historical facts

1. WilliamShakespeare'sbiographical informationandhistorical significance
(1).WilliamShakespeare wasbaptizedonApril 26,1564, inStratford-upon-Avon,England.From
roughly1594 onwardhe was an importantmemberof the LordChamberlain’sMencompany of
theatrical players.Writtenrecordsgive littleindicationof the wayinwhichShakespeare’s
professionallifemoldedhisartistry.All thatcanbe deducedisthatoverthe course of 20 years,
Shakespeare wrote playsthatcapture the complete range of humanemotionandconflict.
MysteriousOrigins
Shakespeare isknownthroughoutthe world,WilliamShakespeare’sworkhasbeendeclaredthe
greatestof all time and alsoperformedall overthe world.Andyet,the personalhistoryof William
Shakespeare issomewhatamystery.There are twoprimarysourcesthat provide historianswitha
basicoutline of hislife.One source ishiswork—the plays,poemsandsonnets—andthe otheris
official documentationsuchaschurch and court records. Howeverthisjustshows adescriptive and
specifictimesinhislife.
Early Life
There no birthrecordsthat exist ,ithasbeensaidbythe church records thatWilliamShakespeare
was baptized inStratford-upon-AvononApril 26,1564. It was thenbelievedthathe wasbornnear
April 23, 1564, and thisisthe date inwhichscholarsthinkitwas WilliamShakespeare’sbirthday .
Shakespeare waslocated103 miles westof London,during histime Stratford-upon-Avonwas
concideredasa marketingtownwhichhada country road the RiverAvon.Williamwasthe third
childinhisfamily,hisfatherwasa leatherculptivater ,andMary Arden,alocal hairstylist.William
had twooldersistersandthree youngerbrothers.BeforeShakespeare’sbirth,hisfatherwasa
successful merchantandhostedofficial positionsaseldermanandbailiff,anoffice whichresembled
a mayor. However,the recordsshowthatJohn’swealthdeclined inthe late 1570s.
Few recordsexistof William'schildhood,andsurprisingly none regardinghiseducation.Peoplewho
studiedhiswork have surmisedthathe attendedthe King'sNew School,inStratford,whichtaught
reading, writingandthe classics.Since he was a publicofficial'schild, William qualifiedforfree
tuition.Butthisuncertaintyregardinghiseducationhasledsome toraise questionsaboutthe writer
of hisworkand evenaboutwhether ornotWilliamShakespeare have ever existed.
Married Life
WilliamShakespeare gotmarriedto
Anne Hathawayon November28, 1582, in Worcester,inCanterburyProvince.Hathawaywasfrom
Shottery,asmallervillage amile westof Stratford.Williamwas18 andAnne was26, and, andit
turns outshe was pregnant.Theirfirstchild,agirl theynamedSusanna,wasbornon May 26, 1583.
Two yearslater,onFebruary2, 1585, twins Hamnetand Judith were born.Hamnetlaterbecame an
infantat age 11.
Afterthe birthof the twins,thereare approximatelysevenyearsof Shakespeare’slifewhichwasnot
recorded.These yearsare beingregardedas “the lostyears”andthere are a wide varietyof
speculationonwhathe wasdoingduringthisperiod.A common theoryisthat he was intohiding
for poachinggame fromthe local landlord,SirThomasLucy. Anotherpossibilityisthathe mighthave
beenworkingasan assistantschoolmasterinLancashire.Itisgenerallybelievedhe arrivedin
Londoninthe mid- tolate 1580s and may have foundworkas a horse attendantat some of London's

2. finertheaters,ascenarioupdatedcenturieslaterbythe countlessaspiringactorsandplaywrightsin
HollywoodandBroadway.
