The Life of William Shakespeare Alexa Terriquez 6th Period

In order to be the famous poet and playwright he is known as today, Shakespeare worked very hard during his early life and career to become successful.

This a portrait of Shakespeare and his family growing up.

Not a lot is known about William Shakespeare’s childhood, however researchers have tied some facts together. No one is certain on the exact birth Shakespeare born on, however they managed to piece information together as stated in the following, “Though no birth records exist, church records indicate that a William Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564. From this, it is believed he was born on or near April 23, 1564, and this is the date scholars acknowledge as William Shakespeare's birthday." Many historians are still trying to figure out the exact date of Shakespeare's birth. Therefore, people can only conclude that he was born somewhere in April due to his baptism record. Shakespeare had a big family, "William was the third child of John Shakespeare, a leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a local landed heiress. William had two older sisters, Joan and Judith, and three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard and Edmund." Shakespeare was born into a huge family of middle class. His father was a merchant and worked with as it's known as today the mayor or duke, who later married his mother, Mary Arden. Shakespeare’s parents were from middle class decent, making him from the middle class, "Shakespeare’s father, John, dabbled in farming, wood trading, tanning, leather work, money lending and other occupations; he also held a series of municipal positions before falling into debt in the late 1580s. John boosted his social status by marrying Mary Arden, the daughter of an aristocratic landowner." This is just a background of what his parents were like and how they made a living. They are Shakespeare's parents and had to have some importance and contribution to society. Since they were from the middle class, Shakespeare could attend school and get some education. There are no exact records of Shakespeare receiving education as portrayed in the following, "Scholars have surmised that he most likely attended the King's New School, in Stratford, which taught reading, writing and the classics. Being a public official's child, William would have undoubtedly qualified for free tuition." It is predicted that he did attend a local school in Stratford, where he learned most of his skills, but it is still uncertain. William Shakespeare had a normal childhood and researchers are still trying to figure out more about him.

William Shakespeare is shown in the middle of his thinking process on what to write.

As Shakespeare continued to progress and grow, he had many offers ahead and kept being active. Shakespeare is shown being a toiler by the following, "By 1592 Shakespeare had begun working as an actor, penned several plays and spent enough time in London to write about its geography, culture and diverse personalities with great authority.” Shakespeare was already working hard as an actor, and had wrote several plays by 1592, when he was just launching his career. He had also lived in London long enough to write about its economy and geographical features, which gave him more practice in writing. For a good start, Shakespeare took and offer that helped him throughout his life as stated in the following, "By 1594, he was a charter member of the theatrical company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, which was later to become the King's Men...Shakespeare worked with this company for the rest of his writing life." During his career, Shakespeare joined a writing company and wrote so many plays throughout his life for this company. Without the help of this company, his plays would not have been known by the public. William had many famous plays before he returned to his home as depicted, "Romeo and Juliet was probably among the early plays that Shakespeare wrote...when he finally returned to Stratford to live the life of a prosperous retired gentleman, Shakespeare had written thirty-seven plays." Throughout his career, Shakespeare managed to write so many famous and well known plays. Most had a special aspect that people loved, such as drama or mature plots. There was a time in his career where it hit his plays hard, but Shakespeare managed to find a way around shown by the following, "London authorities frequently closed the theaters because of repeated outbreaks of plague. Without the income provided by acting and play writing, Shakespeare turned to poetry...Despite the commercial success of these early publications, Shakespeare made no effort to make a career of poetry. When the theaters reopened, he returned to acting and play writing. "Just because the theaters were closing due to an illness that was spreading in London, it did not stop Shakespeare from continuing to write and share his ideas to the public. Although he was not looking to become a poet, he did make money off of writing poems. Shakespeare had a very successful career, even though he went through ups and downs.

Hamlet (Book/Play) was one of Shakespeare's greatest and well known plays he had ever written.

Shakespeare had so many amazing plays written during his time. However one stood out among the others and it was called Hamlet. Hamlet was one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays as shown, "Hamlet is a five-act tragedy by the English dramatist William Shakespeare...It is included among Shakespeare's mature tragedies, written during the third period of his artistic development. Experts believe that Shakespeare wrote the first version of Hamlet between 1599 and 1601. Hamlet was one of Shakespeare's most famous plays of his career. This play helped his career in by the critical amount of success the play had. It had drama and mature tragedies, both aspects which most people love. For a writer like him, Shakespeare handled the plot very smart pictured by the following, "Shakespeare handled the complicated plot of Hamlet brilliantly. In this play, he also created perhaps his greatest gallery of characters. The role of Hamlet, in particular, is considered one of the theater's greatest acting challenges...The best known is his soliloquy on suicide, which begins ‘To be, or not to be.’" It was one of his most brilliant plays he had ever wrote and portrayed many loving characters. Although it was an acting challenge Shakespeare seemed to find a way and became a hit. Shakespeare passed away on what is thought to be his birthday, "By 1612, Shakespeare had become England’s most successful playwright...Shakespeare revised his will. Within a month, he died. He was buried inside the Stratford parish church. His monument records the day of death as April 23, the generally accepted date of his birth." This was the end of him and his successful career. Since he was very famous, he was buried somewhere people will remember him. He will always be one of the greatest playwrights and will always be known by all.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was buried in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford, England.

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