http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/merchant/shakespeare.html
The main mysteries are the exact dates of significant events in The Bard's life, but many mysteries and even conspiracies remain. Mysteries include Shakespeare's "Lost Years," between 1585 and 1592, what he did during that period, and whether or not Bill Shakespeare was the true author of his genius works.
William Shakespeare was supposedly born on April 23, 1564 (date is disputed) to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, and was baptized on April 26. John was a glover and leather merchant, and Mary was an heiress local to the area. Though it is not certain, it is widely believed that young Shakespeare attended grammar school at the King's New School in Stratford; this might be where Shakespeare began his life as a literary genius, as the school's teachers were Oxford-educated scholars. At 18 years old, Shakespeare married 26-year-old and possibly pregnant Anne Hathaway; the date is likely to be November 28, 1582. Anne Hathaway was a farmer's daughter from the neighboring village of Shottery. In 1583, their first child, Susanna, was born. Two years later, the couple had twins: Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet would later die at the young age of eleven in 1596. (There are, of course, theories trying to connect Hamnet to Hamlet.) From the time the twins were born in 1585 and the time Shakespeare moved his family to London, he seemed to disappear from the records. This period in his life is known as the Lost Years; it is theorized that he might have taken a job as a humble schoolteacher or Shakespeare was on the lam after a poaching problem with Sir Thomas Cody. It is known that Shakespeare had a love for the hunt, and there are thoughts that he was caught poaching Cody's rabbits and/or deer and had to flee from Stratford. In London, once he reappeared, Shakespeare gained a reputation as a great actor, poet, and playwright. In 1594, Shakespeare became a charter member of the theatrical company, Lord Chamberlain's Men, and worked in several famous theaters owned by James Burbage (including the well known Globe Theatre). With his company, Shakespeare performed for royalty such as Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. James became the troupe's sponsor in 1603; the name was changed to the King's Men. In 1608, he moved back to Stratford. Here, during his last years of life, his creative output decreased until his death (on April 23,) [in] 1616, at the age of 52. He was buried in the chancel of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford-upon-Avon, with his famous epitaph on his tombstone: "Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,/To dig the dust enclosed here./Blest be the man that spares these stones,/And cursed be he that moves my bones." The very name "Shakespeare" usually elicits cringes from most students (and former students). This is most likely because reading Shakespeare is a daunting task in general; his writing is of a different era and is also made of the words of a genius. I'm experiencing a little deja vu right now; I remember answering a question just like this before we started Hamlet, but it never made it onto the blog thanks to some wild tech error that came out of nowhere. What I know about Shakespeare now is that not only can the audience of his works interpret certain lines in more than one way, but the characters themselves within the play can also interpret words/lines in different ways. Before high school, and when I was just beginning to read Shakespeare's works in class, I had no idea that his characters were so complex and true to life.
No comments:
Post a Comment