William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet

Birth and Early Life • Born in Stratford-upon-Avon on approximately April 23th 1564. • He was baptized on April 26th, 1564. • He was born to Mary Arden and John Shakespeare • Attended Stratford Grammar School • Shakespeare’s family led a comfortable life but was not part of the upper class of society. His father was a prominent glove maker and his mother came from a wealthy family and inherited considerable farm property.

Early life cont. • Shakespeare left school at the age of 15 and never pursued a formal education after that. • November of 1582, at the age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, a woman 8 years older than him. • She gave birth to a daughter, Susanna, six months after they wed. Two years later they had twins, Hamnet and Judith. • There is a seven year period (1585-1592) in which there is no written documentation about his life. • Shakespeare’s son died at the age of 11, possibly from the black plague which killed over 33,000 people in London alone. • Shakespeare left to live in London approximately two years after he was married.

Theater Life • By 1592, Shakespeare was an established actor in London. He was a member of The King’s Men acting group throughout his career as a writer. • He also was partial owner of The Globe Theater located on the Thames river in London. • Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and over 154 sonnets and poems. His first play being Henry VI, written when he was about 25 years old. • Women were not permitted to act during this period so all female parts where acted by young makes whose voices had not been affected by puberty.

Theater Life • The Globe Theater was built in 1599. • It had three levels that could hold up to 3,000 spectators. • Audience members paid more to sit in the wooden benches that lined the interior of the theater to stay out of the rain. • The audience members called “The Groundlings” paid one penny to stand on the dirt floor of the theater. They often would participate in the performance by shouting at the actors or throwing food at them. • Plays were acted out in the afternoon so that they had light in the theater. • The use of a canon during a performance of King Henry VIII caused the theater to burn to the ground. • The theater was rebuilt in 1616 and is still in operation today.

End of his life • Shakespeare would not have been present at the fire that consumed The Globe Theater because he had retired and was living part time in Stratford and part time in London. • He continued to write until his death at the age of 48 due to unknown causes. • His family line ended two generations later. His older daughter married a doctor and had a daughter Elizabeth, who inherited the estate and married twice but never had children. • His younger daughter married a local tavern owner who had numerous affairs. They had three sons together who all died at a young age.

Words attributed to Shakespeare • Assassination • "arch-villain," "bedazzle," "cheap" (as in vulgar or flimsy), "dauntless," "embrace" (as a noun), "fashionable," "go-between," "honey-tongued," "inauspicious," "lustrous," "nimble-footed," "outbreak," "pander," "sanctimonious," "time-honored," "unearthly," "vulnerable," and "well-bred."

William Shakespeare