William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England to a prominent town official. He received an excellent education focused on grammar and literature. In the 1580s, he married Anne Hathaway and had three children, but the years between 1585-1595 are undocumented. He later moved to London and began working as an actor and playwright, producing some of the most renowned plays and poems in English literature. His plays are categorized as comedies, tragedies, and histories. Shakespeare and his acting company performed at theaters in London until building their own, called The Globe. He retired to Stratford in 1610 and died in 1616 at the age of 52.

1. Philip Jerricks Alfred
69
English

2. • Born in Stratford-Upon-
Avon, England.
• Son of a prominent town
official.
• 3rd child of 8 children.
• Received excellent
education with heavy
focus on grammar and
literature.

3. • Marriage at age 18 to Anne
Hathaway (she was 26)
who was pregnant with his
child.
• First child was daughter,
Susanna – born in 1583.
• Twins, Hamnet and Judith
were born in 1585.
• Hamnet diest at the age 11.

4. The period between 1585 and 1595 is known as the
“Lost Years” because there are no documentary records
of Shakespeare’s activities.

5.  Moved to London
around 1591 and
became an actor.
 Worked with the
Lord Chamberlin’s
company of players,
later known as the
Kings Men.

6.  Along with acting, he also wrote some of the most
renowned and studied literature written in the English
Literature.
 Poems – famous for his sonnets
 Plays – Comedies, Tragedies and Histories.

7.  All’s Well That Ends Well
 As You Like It
 The Comedy of Errors
 Love's Labour's Lost
 Measure for Measure
 The Merchant of Venice
 The Merry Wives of Windsor
 A Midsummer Night's Dream
 Much Ado About Nothing
 The Taming of the Shrew
 The Tempest
 Twelfth Night
 The Two Gentlemen of Verona
 The Winter's Tale

8.  Antony and Cleopatra
 Coriolanus
 Cymbeline
 Hamlet
 Julius Caesar
 King Lear
 Macbeth
 Othello
 Romeo and Juliet
 Timon of Athens
 Titus Andronicus
 Troilus and Cressida

9.  Henry IV Part I
 Henry IV Part II
 Henry V
 Henry VI Part I
 Henry VI Part II
 Henry VI Part III
 Henry VIII
 King John Richard II
 Richard III

10.  He wrote 37 very successful plays.
 His vocabulary was so huge – somewhere between
17,000 and 34,000 words!
 The estimated vocabulary of an educated person
today is around 15,000 words.

11.  Shakespeare and Lord Chamberlain’s Men performed
at Burbage’s theater until 1599, when they built their
own playhouse, THE GLOBE.
 Shakespeare referred to THE GLOBE as “this wooden
O,” a term referring that led the scholars to believe it
was a circular building.

13.  A white flag indicates there is a play today.
 Plays were performed during the day.
 The groundings stood by the stage.
 The wealthy sat in the upper decks.
 Young men dressed up to female roles.
 Attending Shakespeare’s theater was quite different from
attending theater today, which is thought of as very quiet
and austere.
 In Elizabethen England it was a noisy, popular gathering
place for people of all ages and from all walks of life.
 Drinking and eating were permitted in the pit, which often
became very noisy.
 If a spectator did not like a particular character or scene, he
or she would feel free to hiss or boo or even throw anything
he or she might have in hand.

15.  William Shakespeare returned to Stratford around 1610
where he lived as a country gentleman.
 Wealthy – Owned one of the largest homes in town.
 Died in Stratford in 1616 at the age of 52. His death was a
mystery. It is rumored that he drank too much and
contracted a fever or that he died from a cerebral
hemorrhage.