Megan Schmitz

Professor Marsha Sharp

Final Portfolio Project
12/3/2015

The Life of the Great Bard

William Shakespeare, poet, actor, playwright, a name that is known throughout the world.
Who left behind mysteries, sonnets, plays and muses who live on in his verse. Shakespeare lived
over four hundred years ago, and his work is still alive and well. Scholars and actors devote their
entire career to studying this great man, but there is still so much that is unknown. Shakespeare
had an amazing life, starting life in a small town as the son of a glove maker to performing for
the kings and queens of England. He invested in real estate, built the iconic Globe Theater and
penned the greatest love story of all time. Shakespeare is a symbol of the great Elizabethan era
where genius was celebrated and is a guiding light for all aspiring writers, poets, playwrights,
and lovers.
William Shakespeare was not born into a wealthy family or a noble one. He was the son
of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, born in the town of Stratford Upon Avon. The town boasts
of notables such as John of Stratford who would become the Archbishop of Canterbury and
Hugh Clopton to would go to London as a mercer and end as Lord Mayor. John Shakespeare
started his life in a little village of Snitterfield where his family were tenant farmers. He left little
the town, traveled to Stratford and established himself as a glove maker and entered the politics

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of Stratford in September of 1556 by becoming an ale-taster. He continued his climb, The

following year, in 1558, John Shakespeare was made one of the constables of the borough, a
position that required a strong, healthy and determined man. (Chute 4). He came into small
town government during a particular difficult time in English history. Queen Mary died in 1558
and the country was beginning the reign of Elizabeth I. During that time, all men were allowed to
have and wear a dagger, but unable to use it. With tensions between Catholics and Protestants at
an all-time high, being constable required a man to be strong and determined to keep the peace.
He continued to move up receiving the offices of afferor, and town chamberlain. After his son
William was born, John Shakespeare became Alderman and then High Bailiff. He was also
investing in real estate and in 1596 he applied to the College of Heralds for a coat of arms,
basing the claim on services of his ancestors to Henry VII, the continued good reputation of the
family, and Johns marriage to Mary, daughter and heiress of Robert Arden, of Wilmcote,
gent.(Neilson 24). Mary Arden was the sole heiress and favorite daughter of Robert Arden, a
wealthy farmer in Wilmcote. Scholars attribute some of John Shakespeares rise in the council to
his good fortune in marrying Mary who came with an inheritance of 6 13s. 4 d. and a large
house with fifty acres of land. Her family was one of the oldest in Warwickshire and they had
been the lords of Warwick before William the Conqueror came, and she was still considered one
of the members of the landed gentry before she married.
One of the unknowns of William Shakespeares life is the actual date of his birth. This is
not uncommon for the period and generally children were baptized a few days after their birth.
The records show that he was baptized on the 23rd of April in the year 1564. This date is
significant to the British, because it is St. Georges day and he is the patron saint of England.
Two girls preceded him in his family, Joan and Margaret both of whom died young, before

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William was born. There is very little known about where Shakespeare went to school, though
scholars have been able to put together that the greatest influence on the English language
probably learned his letters from a parish clerk and learned to read from The ABC and Little
Catechism that were common to all English children in that era. Once that was learned, he went
to Stratford Grammar School, where Latin was stressed and little else. This was because at that
time, the only people who really needed an education were the men who worked for the church,
all of whom spoke Latin. It was not until a decade after Shakespeare entered school, that the idea
of teaching English was brought up and then dropped, because it was too radical of an idea. One
of the only things that Shakespeare gathered from his schooling was how to recite Latin out loud,
which laid the groundwork for him becoming an actor. As a child of a prominent man would
have had access to various entertainments which came to his town. The plays that would have
been religious plays, Marchette Chute explains the English thought process, No reasonable man
could object to an entertainment that was full of moral lessons and did not disturb, those settled
principles that the schools and the parents worked so hard to inculcate. If the plays that went on
tour did not deal with moral abstractions, they dealt with equally impeccable and improving
stories. The subject might be Biblical, like The Comedy of the Most Virtuous and Godly Susanna
or it might be classical and introduce characters like Menelaus or Clytemnestra to English
country audiences. (Chute 24). The Biblical plays would have been a common sight in England
at that time, and it is fairly certain that they influenced Shakespeare in his career as a playwright
in London. The next mention of Shakespeare in the records is his marriage to Anne Hathaway.
He was 18 years old, his bride aged 26 and pregnant with his child. This did not cause a scandal
because it is plausible that they had a pre-contract and that was considered as good as a marriage
license. A daughter was born to Shakespeare and on Trinity Sunday, 1583, was christened

