It is speculated that Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 to John and Mary Shakespeare. His father was an alderman, (a town council member) which means he was likely to attend a very prestigious school as a child. As a young adult, "Shakespeare courts Anne Hathaway, who becomes pregnant; the two marry on November 28, [1582]"(Chronology of William). Susanna, Shakespeare's first child, was born some time in 1583, and in 1585, twins Judith and Hamnet are born, but tragically his only son Hamnet died in adolescence. Shortly thereafter, Shakespeare wrote King John, a play with a mother who was grieving for the loss of her son. Scholars think that "Perhaps some of his grief can be detected in King John (written later in 1596), in the words he gave Lady Constance, a mother frantic at the loss of her son, Arthur"(Ravilious, Kate). From the similarities between his own and Lady Constance's situation, it is obvious he himself was grieving when he wrote this play. As sad as it may be, the death of his child made for an all around better and more emotional play. Because Shakespeare channeled his pain into writing, the audience can feel more for the mother of the child, and therefore the overall experience is more enjoyable.

Many Scholars believe Shakespeare was opposed to Elizabethan politics. According to the article, Shakespeare Our Contemporary, there was a, "consistent theme of Shakespeare’s histories: a sharp tension around the legitimacy of the monarchy." Shakespeare didn't just talk of how he disliked the monarchy, he had to put it into one of his plays, Henry V! "Financial interests dictate the inception of an international war; dossiers are drawn up to quiet the moral qualms of a government and present the action as just..."(Shakespeare Our). Basically, Henry V was all about how the government is constantly trying to look big and strong by doing all sorts of immoral things, like making fake documents that look like war is a good thing just for money. Without that slight animosity towards the monarchy, the play wouldn't be interesting at all.

As Shakespeare grew older, he slowly started to ease out of his theatrical career. He started collaborating with John Fletcher on many of his plays. Together, they wrote Cardenio, King Henry VIII, Two Noble Kinsmen, and The Tempest. Many scholars think that The Tempest is the last play Shakespeare ever wrote. He was leaving the stage forever, so he decided to include "passages that sound like a farewell to the stage"(Lander, Jesse). He wanted his audience to know he was done writing so he decided to incorporate himself into his play as the puppet master (or playwright) who gave up all his power (or he retired), and in the end, the play was one of the only plays that had an original story. Because Shakespeare felt the need to say one final farewell, he wrote one of the most convoluted and thrilling plays ever made. According to Jesse Lander, when The Tempest was finished, Fletcher "replaced [Shakespeare] as the chief dramatist for the King’s Men" in around 1613 and died 3 years later. "Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, at the age of fifty-two. He is buried under the old stone floor in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford" (Anderson, Robert). Scholars believe he died the same day he was born.