William Shakespeare Harrison Edwards

April 23, 1564 marks the accepted birth date of William Shakespeare, one of the most celebrated writers in the English language. He was born in the town of Stratford-Upon-Avon.
William Shakespeare was the third of six children from John and Mary Shakespeare (background). He had two sisters, Judith and Joan; and three brothers, Gilbert, Richard, and Edmund.
Shakespeare likely attended the King Edward VI school in his home town where he learned how to read and write. He also would have studied the classical literature written in Greek and Latin as well.
At the age of eighteen, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. Together, they had three children, Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet. After the birth of his children, few records of him exist for several years, which marks what is called Shakespeare's "Lost Years".
Shakespeare had membership in Lord Chamberlain's Men, an acting company. The company performed in the Globe Theatre in London. Around the time of his involvement in the company he had written one of his earliest plays, Henry VI.
In Shakespeare's later years, he wrote some of his most famous plays including Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth. A sad and tragic ending became a common theme in his later plays.
Shakespeare's actual death date is debated, but church records show that he was buried on April 25, 1616. The Holy Trinity Church in Stratford engraved a bust of him, which is considered a realistic visual of Shakespeare (background).

Works Cited

"Shakespeare's Life | Folger Shakespeare Library." http://www.folger.edu/shakespeares-life. Accessed 5 Jan. 2017.

"William Shakespeare - Poet, Playwright - Biography.com." 5 Jul. 2016, http://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323. Accessed 5 Jan. 2017.

"William Shakespeare - Poet | Academy of American Poets - Poets.org." https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/william-shakespeare. Accessed 5 Jan. 2017.

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Created with images by tonynetone - "William Shakespeare" • Robanov83 - "Shakespeare's Grave" • zoonabar - "Shakespeare"

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