Biography of william shakespeare stratford upon avon
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William Shakespeare
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Who Was William Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor of the Renaissance era. He was an important member of the King’s Men theatrical company from roughly onward. Known throughout the world, Shakespeare’s works—at least 37 plays, sonnets, and 2 narrative poems—capture the range of human emotion and conflict and have been celebrated for more than years. Details about his personal life are limited, though some believe he was born and died on the same day, April 23, 52 years apart.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: William Shakespeare
BORN: c. April 23,
DIED: c. April 23,
BIRTHPLACE: Stratford-upon-Avon, England, United Kingdom
SPOUSE: Anne Hathaway ()
CHILDREN: Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Taurus
Early Life
The personal life of William Shakespeare is somewhat of a mystery. There are two primary sources that provide historians with an outline of his life. One i
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Shakespeare and Stratford
William Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon
Splitting Time
From the late s, William Shakespeare started to divide his time up between Stratford-upon-Avon and London; his family and professional lives.
Shakespeare’s wife and children remained in Stratford and he made most of his financial investments in his home town. This certainly suggests that he cared about their (and his) comfort and status in Stratford.
His first significant investment came in with the high profile purchase of a large family home in the centre of town, known as New Place.
New Place was a considerable dwelling and gave Shakespeare and his family an impressive social status. This was to be his family home and could have offered him the focus he needed to be a full-time writer.
And this our life, exempt from public haunt, / Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, / Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
— As You Like It, Act 2, scen 1
Shakespea
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Shakespeare's Stratford on the Web
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Shakespeare was born in April and although the exact date of his arrival is not known, it has been traditionally taken to have been 23rd April, auspiciously enough St. George's Day. The baptismal register, the relevant page of which is on display in Holy Trinity Church, shows that he was baptised on 26th April of that year. Such was the rate of infant mortality that babies in those days were baptised within two or three days of their birth. William was the third child in the family but the first to survive to adulthood, despite an outbreak of plague in his first year, his two older sisters dying in infancy and early childhood. His parents lived in the town, in Henley Street, and both were rooted in the Stratford area. John Shakespeare, William's father, was the son of a tenant farmer at Snitterfield, some three miles north of Stratford, but he had c