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Susanna. A few years later, she was joined by twins, Hamnet and Judith born in 1596. Hamnet
died at age eleven from unknown causes. It is thought that his name was the basis for the name
Hamlet. The name Susanna gives scholars information that leads to Hathaway being a puritan.
Puritans did not approve of theatre in any sense, and it would have created a great deal of tension
in a household. Therefore it is not surprising that Shakespeare arrived alone in the great city of
London and was noted to be a great actor on the stage by the year 1592.
From 1592 to 1616, Shakespeare created some of the most beautiful sonnets and plays to
ever be written in the English language, with such plays as Romeo and Juliet in 1592, Much Ado
about Nothing in 1598 and what many people believe to be his greatest play Hamlet in 16001601. He was also writing sonnets in this time but his verses did not sell very well when the great
poet was alive, and neither did his plays. According to William Neilson and Ashley Thorndike in
their book, The Facts about Shakespeare, More profitable than playwriting was acting. Lee
estimates Shakespeares salary as an actor before 1599 at 100 a year at least, exclusive of
special rewards for court performances, and we know that by 1635 an actor shareholder, such as
Shakespeare latterly was, had a salary of 180. (Neilson & Thorndike 32). To put this money
into perspective, 100 British pounds is roughly $150.71 American dollars. As an actor
shareholder in the Globe theatre Shakespeare would have been making about $271.27 American
dollars. He was also investing in real estate like his father before him. It is likely that
Shakespeare was becoming a fairly wealthy and successful man. This has led to some scholars to
think that perhaps Shakespeare was not the great writer. What those scholars believe is that there
was a group of playwrights who penned their plays under the name of William Shakespeare.
However it is merely conjecture and the majority of scholars believe that there was a William
Shakespeare and he was the great poet and storyteller.

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The Globe Theatre is a key part to understanding Shakespeare in all his complexities.
Richard Burbage, Shakespeare and his company of actors called The Lord Chamberlains Men
built the Globe in 1599. Burbage was born in 1567 and was himself a well-known actor in
Elizabethan England. He is known for being friends with Shakespeare and for being the first
actor to utter the lines,
To be, or not to be? That is the question / Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer/
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by
opposing, end them? To die, to sleep / No moreand by a sleep to say we end (Shakespeare,
Hamlet, Act III Scene I 57 61).
The Globe joined four theaters that populated the London area, and it was smaller than
was expected at that time. It was a circular, 3 story, open air theater built on banks of the Thames
River. It held about 3,000 people and made from oak. The company would raise different flags
to show what kind of play they were performing, a black flag for tragedies and a red flag for
historical plays. It was burned down in 1613 but was rebuilt the year after, but was demolished in
1644.
Shakespeare left almost no information about his private life to the modern scholars. A
few of his most memorable sonnets are tributes to various people. Scholars have been trying to
unravel the identity and gender of these muses for the past hundred years at least. They are
certain that there was a beautiful woman with dark hair, and a young man. According to William
Neilson and Ashley Thorndike, the mystery of Shakespeares personal affairs will remain just
that, Of this young gentleman and of a dark lady who seems to have been the occasion of other
of the sonnets, much as been written, but no facts of Shakespeares life have been established
beyond those which are obvious to every reader: that Shakespeare wrote admiring and flattering

