1564-1616

All the world's a stage,And all the men and

women merely players;They have their exits and

their entrances,And one man in his time

plays many parts…

William Shakespeare’s birth was unregistered, but it is supposed to have been on April 23, 1564. Historians think this date because his baptism was registered on April 26, and the custom of the time was to baptize babies three days after they were born. His birth date is also his death date: April 23, 1616.

William Shakespeare was born in the English town of Stratford-On-Avon. It is called this because the town of Stratford sits right on the Avon River. His parents were John and Mary Arden Shakespeare. He was their third child, but the first to survive. After him, his parents had his brother Gilbert.

His father was a glover at a time when the middle class folk were moving up in the world, and he eventually worked his way up to serving as mayor of Stratford.

William Shakespeare attended Stratford’s local grammar school called The King’s New School. He went to school 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, all year long.

While at The King’s New School, he studied Greek, Latin, mathematics, natural science, logic, Christian ethics, and the classics of literature.

When he was 15, he left the school because he had learned everything that the teachers knew. He did not attend a university after that; however this was not uncommon as only the wealthy sons of the elite or clergymen went to college.

When he was 18, he married a local girl named Anne Hathaway who was 26. She was not his lover but supposedly was pregnant at the time.

William and Anne had a daughter named Susanna and later twins, Judith and Hamnet.

A few years after the twins were born, Shakespeare left Stratford under suspicious circumstances. There were two theories as to why he left. One was that he was caught poaching deer on the land of a local wealthy man named Sir Thomas Lucy, who had a pet deer that he cared for a great deal, and Shakespeare – either purposefully or accidentally – shot the pet deer. When Lucy found out, he banished him. Another theory is that he was unhappy with his marriage and perhaps was sent away for being rough with the local women. At any rate, he ended up in London.

In London, he went to the theatre to get a job. His dad had taken him to see traveling shows when he was little, and it held his interest.

While at the theatre, Shakespeare started low on the totem pole and worked his way up. He began as a stable boy, taking care of the horses for the guests when they came to see shows. Later, he became a sort of janitor and cleaned up inside the theatre after shows. He then progressed to Prop-man where he handled all of the props for a show and made sure the right props were used and with the correct actors. He then became the Cue-man who would almost be similar to a modern-day stage manager. He prompted the actors with their lines from offstage. After that, he was let on stage as a walk-on (a person with no lines, who simply walks on and off stage). From there, he progressed to Bit-player – a person with just a few lines, a single monologue, or a specific talent he performs for just a bit during the show. Once he started acting, he soon became the leading actor and eventually took over as theatre owner.

His theatre was called The Globe. During that time, theatres needed patrons to fund the acting

companies shows for them while the actors prepared for performances. Shakespeare’s patron was the Earl of Southampton.

During all of this, he was constantly writing down play ideas and coming up with scripts. Unfortunately, he would write these ideas on anything that was handy, such as napkins, scraps of paper, etc., and a large portion of his ideas was lost.

Because there wasn’t much around in the way of media advertising, to announce that a theatre was running a play, they would fly a red flag on top of it.

The Globe Theatre was an open theatre with 8 sides and 3 levels of seating with the top level being reserved for royalty. Admission prices were $.01, $.02, and $.03 depending on the

level. Groundlings were people who got into the show for free, but they

had to stand on the ground in front of the stage during the performance.

There was a roof only over the stage and it was called The Shadow.

Pillars held up the roof and were used in plays as ship masts or for hiding places for villains.

There was also a trap door in the floor which was used for supernatural beings such as ghosts.

There was no artificial lighting and just a few props such as books, candles, torches, swords, or tankards.

There were no curtains or scenery, so scene changes took place very quickly.

Audiences knew where the scenes were taking place because of the actors, dialogue, and costumes – the costumes were very elaborate.

When a ghost entered, gunpowder was used to create the smoke. A mishap with this gunpowder is what led to the original Globe

being burned down.

Shakespeare’s acting company was named The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, but they later changed their name to The King’s Men when King James of England became the king. If the king requested a private show, this was known as a command performance.

A typical acting company usually consisted of 12-16 men. Since women were not allowed on stage at the time, the companies usually had 3-4 young boys who hadn’t yet reached puberty to play the female roles.

Another staple in every acting company was a Fool. The Fool warmed up the audience beforea show. He was sort of an opening act, gettingthe audience excited.

The Globe performed in repertory. Repertory theatre runs one show while simultaneously rehearsing 2 or more others.

The actors may have also put on more than one show at a time; however, this practice is really more of a new idea with theatres nowadays.

If a play was not well received, they would only perform it twice.

If a play was well received, they would run it 10 or so times.

During his career, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays that were divided into three categories: comedies, histories, and tragedies.

In addition to his plays, Shakespeare also wrote 154 sonnets (14-line poems written in iambic pentameter) which were dedicated either to his patron or to “The Dark Lady.”

Very little is known about “The Dark Lady,” but there are two theories about her. One is that she was the secret love of his life, and he wanted to keep her out of the public eye. Another idea was that she was of a different race or nationality and would have been looked down on at that time.

Shakespeare also wrote 2 long poems: “The Rape of Lucrece” and “Venus and Adonis.”

In his writings, Shakespeare coined over 2,000 words and phrases that are still commonly used today.

Some Words and Phrases Coined by Shakespeare:

“Man of few words”“I have not slept a wink”

Worn outColdheartedQuarrelsome

ReclusiveBedazzledEyesore

“Eaten me out of house and home”“Elbow room”

“Seen better days”Stealthy

“Wild goose chase”Foul-mouthed

Puke“Dead as a doornail”

Scuffle“Heart of gold”

“Green-eyed Monster”“In a pickle”

When Shakespeare retired, he returned to Stratford and bought the 2nd best house there called New Place.

There he made out his will. It had three conditions:

1) His 2nd best bed would go to his wife, Anne Hathaway. 2) His daughter Susanna would get all of his fortune.

(He left it to her and not Judith because he knew for

sure that Susanna was his child. Hamnet had died by

this time). 3) He would be buried in Trinity Churchyard in

Stratford. The city had made him, and he wanted to give

himself back to it.

In 1623, his friends and colleagues got together and collected all of his works to publish. This was called The First Folio.

When he was buried, Shakespeare’s own self-written epitaph was inscribed on his tomb:

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these

stones And cursed be he that moves my bones.

William Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest writer of all time because he had such a great understanding of human nature and because what he wrote then is still applicable and appropriate today.

Shakespeare’s works are surpassed in translation and publication by only one book: The Bible.