William Shakespeare was born in the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised in April 1564. His father, John, was a glover and local official, and his mother was Mary Arden. As a boy, he likely attended the King's New School, receiving an intensive education in Latin and classical authors, the foundation for his later work. At just 18, he married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, and they would have three children. From these provincial beginnings, no one could have predicted his future. Yet this son of a glover would move to London and become the most influential writer in the English language, creating a body of work that includes around 38 plays and 154 sonnets, and shaping modern vocabulary itself.
William Shakespeare
The life of William Shakespeare, from Stratford glover's son to London playwright, the Globe and Hamlet, and the 1623 First Folio that preserved 18 of his plays.
Chapter 1
The Stratford Son
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Shakespeare's exact birth date unknown?
Church records from that time only documented baptisms, not births. William Shakespeare was baptised on April 26, 1564. Tradition holds his birthday is April 23, the same day he died 52 years later, but this is not confirmed by any historical document.
Did Shakespeare really invent thousands of words?
Shakespeare is credited with introducing or popularizing between 1,700 and 3,000 words in English. His plays and poems are the first known written source for many words and phrases that are now common, effectively expanding the language's vocabulary.
What was the First Folio?
The First Folio was a collection of 36 of Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623 by his friends John Heminge and Henry Condell. It was a monumental effort that saved 18 plays, including 'Macbeth' and 'The Tempest', which had never been printed before and might have been lost.
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