shakespear.doc

Main article:?William Shakespeares life Early life William Shakespeare was the son of?John Shakespeare, an?alderman?and a successful glover originally from?Snitterfield, and?Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer.[8]?He was born in?Stratford-upon-Avon?and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth remains unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April,?Saint Georges Day.[9]?This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers, since Shakespeare died 23 April 1616.[10]?He was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son.[11] Although no attendance records for the period survive, most biographers agree that Shakespeare was probably educated at theKings New School?in Stratford,[12]?a free school chartered in 1553,[13]?about a quarter-mile from his home.?Grammar schoolsvaried in quality during the Elizabethan era, but grammar school curricula were largely similar, the basic?Latin?text was standardised by royal decree,[14]?and the school would have provided an intensive education in grammar based upon Latin?classicalauthors.[15] John Shakespeares house, believed to be?Shakespeares birthplace, in?Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-old?Anne Hathaway. The?consistory court?of the?Diocese of Worcester?issued a marriage licence on 27?November 1582. The next day two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage.[16]?The ceremony may have been arranged in some haste, since the Worcesterchancellor?allowed the?marriage banns?to be read once instead of the usual three times,[17]and six months after the marriage Anne gave birth to a daughter,?Susanna, baptised 26 May 1583.[18]?Twins, son?Hamnet?and daughter?Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585.[19]?Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596.[20] After the birth of the twins, Sh