William Shakespeare

As was the tradition of the early decades, Shakespeare tied the knot early in life to Anne Hathaway. He was 18 while she was 26 at the time of marriage.

The couple was blessed with three children, a daughter born six months after marriage named Susanna and twins born two years later, a son Hamnet and daughter Judith.

Shakespeare is said to have breathed his last on the date of his birth (which again is under speculation), on April 23, 1616. As per the Church records, he was interred on April 5, 1616 in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. Though his actual date of birth is not known, it is traditionally observed on April 23, 1564. As per church records, he was baptized on April 26, 1564. He was the third child and the eldest son of the couple who had eight offspring.

Little is known of Shakespeare’s childhood and education. It is speculated that he attended the King’s New School in Stratford, where he learned to read and write. Since all the grammar schools then followed the same curricula, it is believed that he received intensive education in grammar based upon Latin classical authors.

Before records which state the commencement of Shakespeare’s theatrical career, there is a period of seven years from 1585 until 1592, of which little or no information is known. While some speculate his involvement at the poaching game, others estimate his taking up the job of an assistant schoolmaster.

Though it’s not exactly known as to when did Shakespeare begin his writing career, records of performances show that his plays started to feature on the London stage by 1592.

A famous man by then, Shakespeare attracted the attention of both critics and fans alike. Robert Greene is one of the earliest critics of Shakespeare who was irked by Shakespeare’s attempt to match university-educated writers

Since 1594, almost all of Shakespeare plays were performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. The group, in no time, reached to the topmost position and became a leading playing company in London so much so that they bought their own theatre in 1599 and named it Globe.

Meanwhile, Shakespeare’s reputation as a playwright and actor grew by leaps and bounds to the extent that his name itself had become a strong selling point. The success of the company strengthened the financial stability of Shakespeare as well.

The closure of the theatres during 1593 and 1594 due to plague led Shakespeare to try his hand at writing poetry. He came up with two poems during this time, ‘Venus and Adonis’ and ‘The Rape of Lucrece’, both of which were dedicated to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton.

While ‘Venus and Adonis’ depicted the sexual advancement of Venus and eventual rejection of Adnois, ‘The Rape of Lucrece’, as the name suggests, presented the emotional turmoil of Lucrece who is raped by Tarquin. Both the poems gained extreme popularity and were often reprinted

Shakespeare then penned ‘A Lover's Complaint’ and ‘The Phoenix and the Turtle’. While the former gives a brief tale of a woman who is in anguish due to the attempts of seduction by her suitor, the latter mourns the death of phoenix and his lover.

In 1609, Shakespeare came up with his work titled, ‘Sonnets’. It was his last work in the field of poetry that was printed. In it, there are about 154 sonnets. Though the time of writing these sonnets is questionable, it is believed that Shakespeare wrote them all through his career but for private readership.

The sonnets have a style of their own which is distinctive and atypical and celebrate the emotion of love, passion and sex. It also delves deeply and gives information about procreation, death, and time.