Theatrical Beginnings
By 1592, there isevidence WilliamShakespeare earnedalivingasan actor and a playwrightin
Londonand possiblyhadseveral playsproduced.The September20,1592 editionof the Stationers'
Register(aguildpublication) includesanarticle byLondonplaywrightRobertGreenethattakesa
fewjabsat WilliamShakespeare:"...There isanupstartCrow,beautifiedwithourfeathers,thatwith
hisTiger'sheart wrappedina Player'shide,supposeshe isaswell able tobombastouta blankverse
as the bestof you:and beinganabsolute Johannesfactotum, isinhisownconceitthe onlyShake-
scene ina country,"Greene wrote of Shakespeare.
Scholarsdifferonthe interpretationof thiscriticism, butmostagree thatitwas Greene'swayof
sayingShakespeare wasreachingabove hisrank,tryingtomatchbetterknownandeducated
playwrightslikeChristopherMarlowe,ThomasNashe orGreene himself.
By the early1590s, documentsshowWilliamShakespeare wasamanagingpartnerinthe Lord
Chamberlain'sMen,anactingcompanyin London.Afterthe crowningof KingJamesI,in1603, the
companychangeditsname to the King'sMen.From all accounts,the King'sMen companywas very
popular,andrecordsshowthat Shakespeare hadworks publishedandsoldaspopularliterature.The
theaterculture in16th centuryEnglandwas not highlyadmiredbypeople of highrank.However,
manyof the nobilitywere goodpatronsof the performingartsandfriendsof the actors.Early inhis
career,Shakespeare wasable toattract the attentionof HenryWriothesley,the Earl of
Southampton,towhomhe dedicatedhisfirst- andsecond-publishedpoems:"VenusandAdonis"
(1593) and "The Rape of Lucrece"(1594).
EstablishingHimself
By 1597, 15 of the 37 playswrittenbyWilliamShakespeare were published.Civil recordsshow that
at thistime he purchasedthe secondlargesthouse inStratford,calledNew House,forhisfamily.It
was a four-dayride byhorse fromStratfordto London,so itis believedthatShakespearespentmost
of histime inthe citywritingandacting and came home once a yearduringthe 40-day Lenten
period,whenthe theaterswere closed.
By 1599, WilliamShakespeare andhisbusinesspartnersbuilttheirowntheateronthe southbankof
the ThamesRiver,whichtheycalledthe Globe.In1605, Shakespeare purchasedleasesof real estate
nearStratford for440 pounds,whichdoubledinvalue andearnedhim60 poundsa year.Thismade
himan entrepreneuraswell asan artist,and scholarsbelieve theseinvestmentsgave himthe time
to write hisplaysuninterrupted.
WritingStyle
WilliamShakespeare'searlyplayswere writteninthe conventional styleof the day,withelaborate
metaphorsandrhetorical phrasesthatdidn'talwaysalignnaturallywiththe story'splotor
characters.However,Shakespeare wasveryinnovative,adaptingthe traditional style tohisown
purposesandcreatinga freerflowof words.Withonlysmall degreesof variation,Shakespeare
primarilyusedametrical patternconsistingof linesof unrhymediambicpentameter,orblankverse,
to compose hisplays.Atthe same time,there are passagesinall the playsthat deviate fromthisand
use formsof poetryor simple prose.
Early Works:HistoriesandComedies

3. Withthe exceptionof RomeoandJuliet,WilliamShakespeare'sfirstplayswere mostlyhistories
writteninthe early1590s. RichardII , HenryVI (parts1, 2 and 3) and HenryV dramatize the
destructive resultsof weakorcorrupt rulers,andhave beeninterpretedbydramahistoriansas
Shakespeare'swayof justifyingthe originsof the TudorDynasty.
Shakespeare alsowrote several comediesduringhisearlyperiod:the wittyromance A Midsummer
Night'sDream, the romantic Merchantof Venice ,the witand wordplayof Much AdoAboutNothing
, the charmingAs You Like It and
TwelfthNight.Otherplays,possiblywrittenbefore1600, include TitusAndronicus,The Comedyof
Errors , The Tamingof the ShrewandThe TwoGentlemenof Verona.
