William Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of England's Bard." BBC News, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z8k2p39#zcrmnbk. Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.
The next known record of Shakespeare appears after he was already a playwright in London. It's a review - and not a positive one.Playwright Robert Greene called Shakespeare an "upstart crow", accusing him of reaching above his rank compared with university-educated writers such as Christopher Marlowe and Greene himself. Drama in Elizabethan theatre shifted from the religious to the secular and companies of players formed to entertain the public under the patronage of noblemen. Shakespeare belonged to the Lord Chamberlain's Men. He is thought to have written the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III by this point.
"BBC - IWonder - William Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of England's Bard." BBC News, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z8k2p39#zpmbk7h. Accessed 5 May 2017
Shakespeare married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, in 1582 when he was 18. She was already three months pregnant with their first child.The baptisms of his three children are the last record of him for seven years. At some point Shakespeare went to London, leaving his family in Stratford, and established himself as a playwright and actor. Some claim he worked as a teacher, an apprentice butcher or a lawyer's clerk.
"BBC - IWonder - William Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of England's Bard." BBC News, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z8k2p39#zqh4j6f. Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.
William was born during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who had recently converted England to Protestantism. Shakespeare's parents had been Catholics, and the tension between the new and old religions can be seen in much of his work. William's father, John Shakespeare, was a member of the borough council of Stratford-upon-Avon. William was the third of eight children.
"BBC - IWonder - William Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of England's Bard." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
"The life of William Shakespeare is shrouded in mystery. There is no record of him receiving an education, buying a book or writing a single letter, and no original manuscript of a Shakespeare play survives. There is no direct record of his conversations, and no one in his home town seems to have known that he was a successful playwright while he was alive. There is not even a contemporary portrait to reveal his true appearance." Shakespeare's life
Blumenfeld, Sam. "Who wrote Shakespeare?" Practical Homeschooling, Jan.-Feb. 2008. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=j209901&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA178177146&asid=5172d723478691df456db420002716ef. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.
Education was free up to the age of sixteen.
Halliday, F.E., Shakespeare a Pictorial biography, Clarke and Sherwell Ltd Northampton, 1956. Page 22
The poet's grandfather was the Richard Shakyspere, who was head of a minor branch in the village of Snitterfield, which is 3 miles North of Stratford.
Halliday, F.E., Shakespeare a Pictorial biography, Clarke and Sherwell Ltd Northampton, 1956. Page 7
William Shakespeare was born in 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon, a small town in England with a population of around 2,000.
Kowalski, Kathiann M. "Meet William Shakespeare." Faces: People, Places, and Cultures, Sept. 2015, p. 36+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=j209901&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA430892830&asid=db5423dfe2183d5a0112425edd310c2d. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
Shakespeare's life revolved around two locations: Stratford and London. He grew up, had a family, and bought land in Stratford, but he worked in London, the center of English theater. As an actor, a playwright, and a partner in a leading acting company, he became both prosperous and well-known. Even without knowing everything about his life, fans of Shakespeare have imagined and reimagined him according to their own tastes.
Mcarafano. "Shakespeare's Life." Folger Shakespeare Library, 3 May 2016, www.folger.edu/shakespeares-life. Accessed 27 Apr. 2017.
Shakespeare prospered financially from his partnership in the Lord Chamberlain's Men as well as from his writing and acting. He invested much of his wealth in real-estate purchases in Stratford and bought the second-largest house in town, New Place, in 1597
Mcarafano. "Shakespeare's Life." Folger Shakespeare Library. N.p., 03 May 2016. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
The memorial bust of Shakespeare at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford is considered one of two authentic likenesses, because it was approved by people who knew and liked him. The other such likeness is the engraving by Martin Droeshout in the 1623 First Folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, produced seven years after his death by his friends and colleagues from the King's Men.
Mcarafano. "Shakespeare's Life." Folger Shakespeare Library. N.p., 03 May 2016. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.
"Shakespeare is universal because he is contemporary, because he adapts to all situations, problems and all his works with the tragedies of kings or the multiple histories where the human condition is reflected: power, passion, betrayal, corruption There is a contemporary Shakespeare and a social Shakespeare, and the one we want to highlight."
Rivera, Nice. "Shakespeare lives." Process , 28 Feb. 2016, p. 58+. Infotrac Newsstand , go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=j209901&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA447285913&asid=88d55c6b5c4ce3527ddc41a76be07898. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
Even if you visit London often , it has probably never occurred to you to stop in to see William Shakespeare's original manuscripts at the British Museum or Library. There are no original manuscripts. Not so much as a couplet written in Shakespeare's own hand has been proven to exist. In fact, there's no hard evidence that Will Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon (1564-1616), revered as the greatest author in the English language, could even write a complete sentence, because there is no record of him having any type of education, buying any books, or writing a single letter.
Stewart, Doug. "To be or not to be Shakespeare: while skeptics continue to question the authorship of his plays, and exhibition raises doubts about the authenticity of his portraits." Smithsonian, Sept. 2006, p. 62+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=j209901&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA151652301&asid=6f3ae292e83d3354d1fad801a63d9912. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
"Shakespeare's plays were written more than 400 years ago, and his private life has remained, well, quite private. As a result, he has been the subject of thousands of scholarly inquiries into his relationships, his religious beliefs, the source of his genius, his sexuality, and the possible collaborative nature of his authorship. If Shakespeare's life remains partially shrouded in mystery, so, too, can his plays pose some mysteries to even the most dedicated of readers. An entire cottage industry has emerged to evaluate and understand Shakespeare both in his time and in ours and make his work more accessible to today's readers. Shakespeare's works have provided an ongoing source of inspiration for new works of fiction, with authors catapulting the familiar story structures into contemporary surroundings or exploring the histories or continuing lives of Shakespeare's characters. Here we have selected several of Shakespeare's best-known comedies and dramas and highlighted those connections between his work in the 16th and 17th centuries and the works of contemporary authors. In addition to the novels below that bring Shakespeare's works into the modern age, we have recommended several biographical and analytical resources to enhance your understanding of the Bard's works."
Teisch, Jessica. "Reviving the Bard; Adapting Shakespeare's Plays for the modern age." Bookmarks, May-June 2009, p. 14+. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=j209901&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA222228066&asid=dceda9e7bb3323782b86793f6158df4d. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
