Shakespeare

Although he is considered the best play writer who ever lived, William

Shakespeare also lived a very interesting life. Shakespeare has written some thirty-seven

plays and over 160 poems. These are only some of the main aspects of Shakespeare and

his life. In the subsequent paragraphs I will describe the most important events of

Shakespeare and his life.

William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564(a mere guess as his real birth

date is not known) in Stratford. He was the third child out of a total of eight children.

When Shakespeare turned seven, he was forced to attend Stratford grammar school. A

typical school day consisted of nine hours. He went to school year-round except for the

three holidays they had. The main language studied at grammar school was Latin. Even

though nine hours of his day were spent at grammar school, he still managed to find time

to go to the neighborhood market. In November of 1582, Shakespeare married Anne

Hathaway. There was quite a bit of difference in their age with Shakespeare only being

eighteen and Anne twenty-six. Throughout their short marriage, they had three children:

Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith. Susanna was the oldest and Hamnet and Judith were twins

born sometime in 1585. A period between 1585 and 1592 is called the lost years because

no information exists about Shakespeare. Some people believe he moved to London to

earn a living as a play writer. Shakespeare was fully involved with the London Theater

world from 1594 to 1608. Shakespeare and his six associates became owners of the

Globe in 1599. The Globe was an outdoor theater in Southwark, London. During the last

eight years of his life, Shakespeare only managed to write four plays (Encarta Online).

Shakespeare lived in Stratford for most of his life and in London for about 20 years where

he earned money for being the owner of the Globe. February 10, 1616 brought the last bit of happiness to Shakespeare's life, his younger daughter, Judith, married Thomas Quiney.

Shakespeare passed away only two months after their marriage on April 23 (amazingly the

same month and day of his birth). Inscribed on Shakespeare's tombstone was a poem that

read "Good friend, for JesusÒ' sake forbear, to dig the dust enclosed here! Blest be ye man

that spares the stones, and curst be he that moves my bones" (R. Moore). Shakespeare's

will said he wanted to: leave the bulk of his estate to Susanna, 300 pounds to Judith, and

only his second best bed with linens for his wife (Encarta Online).

Shakespeare has written a total of thirty-seven plays. They are divided into four

time periods in which they were written: first, second, third, and fourth. During the first

period, (1590-1594), Shakespeare wrote seven plays. His use of language during the first

period showed that he was having trouble finding a poetic style (World Book 356).

During the second period, (1595-1600), Shakespeare wrote twelve plays including the

famous