William shakespeare quick biography notes

1. English 9A Foster William shakespeare quick biography notes

2. William Shakespeare—who IS this guy? • He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in England. • He was said to have been born on April 23, 1564. There is no record of his actual birth, so this is approximate.

3. Parents • Born to John and Mary Shakespeare. • John was a mayor and a shopowner. Mary came from a wealthy family with high social status. Together they were middle class. • He had 7 brothers and sisters.

4. First comes love, then comes MARRIAGE. • Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. • She was 8 years older than him. She was 26 and he was 18 when they married. • She was also pregnant with their first child at the time of the wedding, which was VERY scandalous in this time!

5. Children • Anne and William had three children: Susanna (born 6 months after the wedding), and twins Hamnet and Judith. • Hamnet died from the plague when he was 11, which undeniably set Shakespeare into an emotional stage.

6. Work Life • Shakespeare worked for the theatrical company called Lord Chamberland’s Men. • It later became known as The King’s Men. • He wrote 37 plays in his time.

7. The Globe • Shakespeare’s theater was called The Globe, also known as The Wooden “O”. • These plays were only performed during the day because there was no electricity to do them at night. • Women were forbidden to be involved in plays so all of the actors were men.

10. Society at The Globe • There were royalty boxes at The Globe which offered the best seating for high class. • Groundlings or stinkers were the low class people who paid a penny to get in and stood up shoulder to shoulder the whole time around the stage.

11. Death • He died on April 23, 1616 and the cause of death was unknown. • He is buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.

12. He didn’t want his body moved since they were moving so many bodies to the catacombs.