All About Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is undoubtedly one of England's most well-known and treasured authors. His plays were exceedingly popular during his life, and according to legend, they brought him and his family much fame and affluence. Since his death, however, evidence has been uncovered which suggests that the William Shakespeare of

playwright fame may not have been the same individual documented in the historical

records of Stratford-upon-Avon. According to The Shakespeare Conspiracy, a book by

Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman, the actual documentation of Shakespeare's life is

meager at best.

Of all his contemporary poets and dramatists-- such as Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Gabriel Harvery, Thomas Nashe, John Donnes, John Fletcher, Thomas Lodge, Robert Greene, Philip Sidney, George Chapman, Thomas Heywood, Francis Beaumont, John Lyly, Ben Johnson, Thomas Kyd, George Peele, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Middleton, and John Webster-- Webster is the only playwright of whom we know less, but, unlike Shakespeare, Webster was not recognized in his day.

An examination of the few existing historical details of Shakespeare's life raises more

questions than it provides answers. According to the evidence available in our time, it

appears as if there may have been two Shakespeare's: one a grain merchant from

Stratford-upon-Avon, and the other a famous actor and playwright from London,

working under an assumed name.

Popular legend tells us that on April 23, 1564, a male child was born to Johnand Mary Shakespeare at Stratford. Of course, nobody is certain if this was the exact date on which William Shakespeare was born. The historical records of Stratford's parishshow that a child by the name of Gulielmus [fr. for William] Shakspeare was christened on

April 26th of the same year, but no birth date was ever reported (Phillips and Keatman 9). John Shakespeare was a fairly prosperous glover in the town of Stratford, and his family lived in relative comfort for the formative years of [young Guile lumps Shakespeare's] life. Because his parents were comparatively high-standing members of

Stratford society, William Shakespeare would have been able to attend the local grammar school. Most people assume that this is where Shakespeare received the formal education that is so apparent in his plays. According to Phillips and Keatman, however, there is no historical record of Shakspeare's attendance at Stratford's grammar school.

Participation was not compulsory by any means, and whether or not a child was educated depended

mainly upon the whims of his father. Irving Leigh Matus' book, Shakespeare: In Fact, states that records show Shaksper's father had not been formally educated. Documents remain in which John Shaksper's signature appears as a mark, indicating that he was illiterate. It appears as if John Shaksper did not place a high value on education, and all historical records point to the conclusion that his son never attended school.

Another confusing account (in fact, the next historical record mentioning Shakespeare) is the documentation of his marriage. In Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time, a book by Joseph Sobran, it is noted that the day before Shaksper registered to marry Anne Hathaway, he had registeredto marry "Anna

whatley [sic] de Temple grafton [sic]" (21). The name was changed to Anne Hathaway of Stratford the next day, and they were married swiftly, without the usual ceremony of the reading of the banns. Sixmonths into the marriage, Anne gave birth to their first child, and the reason for the rushed marriage becameevident. However, it raises a puzzling question. How could the man whose plays are some of the most romantic works ever composed be

the same man who nearly ran out on his pregnant lover by attempting to marry someone

else, rather than owning up to his responsibility?

The historical records of Shaksper's life, as mentioned in The Mysterious

William Shakespeare: The Myth and the Reality, by Charlton Ogburn, are non-existent for

nearly ten years after the birth of his children (26). In Peter Sammartino's book, The Man

Who Was William Shakespeare, it is stated that some of the plays later attributed to

William Shakespeare were appearing anonymously in London around the end of the ten-

year gap in the records. There was still no documented evidence, however, indicating that

the Stratford Shakespeare done anything but remain in his hometown tending to this

business and family (19). Ogburn remarks that the itemized records kept by London

theater owner Philip Henslowe never mention Shakespeare's name, even though

the titles of many of Shakespeare's plays were included in the same records as having

been performed (99). Seven years after Shakespeare supposedly began gaining fame in

London, Shakspeare bought the second-largest house in Stratford, while William

Shakespeare defaulted on a mere five-shilling tax in London (Phillips 37).

Shakspeare of Stratford appeared by all means to be a wealthy businessman, while London's

Shakespeare was a struggling, poor actor.

Poverty was somewhat commonplace for most of the actors and playwrights in

late sixteenth century London. Sammartino notes that the Elizabethan era actors hardly

made a tenth of the income that Shakspeare was bringing in with his Stratford enterprises

(25). As mentioned before, Shakespeare's name wasn't

even included in the extensive theatrical records of the time. More importantly, no records

exist claiming that Shakespeare was ever paid for being an actor or a playwright (Ogburn