Learn

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Do you recognize this line? This is just one line from one of William Shakespeare’s many plays. This particular line is from the romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliette. William Shakespeare, who is arguably the most famous and well-respected playwright in history, was born in April, 1564 in England. As was the case for many 16th century births, his exact birthdate was never recorded. Although we are not sure if this was his actual birthday, we celebrate his life and his birthday on April 23.

On November 28, 1582, Shakespeare married Ann Hathwey of Stratford. The following year his first daughter Susanna was born. Two years later, they had twins named Hamnet and Judith. There is no record of Shakespeare’s activities from the time of the birth of his twins in 1585 until 1592 when he was mentioned in an article by another playwright. We know that he attended school in Stratford, England but the details of how and why he left Stratford to go to London are still unknown. One famous theory is that he had to leave to escape prosecution because he was caught poaching deer on the lands of a well-known citizen.

From many written sources of the time, we know that Shakespeare was a well-known playwright in London by the end of 1592. We are not certain, however, of the exact date in which his first play was written and performed. In 1599 he became part owner in the Globe theatre which was the most prestigious public playhouse in London at the time. This gave him enough financial security to write many more plays. Shakespeare wrote and acted in many plays from his early days in London up until about 1614. He wrote many different types of plays including historical plays, comedies, tragedies, as well as many narrative poems and sonnets.

Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church. During his life, Shakespeare did not print any of his plays. It was not until seven years after his death that his fellow managers printed the first collection of his plays. The plays written by Shakespeare have unquestionably been the most read and performed plays during the last 400 years!