Historical Context - Week Two

Mr William Shakespeare - now he is a bit of an odd one - some say he was real some say he was not - it was so long ago I think that all the secure information we know about him has just been lost with Chinese whispers. My opinion, he must of been one extraordinary man in order to write what he did - his brain must of been as nuts as his stories. The plays that he wrote laid down a foundation for secure overused story lines - Romeo and Juliet is one of the most classic examples - the idea of conflict between two groups of people disallowing love between another two people and then having a tragic ending - that has been redone and reused for all sorts of films but each one is unique in it's own perspective. 


Fact File About William Shakespeare...

William Shakespeare - 

• Born in 1564 in Stratford Upon Avon 
• Baptised on the 26th of April 1564 but there is still some uncertainty about when he was actually born. 
• Mother Named Mary and Father named John
• Died on the 23rd of April 

These are the basics that we know about Shakespeare.

EARLY LIFE

Shakespeare was the 3rd oldest in his family of 8 but after his two sisters died he became the eldest in the family. During the time when Shakespeare was a baby there was the plague which killed 1 in 5 people in his town, Stratford. 

School - William Shakespeare went to a grammar school from the age of 7 to 15. The boys were taught to read and write in Latin and also learnt to recite history stories. 

MARRIED and FAMILY LIFE 

William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway at the age of 18 which was quite young for men at that time - but soon after the wedding Shakespeare's first child was born called Susanna. There is still a grey area about what we know about his family but what we do know is that Anne had 2 more children who were twins. They moved house to New Place which was a bigger house in Stratford however Shakespeare rarely lived there, he spent a lot of his time in London. 

LONDON and WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
There is still some uncertainty about when Shakespeare actually came to London and how he got into the theatre world but we do know that in 1592 he was known be to a well known actor  He was also a playwright and in 1592 his play Henry VI was put on in the Rose Theatre (in Kingston). In his later time in London he wrote and helped write about 40 plays as well as that he published 154 sonnets. As well as writing a whole book of sonnets Shakespeare also wrote a very long poem called Venus and Adonis  (1593).
In 1599 he was a co-owner of the Globe Theatre, which helped him earn money for Acting, writing and running the globe and theatre company Lord Chamberlain's men. 

HIS DEATH.... 
His last play that he wrote was The Two Nobel Kinsmen.
After the time he had spent in London he decided to return to Stratford where he would settle down after the busy life he had lead. On April the 23rd 1616 he died, making a will before in January. 
Fun Fact: Some believe that Shakespeare died on his Birthday - considering he was baptised on the 26th of April he could of been born 3 days before. 

Sources I used: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/uploads/files/2014/06/william_shakespeare.pdf
http://www.folger.edu/shakespeares-life#london