Shakespeare
Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564 in the town
of Stratford, England. His
father, John Shakespeare was a glove maker and his
mother May Arden inherited
land so they had some money. As a result of his
father having money he did not
have to stay home and help out as much. He
probably unlike many other children
at that time attended the town’s free
school. At the age of eighteen
Shakespeare married Anne Hathawy November
27, 1582 who was eight years older
then him. He had three children his first
was Susanna then twins Hamnet and
Judith. For most of his life he lived
in London and had very little to do with
Stratford. He listed as a member
of the Lord Chamberlains Company, which is a
troupe of actors in 1594. By the
mid 1590s his plays were extremely popular, he
was once rated by a critic as
the best author of both tragedy and comedy. In
1599 the Lord Chamberlains
Company built the Globe Theater. In the year 1608 the
Lord Chamberlains
Company acquired control of the Blackfriars, which at that
time was the only
theater within the limits of London. Shakespeare was a
shareholder in both of
these theaters. This suggests that Shakespeare might have
been a businessman
as well as an actor and playwright. In Shakespeare began to
write plays for
his troop Lord Chamberlains Company. In writing his plays he had
to take
several things into account. Some examples are the skills of the actors
in
his troop, and also that all of the actors were men, because of the fact
that
no women were allowed to perform at that time. By 1592 he was recognized
as a
successful actor, also as a poet. During his life he wrote at least 36
plays.
Between 1611 and 1613 he bought a house in Stratford and retired
from the
theater. He did at the age of 52 on his birthday. His was buried and
remains at
the Church of Holy Trinity in Stratford.