The life and times of William Shakespeare

Shakespeare, is thought of as one of the greatest English writers of all time. He is a playwright and a poet. He wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets. Very little of what we know about Shakespeare's life do we know for certain. What we do know is from registrar records, court records, his will, marriage certificates and his tomb stone.

He was baptized on the 26th of April 1564. However, his birthday is traditionally celebrated on the 23rd of April which happens to be St. Georges day. His dad was called John. He was a glove maker, tanner, wall dealer and owned property in Stratford. This made him quite important. His mother, Mary was the daughter of an rich farmer. John and Mary Shakespeare had 8 children together. 4 girls and 4 boys. 3 of the girls died in infancy. William was the oldest of the 4 boys. 

It is thought William would have attended Stratford junior school from the age of 7. Then he would have attended the kings new school. This school had a massive emphasis on Latin. Latin was the international language until the 1500s. 

He would have left school at 14/15, then at the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway who was 26. Anne, like his mother, was also the daughter of an rich farmer. They had their first child in may 1583, and later on they had twins.  From 1585 to 1592 we know very little about Shakespeare's life. This time is often referred to as the lost years. 

This is Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway and roughly what she
might have looked like not to be confused with....

Anne Hathaway the famous Hollywood actress...

In 1592 he was living in London, away from Anne. He was singled out by a rival dramatist called Robert Green, who wrote a death bed pamphlet called 'Groats-Worth of wit'. 

In 1593 the plague broke out consequently lots of theaters closed. Shakespeare wrote lots of poems in this time. In 1593 he published Venus and Adonis, which was a poem to honor the royals. The first plays Shakespeare wrote are thought to be: Henry V parts 1, 2 and 3, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Titus and Andronicus. However, these weren't published until 1609. 

In 1594 he became a founding member, actor, writer and share holder of the Lord Chamberlain's men. One of their lead actors was called Richard Burbidge, he played roles such as King Lear, Richard 111 and Hamlet. Later on they changed their name to the King's Men. They performed in court to the Royals more than any other theatre company at that time. 

In 1611 Shakespeare retired in Stratford. His will was signed off in 1616 and it is believed he died on his birthday. His widow, Anne Hathaway was buried next to him. 

In 1623 two actors from the King's Men got his plays published, this is known as the first folio. It contained 36 playsand cost £1.

In the beginning...

The Tempest, by William Shakespeare is the play we are rehearsing over the next term to perform within school and at the Brighton Fringe Festival. The Tempest is thought to have been written around 1610/11. It was published in 1623 in the first folio. The entire play is set on an island where Prospero and his daughter Miranda have been banished since she was 3, for 12 years.

On first reading the play I was challenged by the language as I hadn't seen the tempest for many years and it had been a long time since I worked with a Shakespearean text. After getting put into our groups I then discovered our theme alongside the tempest would be a kind of feminist slant, with Prospero traditionally a male father character being played by a women. I then watched the film of the tempest where Prospero is played by Helen Mirren.

Seeing it helped me to understand the story and begin to see the depth of it and the characters. I think it is important to see and hear Shakespeare as opposed to simply reading it. This is probably because it was how it was designed to be received but for a modern day audience you can stage the theme and the era to make it more accessible. This way the language doesn't create a barrier between us and Shakespeare and we can still relate to many timeless themes and realism's within his plays.