Biography:William Shakespeare Essay, Research Paper

Biography: William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare, playwright, whose work stands to be the most translated non-religious literature ever was born on April 23rd, 1564 and was baptized the day after in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. He was the third of eight children born into the family of John Shakespeare-a well known merchant, and Mary Arden. Being the eldest son, following the customs of the time, Shakespeare should have followed in the footsteps of his father but instead after receiving an education at the local grammar school he either was apprenticed to a butcher or became a schoolmaster. Little is known for sure about Shakespeare?s youth but some historians believe he was given much time to pursue leisure activities due to the images of hunting and hawking which appear more frequently in his works than other playwrights of that era.

At the age of eighteen, William Shakespeare took the twenty-six year old Anne Hathaway to be his wife-presumably because Anne was four months pregnant. Five months after the hasty marriage of November 1582, Susanna was born to them. Two years later William?s wife underwent childbirth again, this time giving life to a set of twins (boy and girl) named Hamnet and Judith. Unfortunately Hamnet would pass away before turning twelve leaving Shakespeare with no male descendants.

Leaving the wife and children behind in 1588, the playwright moved to London and began to pursue a career in theatre. By 1592 his name had become commonplace as an actor and writer of plays. Though considered a talented and popular Renaissance poet with the publication of Venus and Adonis (1593) and the Rape of Lucrece (1594) and numerous sonnets (1609) it is not for his poems but his creations in the field of drama that have kept Shakespeare world renowned. In working for the Lord Chamberlain?s Men or King?s Men Shakespeare wrote 38 known plays performed in the Globe Theatre and Blackfriars. It is believed by some that Shakespeare?s quill wrote more masterpieces that were lost in the fire that destroyed the Globe. In 1608, Shakespeare lessened his dramatic production and retired to Stratford-upon-Avon with his family and he passed away on April 23rd, 1616. William Shakespeare is most famous for the following plays: A Midsummer Night?s Dream, Romeo and Juliet; Merchant of Venice; Twelfth Night, Henry V, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth. He also contributed a number of phrases to the English language such as: fair play, a foregone conclusion, disgraceful, conduct, bump and lonely, and with that in mind it is without a doubt that Shakespeare has had an impression on all anglophones since his time.