William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (baptized April 26, 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England—died
April 23, 1616, Stratford-upon-Avon) English poet, dramatist, and actor often called the English
national poet and considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time.
Shakespeare occupies a position unique in world literature. Other poets, such as Homer and Dante,
and novelists, such as Leo Tolstoy and Charles Dickens, have transcended national barriers, but no
writer’s living reputation can compare to that of Shakespeare, whose plays, written in the late 16th
and early 17th centuries for a small repertory theatre, are now performed and read more often and
in more countries than ever before. The prophecy of his great contemporary, the poet and dramatist
Ben Jonson, that Shakespeare “was not of an age, but for all time,” has been fulfilled.
Shakespeare the man
Life
This film recounts the life of Shakespeare from his early boyhood through his productive years as a
playwright and actor in London. It is a 1955 production of Encyclopædia Britannica Educational
Corporation.
Early life in Stratford
Birthplace of William Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
The parish register of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, shows that he was
baptized there on April 26, 1564; his birthday is traditionally celebrated on April 23. His father, John
Shakespeare, was a burgess of the borough, who in 1565 was chosen an alderman and in 1568 bailiff
(the position corresponding to mayor, before the grant of a further charter to Stratford in 1664). He
was engaged in various kinds of trade and appears to have suffered some fluctuations in prosperity.
His wife, Mary Arden, of Wilmcote, Warwickshire, came from an ancient family and was the heiress
to some land. (Given the somewhat rigid social distinctions of the 16th century, this marriage must
have been a step up the social scale for John Shakespeare.)
Instead, at age 18 he married. Where and exactly when are not known, but the episcopal registry at
Worcester preserves a bond dated November 28, 1582, and executed by two yeomen of Stratford,
named Sandells and Richardson, as a security to the bishop for the issue of a license for the marriage
of William Shakespeare and “Anne Hathaway of Stratford,” upon the consent of her friends and upon
once asking of the banns. (Anne died in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare. There is good evidence
to associate her with a family of Hathaways who inhabited a beautiful farmhouse, now much visited,
2 miles [3.2 km] from Stratford.) The next date of interest is found in the records of the Stratford
church, where a daughter, named Susanna, born to William Shakespeare, was baptized on May 26,
1583. On February 2, 1585, twins were baptized, Hamnet and Judith. (Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only
son, died 11 years later.)
How Shakespeare spent the next eight years or so, until his name begins to appear in London theatre
records, is not known. There are stories—given currency long after his death—of stealing deer and
getting into trouble with a local magnate, Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, near Stratford; of earning
his living as a schoolmaster in the country; of going to London and gaining entry to the world of
theatre by minding the horses of theatregoers. It has also been conjectured that Shakespeare spent
some time as a member of a great household and that he was a soldier, perhaps in the Low
Countries. In lieu of external evidence, such extrapolations about Shakespeare’s life have often been
made from the internal “evidence” of his writings. But this method is unsatisfactory: one cannot
conclude, for example, from his allusions to the law that Shakespeare was a lawyer, for he was clearly
a writer who without difficulty could get whatever knowledge he needed for the composition of his
plays.
Career in the theatre
The first reference to Shakespeare in the literary world of London comes in 1592, when a fellow
dramatist, Robert Greene, declared in a pamphlet written on his deathbed:
Private life
Shakespeare's house in Stratford-upon-Avon
Shakespeare's house in Stratford-upon-Avon
William Shakespeare's house, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
Shakespeare had little contact with officialdom, apart from walking—dressed in the royal livery as a
member of the King’s Men—at the coronation of King James I in 1604. He continued to look after his
financial interests. He bought properties in London and in Stratford. In 1605 he purchased a share
(about one-fifth) of the Stratford tithes—a fact that explains why he was eventually buried in the
chancel of its parish church. For some time he lodged with a French Huguenot family called
Mountjoy, who lived near St. Olave’s Church in Cripplegate, London. The records of a lawsuit in May
1612, resulting from a Mountjoy family quarrel, show Shakespeare as giving evidence in a genial way
(though unable to remember certain important facts that would have decided the case) and as
interesting himself generally in the family’s affairs.
No letters written by Shakespeare have survived, but a private letter to him happened to get caught
up with some official transactions of the town of Stratford and so has been preserved in the borough
archives. It was written by one Richard Quiney and addressed by him from the Bell Inn in Carter
Lane, London, whither he had gone from Stratford on business. On one side of the paper is inscribed:
“To my loving good friend and countryman, Mr. Wm. Shakespeare, deliver these.” Apparently Quiney
thought his fellow Stratfordian a person to whom he could apply for the loan of £30—a large sum in
Elizabethan times. Nothing further is known about the transaction, but, because so few
opportunities of seeing into Shakespeare’s private life present themselves, this begging letter
becomes a touching document. It is of some interest, moreover, that 18 years later Quiney’s son
Thomas became the husband of Judith, Shakespeare’s second daughter.
Shakespeare’s will (made on March 25, 1616) is a long and detailed document. It entailed his quite
ample property on the male heirs of his elder daughter, Susanna. (Both his daughters were then
married, one to the aforementioned Thomas Quiney and the other to John Hall, a respected
physician of Stratford.) As an afterthought, he bequeathed his “second-best bed” to his wife; no one
can be certain what this notorious legacy means. The testator’s signatures to the will are apparently
in a shaky hand. Perhaps Shakespeare was already ill. He died on April 23, 1616. No name was
inscribed on his gravestone in the chancel of the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon. Instead these
lines, possibly his own, appeared:

William Shakespeare

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William Shakespeare (baptized April 26, 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England—died

Shakespeare the man

Early life in Stratford

Birthplace of William Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.

Career in the theatre

Shakespeare's house in Stratford-upon-Avon

Shakespeare's house in Stratford-upon-Avon

William Shakespeare's house, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.

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