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sonnets to a young man who is urged to marry (and who may have been the Earl of
Southampton, or an unknown Mr. W.H., or another); and that he treats of an intrigue with some
unknown woman.The Sonnets furnish us with no knowledge of Shakespeares personal affairs,
and only a meager basis even for gossip as to some of his experiences with men and women.
(Neilson and Throndike 47-48). Shakespeare may have left the modern world with very little
information about his relationships, but he gave lovers everywhere beautiful words to express
how they feel, ROMEO: O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon
the ear of night, Like a rich jewel in an Ethiopes ear; / Beauty too rich for use, for earth too
dear! / So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows / As yonder lady oer her fellows shows.
For I neer saw true beauty till this night. Romeo and Juliet, Act I, sc. 5 l.43 (Shakespeare). In
1613 Shakespeare and his group of actors perform A Midsummers Night Dream in front of
Queen Elizabeth and her royal court. A Midsummers Night Dream was first written in 1595, and
is thought to have been composed for a wedding. Queen Elizabeth died later that year and was
succeeded by King James 1st. The new king was a big supporter of the arts and granted the group
a patent to perform quickly. In gratitude for the speed, the company renamed itself, The Kings
Men earning a spot of favor with the new monarch. In 1597, Shakespeare purchased a large
house in Stratford that signified his wealth.
In the year 1616, Shakespeare created his will in preparation for his death, He sought to
keep his estate intact by leaving most of it to his daughter Susanna. His wife received, famously,
the second-best bed with the furniture. This may have been the bed they slept in, as opposed to
the bed for guests which was a better one, being less often used. Less than a month after making
his will, Shakespeare was dead.(Shakespeare, Miner, Rawson.) Scholars feel that this is a telling
sign that Shakespeare did not love his wife and that there was problems in the marriage. A

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second-best bed would be probably be the bed that Anne Hathaway would have used all during
their marriage. Shakespeare died the next month on April 25th 1616, the same day he was
baptized. He was 52 years old. He was buried in Church of Holy Trinity, in Stratford-upon-Avon.
A few years after his death, a memorial was erected. According Holy Trinity Church, It has to
be said that William Shakespeare probably didn't do a very good job of looking after the chancel.
A few years after his death it was reported to be in ruinous condition. However, he has more than
made up for it since. Hundreds of visitors come each year to visit his grave. The contributions
that these visitors make allow us to keep up-to-date with the day-to-day maintenance of the
building (paying for heating, lighting cleaning and staffing the Church during the week). This
allows the church to keep his memorial clean and the building in good maintance. There is a
subscription on his grave which reads, Good Friends For Iesvs Sake Forbeare to dig the dvst
encloased heare. Bleste Be Ye Man Yt Spares Thes Stones And Cvrst Be He Yt Moves My
Bones. (Corn). In modern English it translates to, good friends for Jesus sake forbeare, to dig
the dust enclosed here. Bless be the man that spares these stones and cursed be that moves my
bones. No one knows if Shakespeare wrote his own epitaph or if someone else did for his sake.
However the threat of the curse has worked because Shakespeare has been undisturbed since his
death.
The Great Bards work still continues to be in modern culture. He is part of high school
curriculum and most adults will say that they have at least heard of one of his plays. They do in
fact know several plays even if they dont recognize Shakespeares part in them. Disneys The
Lion King is actually Hamlet. The difference is that The Lion King is animated movie and all of
the main characters are lions instead of Danes. 10 Things I Hate about You featuring Julia Stiles
and Heath Ledger is a modern day twist on The Taming of the Shrew. West Side Story is Romeo

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and Juliet, the only difference being that the Romeo is Polish instead of Italian and Juliet is Porto
Rican. Shakespeares face is on: posters, bags, t-shirts, coffee cups, and he is an action figure in
his own right. He even has his own Facebook page, that people post various lines from his work
and people comment on them daily. Everyone knows of Shakespeare and there is still a following
of devoted fans.
William Shakespeare, affectionately known as the Great Bard had an amazing life and
created some of the most beautiful poetry and plays in the English language. His personal life
continues to be a mystery to this day, and there are many interpretations of his works that
continue to fascinate scholars and students. His most important legacy is to be a continued
inspiration for young lovers, writers, poets and playwrights. His work continues to make people
weep with the injustice of the world, and laugh at lifes twists and turns and that is what he
would have wanted to be remembered for.

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Works Citied
Chute, Marchette. Shakespeare of London. New York: Dutton, 1949. Print.
"Shakespeare Timeline." William Shakespeare Timeline at AbsoluteShakespeare.com. N.p., n.d.
Web. 03 Dec. 2015.
"Shakespeare." Williams Church. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.
Shakespeare, William, Margaret Miner, and Hugh Rawson. A Dictionary of Quotations from
Shakespeare: A Topical Guide to over 3,000 Great Passages from the Plays, Sonnets, and
Narrative Poems. New York: Dutton, 1992. Print.
Neilson, William Allan, and Ashley Horace Thorndike. The Facts about Shakespeare. New
York: Macmillan, 1913. Print.
"TheHudsonReview." The Hudson Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.