William Shakespeare Research Paper

William Shakespeare has not only transformed the way we think, write and speak but has also revolutionised the modern day theatre and cinema with his bold and thought provoking themes and literature. He was born in 1564 and after leading a life of fifty-two years, passed away in 1616. In the span of almost half a century he managed to touch the lives of innumerable people through his poems, acting and plays. This is not only subjected to the era when he lived and breathed but for so many years afterwards where his name still resonates throughout the world. He is to this day known as the greatest writers in the English language and his contributions are still seen in plays and movies till the present day. Plays like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet,

He was the third child among six siblings. Before the birth of William Shakespeare, his father is accredited to becoming a successful merchant and is known to holding official positions as alderman and bailiff, an office that resembles that of a mayor. However, it is indicated through records that John’s fortunes met a downfall sometime in the late 1570s.

Minimal records exist that indicate the childhood and the early years of William Shakespeare and almost none contributing to the school records and data of his schooling, many scholars have perceived that Shakespeare attended King's New School which is situated in Stratford, which dealt with the teaching of reading, writing and the classics. As he was a public official's child, William would have undoubtedly qualified for free tuition. There is a lot of uncertainty that surrounds his education which is the reason for many questions about the authorship of his work and has even propagated claims of his

The Stationers' Register September 20, 1592 edition includes an article by London playwright Robert Greene that criticises William Shakespeare in the following words: "...There is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country," Greene wrote of Shakespeare.

Scholars have differing viewpoints on this criticism, but most harmonise to the fact that it was Greene's way of insinuating that Shakespeare was progressing in a way as to reaching above his rank, trying to match better known and educated playwrights like Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe or Greene himself.

Shakespeare attracted the attention of Henry Wriothesley in the early years of his career, who was the Earl of Southampton, and dedicated his first two published poems to him which include: "Venus and Adonis" (1593) and "The Rape of Lucrece"