Later Works:TragediesandTragicomedies
It was inWilliamShakespeare'slaterperiod,after1600, that he wrote the tragediesHamlet,
KingLear, OthelloandMacbeth.Inthese,Shakespeare'scharacterspresentvividimpressionsof
humantemperamentthatare timelessanduniversal.Possiblythe bestknownof these playsis
Hamlet, whichexploresbetrayal,retribution,incestandmoral failure.These moral failuresoften
drive the twistsandturnsof Shakespeare'splots,destroyingthe heroandthose he loves.
In WilliamShakespeare'sfinal period, he wrote severaltragicomedies.Amongthese are Cymbeline ,
The Winter'sTale and The Tempest.Thoughgraverin tone than the comedies,theyare notthe dark
tragediesof
KingLear or Macbeth because theyendwithreconciliationandforgiveness.
Death
Traditionhasit that WilliamShakespeare diedonhisbirthday,April 23,1616, thoughmanyscholars
believethisisamyth.Church recordsshow he was interredatTrinityChurchon April 25, 1616.
In hiswill,he leftthe bulkof hispossessionstohiseldestdaughter,Susanna.Thoughentitledtoa
thirdof hisestate,little seemstohave gone tohiswife,Anne,whomhe bequeathedhis"second-
bestbed."Thishas drawnspeculationthatshe hadfallenoutof favor,or that the couple wasnot
close.However, there isverylittle evidence the twohadadifficultmarriage.Otherscholarsnote
that the term "second-bestbed"oftenreferstothe bedbelongingtothe household'smasterand
mistres—the marital bed—andthe "first-bestbed"wasreservedforguests.
ControversyandLiteraryLegacy
About150 yearsafterhisdeath,questionsarose aboutthe authorshipof WilliamShakespeare's
plays.Scholarsandliterarycriticsbeganto floatnameslike ChristopherMarlowe,Edwardde Vere
and
FrancisBacon —menof more knownbackgrounds,literaryaccreditation,orinspiration—asthe true
authorsof the plays.Much of thisstemmedfromthe sketchydetailsof Shakespeare'slife andthe
dearthof contemporaryprimarysources.Official recordsfromthe HolyTrinityChurchandthe
Stratfordgovernmentrecordthe existence of aWilliamShakespeare,butnone of these attesttohim
beinganactor or playwright.
Skepticsalsoquestionedhowanyoneof suchmodesteducationcouldwrite withthe intellectual
perceptivenessandpoeticpower.

4. By 1599, WilliamShakespeare andhisbusinesspartnersbuilttheirowntheateronthe southbankof
the ThamesRiver,whichtheycalledthe Globe.In1605, Shakespeare purchasedleasesof real estate
nearStratford for440 pounds,whichdoubledin value andearnedhim60 poundsa year.Thismade
himan entrepreneuraswell asan artist,and scholarsbelieve theseinvestmentsgave himthe time
to write hisplaysuninterrupted.
WritingStyle
WilliamShakespeare'searlyplayswere writteninthe conventional styleof the day,withelaborate
metaphorsandrhetorical phrasesthatdidn'talwaysalignnaturallywiththe story'splotor
characters.However,Shakespeare wasveryinnovative,adaptingthe traditional style tohisown
purposesandcreatinga freerflowof words.Withonlysmall degreesof variation,Shakespeare
primarilyusedametrical patternconsistingof linesof unrhymediambicpentameter,orblankverse,
to compose hisplays.Atthe same time,there are passagesinall the playsthat deviate fromthisand
use formsof poetryor simple prose.
Early Works:HistoriesandComedies
Withthe exceptionof RomeoandJuliet,WilliamShakespeare'sfirstplayswere mostlyhistories
writteninthe early1590s. RichardII , HenryVI (parts1, 2 and 3) and HenryV dramatize the
destructive resultsof weakorcorrupt rulers,andhave beeninterpretedbydramahistoriansas
Shakespeare'swayof justifyingthe originsof the TudorDynasty.
