William+Shakespeare


 * William Shakespeare[[image:http://paulwilkinson.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/shakespeare91.jpg width="176" height="201" align="right" caption="William Shakespeare"]]**

The Elizabethan era was from 1550-1650. In this time frame William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564. He was the third of eight children born in his family. William went on to be one of the worlds most popular authors. He wrote thirty seven plays, ten comedies, and tragedies (Andrews 44). William Shakespeare’s life is broken up into early years, lost years, and last years.

**__Early Years__** Shakespeare’s early years started when he was born. He was baptized on April 26, which means he was born on April 23. This is said to be true because children are usually baptized three days after they are born (Fetzer 347). He lived in a small town of Stratford-upon-Avon, England. His father John served on the council that governed the town. Stratford had only eight or nine streets at the time (Chrisp 6). At the age of six, William spent nine hours a day at school. He learned about the alphabet, Lord's Prayer, and simple arithmetic (Greenhill 6). Also, William spent time playing in fields and woods around his home. This allowed him to have small games of hunting and trapping. Shakespeare‘s poems and plays reflect his childhood because the city of Stratford was a lively town (Chrisp 12). The town would hold pageants, popular shows, and large fairs (12). **__Lost Years__** Shakespeares "Lost Years" are broken up into two parts. His first lost years started when he was fourteen. They were from 1578-1582. Shakespeare dropped out of school at the age of fourteen because his father did not have the money to keep him in school. William's father could not keep up with his taxes. William helped his father with the family business as a lawclerk. Shakespeare soon went to London to look for his fortune. He traveled with a group called Lord Strange's Men (Greenhill 12). There is a theory that he became a tutor in the family of a great nobleman (12). Williams first "Lost Years" ended with the his marriage to Anne Hathaway (Chrisp 16).Anne was a local farmer's daughter. They were married on November 1582. Two unusual things about their wedding were William was a young man and the wedding was rushed. At the time of the wedding William was eighteen and Anne was twenty-six.

Williams second "Lost Years" were from 1582-1592. Their first child Susan was going to be born the following May after their wedding. In 1585, they were expecting twins Judith and Hamlet.William went on to write some of his first plays which are Henry VI part I, II, and III, and Titus Andronicus (Langley 8). Also in this time frame there was suspicion that William moved to London because he offended Sir Richard Lucy by poaching a deer on his property. He had to leave Stratford to avoid prosecution(William Shakespeare 1).

**__Last Years__** The Last Years were through 1594-1616 William was ranked as London’s most popular playwright, based on the number of times his plays were performed and published. William became one of six associates of the Globe Theatre (Fetzer 348). Between 1592-1594 he did not want to write new plays, so he turned to poetry (Chrisp 28).William revised his will in 1608 an died within years (Fetzer 349). William has written on his monument "Reader, for Jesus' sake forbear to dig the dust enclosed here: Blessed be he that spares these stones, and cursed be he that move my bones"(Greenhill 28).

William Shakespeare's childhood was filled with school and playing outside with his friends. He then went on to become famous in London. He produced many plays, songs, and poetry. William also got married and had three children to Anne Hathaway. After he had know will to produce plays anymore he stuck with poetry. William then passed away in April 1616. Shakespeare's life was broken up into early years, lost years, and last years.