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William Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare is the grand literary figure of the Western world. During England's Elizabethan period he wrote dozens of plays which continue to dominate world theater 400 years later. Shakespeare handled high drama, romance and slapstick comedy with equal ease, and so famous are his words that his quotes, from "To be or not to be" to "Parting is such sweet sorrow," take up more than 70 pages in the latest editions of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. His works rival the King James Bible (... produced in the 1600s) as a source of oft-quoted English phrases. Shakespeare is known as "the Bard of Avon," in a nod to his birthplace, and many of his plays were originally performed in the famous Globe Theater in London. Among his best-known plays are Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and MacBeth.
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William Shakespeare was not the first child. A Joan was baptized in 1558 and a Margaret in 1562. The latter was buried in 1563 and the former must ... have died young, although her burial is not recorded, as a second Joan was baptized in 1569. A Gilbert was baptized in 1566, an Anne in 1571, a Richard in 1 574 and an Edmund in 1580. Anne died in 1579; Edmund, who like his brother became an actor, in 2607; Richard in 1613. Tradition has it that one of Shakespeare's brothers used to visit London in the 17th century as quite an old man. If so, this can only have been Gilbert.
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Though William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has a reputation as the greatest of all writers in English, very little is actually known about him. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in April 1564, the third child of John Shakespeare, a glove-maker, and of Mary Arden. As the son of a prominent town official, he most probably attended the Stratford grammar school, which provided a thorough education in Latin and literature. Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, on November 28, 1582 at Temple Grafton, near Stratford. On May 26, 1583 Shakespeare's first child, Susanna, was baptised at Stratford. Twins, Hamnet and Judith, were baptized on February 2, 1585.
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Since William Shakespeare did not have much formal education, he must have been a voracious reader on many subjects. Oxfordians like to ridicule this very reasonable inference; where, they ask, could Shakespeare have gotten the books he would have had to read? But in fact, Shakespeare was particularly well-positioned in this regard. Richard Field, who grew up down the street from Shakespeare and in very similar circumstances, became one of the leading publishers and booksellers in London. More importantly, he published many of the works his townsman Shakespeare relied on most heavily in composing his plays. Find out more about the connections between these celebrated sons of Stratford in David Kathman's Shakespeare and Richard Field.
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William Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. Their first daughter, Susanna, was baptized only six months later, which has given rise to much speculation concerning the circumstances surrounding their marriage. In 1585 Anne bore twins, baptized Hamnet and Judith Shakespeare. Hamnet died at the young age of eleven, by which time Shakespeare was already a successful playwright. Around 1589, Shakespeare wrote his first play, Henry VI, Part 1. Sometime between his marriage and writing this play he and his wife moved to London, where he pursued a career as a playwright and actor.
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For seven years, William Shakespeare effectively disappears from all records, turning up in London circa 1592. This has sparked as much controversy about Shakepeare's life as any period. Rowe notes that young Shakespeare was quite fond of poaching, and may have had to flee Stratford after an incident with Sir Thomas Lucy, whose lands he allegedly hunted. There is ... rumor of Shakespeare working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire for a time, though this is circumstantial at best. It is estimated that Shakespeare arrived in London around 1588 and began to establish himself as an actor and playwright. Evidently, Shakespeare garnered envy early on for his talent, as related by the critical attack of Robert Greene, a London playwright, in 1592: "...an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country."
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William Shakespeare