Shakespeare alsowrote several comediesduringhisearlyperiod:the wittyromance A Midsummer
Night'sDream, the romantic Merchantof Venice ,the witand wordplayof Much AdoAboutNothing
, the charmingAs You Like It and
TwelfthNight.Otherplays,possiblywrittenbefore1600, include TitusAndronicus,The Comedyof
Errors , The Tamingof the ShrewandThe TwoGentlemenof Verona.
Later Works:TragediesandTragicomedies
It was inWilliamShakespeare'slaterperiod,after1600, that he wrote the tragediesHamlet,
KingLear, OthelloandMacbeth.Inthese,Shakespeare'scharacterspresentvividimpressionsof
humantemperamentthatare timelessanduniversal.Possiblythe bestknownof these playsis
Hamlet, whichexploresbetrayal,retribution,incestandmoral failure.These moral failuresoften
drive the twistsandturnsof Shakespeare'splots,destroyingthe heroandthose he loves.
In WilliamShakespeare'sfinal period,he wrote severaltragicomedies.Amongthese are Cymbeline ,
The Winter'sTale and The Tempest.Thoughgraverin tone than the comedies,theyare notthe dark
tragediesof
KingLear or Macbeth because theyendwithreconciliationandforgiveness.
Death
Traditionhasit that WilliamShakespeare diedonhisbirthday,April 23,1616, thoughmanyscholars
believethisisamyth.Church recordsshow he was interredatTrinityChurchon April 25, 1616.
In hiswill,he leftthe bulkof hispossessionstohiseldestdaughter,Susanna.Thoughentitledtoa
thirdof hisestate,little seemstohave gone tohiswife,Anne,whomhe bequeathedhis"second-
bestbed."Thishas drawnspeculationthatshe hadfallenoutof favor,or that the couple wasnot
close.However,there isverylittle evidence the twohadadifficultmarriage.Otherscholarsnote

5. that the term "second-bestbed"oftenreferstothe bedbelongingtothe household'smasterand
mistres—the marital bed—andthe "first-bestbed"wasreservedforguests.
ControversyandLiteraryLegacy
About150 yearsafterhisdeath,questionsarose aboutthe authorshipof WilliamShakespeare's
plays.Scholarsandliterarycriticsbeganto floatnameslike ChristopherMarlowe,Edwardde Vere
and
FrancisBacon —menof more knownbackgrounds,literaryaccreditation,orinspiration—asthe true
authorsof the plays.Much of thisstemmedfromthe sketchydetailsof Shakespeare'slife andthe
dearthof contemporaryprimarysources.Official recordsfromthe HolyTrinityChurchandthe
Stratfordgovernmentrecordthe existence of aWilliamShakespeare,butnone of these attesttohim
beinganactor or playwright.
Skepticsalsoquestionedhowanyoneof suchmodesteducationcouldwrite withthe intellectual
perceptivenessandpoeticpower.
In the absence of credible evidence tothe contrary,Shakespeare mustbe viewedasthe authorof
the thirty-sevenplaysand154 sonnetsthatbearhisname.The legacyof thisbodyof workis
immense.A numberof Shakespeare’splaysseemtohave transcendedeventhe categoryof
brilliance,becomingsoinfluential astoaffectprofoundlythe course of Westernliterature and
culture everafter.
Shakespeare’sshortestandbloodiesttragedy,Macbethtellsthe storyof a brave Scottishgeneral
(Macbeth) whoreceivesaprophecyfroma trioof sinisterwitchesthatone dayhe will become King
of Scotland.Consumedwithambitiousthoughtsandspurred toactionbyhiswife,Macbethmurders
KingDuncan andseizesthe throne forhimself.He beginshisreignrackedwithguiltandfearand
soonbecomesa tyrannical ruler,ashe isforcedto commitmore and more murdersto protect
himself fromenmityandsuspicion.The bloodbathswiftlypropelsMacbethandLady Macbethto
arrogance,madness,anddeath.
