shakespeare
William Shakespeare is a famous name, and it's known he wrote many plays, but who is he? Here you'll find out great information on his life and even some fun facts you may not have known!
In Stratford upon-Avon, London, William Shakespeare was born on April 23rd, 1564, making him the third child out of eight in his family. He was not born into a wealthy family; in fact, his father was a glove maker and trader, while his mother was simply the daughter of a farmer. In later years, however, he attended the local school, King's New School, where he learned Greek mythology, Roman comedy, rhetoric, grammar, Latin, and possibly Greek. Growing up, his father was constantly struggling financially with debt, so unlike his schoolmates, he did not go attend a university. Although he did not pursue in education, he married Anne Hathaway, a woman 8 older than him, at 18 years old in 1582. The following year they had their first child, Susanna, followed by twins, Hamnet and Judith, in 1585. Hamnet passed a year later, thus inspiring Shakespeare to write Hamlet in later years. However, before that happened, he began writing plays in 1590 and was seen as a decent play writer. At first he did not seem fit at all for excellence, but in the end, he was when he passed away in 1616.
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Fun Facts about William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's surviving works add up to a staggering 884,647 words and 118,406 lines.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Shakespeare coined more than 500 new words, many of which are still commonly used in English speech. Popular Will-isms include: amazement, bump, lonely,countless, useful, radiance and lackluster.
In the few original signatures that have survived, Shakespeare spelt his name “Willm Shaksp,” “William Shakespe,” “Wm Shakspe,” “William Shakspere,” ”Willm Shakspere,” and “William Shakspeare”. There are no records of him ever having spelt it “William Shakespeare”, as we know him today.
Shakespeare penned a curse for his grave, daring anyone to move his body from that final resting place. His epitaph was:
"Good friend for Jesus’ sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here:
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones."
Though it was customary to dig up the bones from previous graves to make room for others, the remains in Shakespeare’s grave are still undisturbed.
During his life, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets! This means an average 1.5 plays a year since he first started writing in 1589.
The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s shortest play at just 1,770 lines long.\
It is likely that Shakespeare wrote many plays that have been lost. It’s certain that he wrote a play titled Cardenio, which has been lost, but scholars think he wrote about twenty that have gone without a trace.
In the King James Bible the 46th word of Psalm 46 is ‘shake’ and the 46th word from the end of the same Psalm is ‘spear’. Some think this was a hidden birthday message to the Bard, as the King James Bible was published in 1611 – the year of Shakespeare’s 46th birthday.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Shakespeare coined more than 500 new words, many of which are still commonly used in English speech. Popular Will-isms include: amazement, bump, lonely,countless, useful, radiance and lackluster.
In the few original signatures that have survived, Shakespeare spelt his name “Willm Shaksp,” “William Shakespe,” “Wm Shakspe,” “William Shakspere,” ”Willm Shakspere,” and “William Shakspeare”. There are no records of him ever having spelt it “William Shakespeare”, as we know him today.
Shakespeare penned a curse for his grave, daring anyone to move his body from that final resting place. His epitaph was:
"Good friend for Jesus’ sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here:
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones."
Though it was customary to dig up the bones from previous graves to make room for others, the remains in Shakespeare’s grave are still undisturbed.
During his life, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets! This means an average 1.5 plays a year since he first started writing in 1589.
The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s shortest play at just 1,770 lines long.\
It is likely that Shakespeare wrote many plays that have been lost. It’s certain that he wrote a play titled Cardenio, which has been lost, but scholars think he wrote about twenty that have gone without a trace.
In the King James Bible the 46th word of Psalm 46 is ‘shake’ and the 46th word from the end of the same Psalm is ‘spear’. Some think this was a hidden birthday message to the Bard, as the King James Bible was published in 1611 – the year of Shakespeare’s 46th birthday.