Page 62 - DENG403_BRITISH_DRAMA

British Drama

Notes Childhood

Town records indicate that William Shakespeare was John and Mary’s third child. His birth is unregistered,
but legend pins it on April 23, 1564, possibly because it is known that April 23 is the day on which he
died 52 years later. In any event, his baptism was registered with the town on April 26, 1564. Little is
known about his childhood, although it is generally assumed that he attended the local grammar school,
the King’s New School. The school was staffed by Oxford-educated faculty who taught the students
mathematics, natural sciences, logic, Christian ethics, and classical language and literature.

Who begat whom, again?
Father: John Shakespeare (1530-1601)
Mother: Mary Arden Shakespeare (?-1608)
Sister: Joan Shakespeare (1558)
Sister: Margaret Shakespeare (1562-1563)
Brother: Gilbert Shakespeare (1556-1612)
Sister: Joan Shakespeare Hart (1569-1646)
Sister: Anne Shakespeare (1571-1579)
Brother: Richard Shakespeare (1574-1613)
Brother: Edmund Shakespeare (1580-1607)
Wife: Anne Hathaway (1556-1623)
Daughter: Susanna Shakespeare Hall (1583-1649)
Son: Hamnet Shakespeare (1585-1596)
Daughter: Judith Shakespeare Quiney (1585-1662)

Education
In 1569, Shakespeare enters King’s New School, an excellent grammar school in Stratford attended
by the sons of civil servants like his father. Boys typically enter the school around the age of five,
but since no official records survive its impossible to know exactly when Shakespeare starts his
education. Other than the dates of his marriage and children’s births, little is known about
Shakespeare’s life before 1592—a period known as the Lost Years.
Shakespeare did not attend university, which was not at all unusual for the time. University education
was reserved for wealthy sons of the elite, mostly those who wanted to become clergymen. The
numerous classical and literary references in Shakespeare’s plays are a testament; however, to the
excellent education he received in grammar school.

The most impressive fact about Shakespeare is the wealth of general knowledge exhibited in
his works rather than his formal education.

Marriage
In 1582, at the age of eighteen, William Shakespeare married the twenty-six-year-old Anne Hathaway.
Their first daughter, Susanna, was baptized only six months later—a fact that has given rise to
speculation concerning the circumstances surrounding their marriage. In 1585, Anne bore twins,
baptized Hamlet and Judith Shakespeare. Hamlet died at the age of eleven, by which time
Shakespeare was already a successful playwright.

Around 1589, Shakespeare wrote his supposed first play, Henry VI, Part 1.
Sometime between his marriage and writing this play, he moved to London, where
he pursued a career as a playwright and actor.

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