Macbeth wasmost likelywrittenin1606, earlyinthe reignof JamesI,whohad beenJamesVIof
Scotlandbefore he succeededtothe Englishthrone in1603. Jameswasa patronof Shakespeare’s
actingcompany,and of all the playsShakespeare wroteunderJames’sreign,Macbethmostclearly
reflectsthe playwright’sclose relationshipwiththe sovereign.InfocusingonMacbeth,a figure from
Scottishhistory,Shakespeare paidhomage tohisking’sScottishlineage.Additionally,the witches’
prophecythatBanquo will foundaline of kingsisa clearnodto James’sfamily’sclaimtohave
descendedfromthe historicalBanquo.Inalarger sense,the theme of badversus goodkingship,
embodiedbyMacbethandDuncan,respectively,wouldhave resonatedatthe royal court, where
JameswasbusydevelopinghisEnglishversionof the theoryof divineright.
Macbeth isnot Shakespeare’smostcomplex play,butitiscertainlyone of hismostpowerful and
emotionallyintense.WhereasShakespeare’sothermajortragedies,suchasHamletand
Othello,fastidiouslyexplorethe intellectual predicamentsfacedbytheirsubjectsandthe fine
nuancesof theirsubjects’characters,Macbeth tumblesmadlyfromitsopeningtoitsconclusion.Itis
a sharp, jaggedsketchof theme andcharacter; as such,it hasshockedand fascinatedaudiencesfor
nearlyfourhundredyears.
Elementsof Macbeththat Shakespeare usedtobe able toletthe readersunderstanditmuchbetter
FREE WILL:

6. Free will isdefinedasthe powerof actingwithoutthe constraintof necessityorfate.Itisthe ability
to act at one’sowndiscretion.Whatthismeansisthatthere isno setdestiny;onlyaperson’sown
decisionscanimpactthe outcome of theirlife.InWilliamShakespeare’sMacbeth,free will playsa
verysubstantial andpowerful role.In11th centuryScotland,three witchesgiveaprophecyto
Macbeth,a general inKingDuncan’sarmy,that he will one daybecome Kinghimself.Theyalsogive
a prophecyto Macbeth’sbestfriend,Banquo,tellinghimthathisdescendantswillbe Kings.
Macbeth andhis wife,LadyMacbeth,hatcha planto commitregicide inordertospeedupthe
process.Aftertheirfatherisfounddead,the King’ssonsfleetoEnglandandIrelandand
unknowinglycastingthe blame uponthem.MacbethiscrownedKing,andthe prophecyhasbeen
fulfilled.Macbeth’sreignasKingisone of violence anddestruction,andhe isovercome withguilt.
He killsalord namedMacduff’sfamilybecause he findsouthe hasgone to Englandto helpone of
the sons.Macduff comesback to ScotlandandslaysMacbeth,and KingDuncan’seldestson
becomesKing.Some mightargue thatMacbethwas a victimof fate and circumstance,butit wasof
hisownfree will thathe decidedtomurderKingDuncan,and go ona reignof terror as King.
Shakespeare’sMacbethestablishesthatone’sfree will canimpacttheirdecision-makingabilities,
ambitionandparanoia.Free will isaconceptthat not everyone accepts,butsomethingthat
Macbeth takesheadon.
One’sdecision-makingabilitiesare severelyimpactedbythe conceptof free will.Macbeth’sfree will
leadinguptoand followinghismurderof KingDuncancauseshimto make extremelyrash decisions
,hiswife causedMacbethtokill the King,kill hisbestfriendBanquo,andkill hiscounterpart
Macduff’sfamily.These choiceseventuallycausedhisdownfall;inthe formof a beheadingby
Macduff.The conceptof fate againstfree will isoften examinedinMacbeth,whichiswhat
Shakespeare wantedpeople todo,andinreal life.Manypeople believe thateveryone controlstheir
owndestiny;thatthe outcome of theirlife isbaseduponthe decisionstheymake.Othersconclude
that people have asetpath throughlife.Some conceive the ideathatlife isamix of both,where
people’sdecisionshave animpactontheirlife,justnotonthe outcome.The conceptof “fate vs.
free will” will continue tobe examined,andplayslikeShakespeare’sMacbethallow peopletodo
that.