The Life Of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays in his lifetime. These plays included

comedies, histories, and tragedies. The plays contain vivid characters of all types and

from many walks of life (World Book I). Shakespeare's works contain kings,

pickpockets, drunkards, generals, hired killers, shepherds, and philosophers.

Shakespeare's plays have been divided into four different periods of which he wrote plays.

The first period lasted from 1590 to 1594. In this period he wrote Comedy of Errors,

Henry VI, Richard III, The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, The Two Gentlemen

of Verona, and King John. The second period lasted from 1595 to 1600 and contained A

Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard II, Love's Labour's Lost, Romeo and Juliet, The

Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, As You Like It, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About

Nothing, Twelfth Night , and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida,

All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Timon of

Athens, Pericles, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus were written in the third period,

from 1601 to 1608. The fourth period, 1609 to 1613, had the plays Cymbeline, The

Winter's Tale, The Tempest, and Henry VIII written. No other writer's plays have been

produced so many times or so widely in so many countries (World Book I).

Shakespeare was born into a middle class family in the town of

Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. Shakespeare's father was John Shakespeare, a local shop

owner who held many positions in the local government. William Shakespeare's mother

was Mary Arden Shakespeare. She was married to John in 1557. Mary was the daughter

of a local farmer, but had wealthy relatives. William was the third of eight children.

Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564.

At age seven, William began attending the Stratford grammar school with other

boys of his age and social class. The school's teachers were graduates of Oxford

University. William and his classmates spent nine hours a day in class. The students

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attended year round except for three or four short holiday periods. The school had strict

discipline and physically punished students who were bad. William mainly studied Latin

while at grammar school.

In November 1582, at the age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. Anne

was 26 and was the daughter of a farmer who lived a mile from Stratford. William and

Anne had three children. Their first child was baptized on May 26, 1583 and was named

Susanna.