WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

1. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

2. LIFE AND CHILDHOOD • William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in the small town of Stratford-Upon-Avon, England • His actual birth date is unknown, but it is often said that he was born on April 26th, which is the date of his christening • Passed away on April 23rd 1616 almost exactly 52 years after he was born • At the age of four, William was enrolled in a private school to learn Latin as it was a requirement to attend University • When Shakespeare was six he was provided with free education at a grammar school because of his father’s success as a glove maker • Shakespeare spent much of his childhood doing archery, playing board games, and playing with soccer balls made from pigs bladders • He also hunted large animals such as wild boar, and deer

3. FAMILY • His mother’s name was Mary Arden and his father’s was John, who in 1568 became the high bailiff of Stratford, which is similar to a mayor • His father started as a glove maker who made large profits from extra wool he sold to the clothing industry • In 1576 the Shakespeare family went into debt because John Shakespeare’s business began to fail • Shakespeare had seven siblings, three brothers named Gilbert, Richard and Edmund, as well as four sisters Joan, Margret, Joan, Anne (Shakespeare had two sisters named Joan) • William was the third born of the eight children • When Shakespeare was eighteen he married 26 year old Anne Hathaway in November of 1582 • In the following May, she gave birth to their first child Susanna • Later in 1585 she gave birth to twins named Judith and Hamnet

4. THE TRANSITION: STRATFORD TO LONDON • In the year 1580 Shakespeare moved from the small town of Stratford-Upon-Avon that had less than 1500 people, to the big city of London, England • Life in the city was very different, it was much more crowded, the streets very narrow and dark and were littered with garbage • The city smelled much worse and was very unsanitary • His entertainment now shifted to things such as bloodspots (bear, bull, dog fighting) as well as executions, lawn bowling, and gambling • London is also where Shakespeare began his days writing plays and poems and well as began an acting career

5. SHAKESPEARES DAYS AS A PLAYWRIGHT • In 1592 Shakespeare became a playwright • He received copious amounts of criticism from other playwrights for not attending University • However, Shakespeare was very successful because he knew what worked in the theater and what did not • Throughout the 1590’s Shakespeare wrote nine plays all about war, kings, and battles for the throne because their was a war currently going on between Protestant England and Catholic Spain • This war was an inspiration for Shakespeare to start writing plays • Many of the lines Shakespeare has written in his plays are direct relations to things he saw and was around often growing up (E.g. trees, birds, flowers, clouds and animals) • An example would be in “Romeo and Juliet” when Lord Capulet says, “Death lies on her like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower in all the field.” • Between the years 1592-1594 a terrible plague took place causing all public areas to be shut down, including the theatre, which forced Shakespeare to adapt • He then became a poet as there was no need to write plays anymore • In 1594 the playhouse reopened and Shakespeare joined a group called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and began to write two plays per year • He also continued his acting career at this point

6. FUN FACTS ABOUT SHAKESPEARE • One of Shakespeare's biggest inspirations is a poet named Ovid, who wrote his favourite poem metamorphoses • Shakespeare has written 37 plays and 154 sonnets • He also wrote over 70 songs just for his characters to sing in plays • He did not allow women in his plays which forced men to play women's roles • Shakespeare wrote a lot of comedies, however in his days a comedy simply meant a light-hearted play • From 1579-1592 it is unclear what all Shakespeare did in his life other than getting married and having children, however there are many theories but nothing has ever been proven • These years are referred too as Shakespeare’s “Lost Years” • In his play “As You Like It” the forest of Arden is named after his mothers maiden name

7. JACKSON HERGOTT AND MCGREGGOR RAMSEYER