A Short History of Shakespeare's Life
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare, commonly known as the greatest english poet was born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564. He was christened at Holy Trinity Church on April 26th, and since it was a custom of the time to babtize babies three days after birth, we celebrate his birthday on April 23rd.
At the age of nineteen, he left his wife, Anne Hathaway, and his three children in the care of his parents. He then journeyed on foot ninety miles to Londontown. Londontown was the center of the English Renaissance and home of the first theatres. He started out holding the horses of the wealthy play goers and then advanced to acting juvenile and then character roles.
Later, Shakespeare started writing plays. Between the years of 1587 and 1592, he wrote "The Comedy of Errors," "TItus Andronicus," The Taming of the Shrew," Henry VI, 1,2,3," and "Richard III." In 1593, he started writing sonnets that were porbably completed by 1597 or earlier, he also wrote "Two Gentelement of Verona," and "Love's Labour's Lost." In 1594, he wrote "The Rape of Lucrece." "Midsummer Night's Dream," "Romeo and Juliet," "Richard II," and Merchant of Venice," were all written between 1594 and 1596. Shakespeare's last plays, "Henry IV, 1,2," "The Merry Wives of Windosor," "As you like it," Much Ado About Nothing," "Henry V," "Julius Caesar," "Twelfth Night," "Hamlet," Troilus & Cressida," "Alls well the ends well," "Measure for Measure," "Othello," "King Lear," "Macbeth," "Antony and Cleopatra," Coriolanus," "Timon of Athens," "Pericles Prince of Tyre," "Cymbeline," "The Winter's Tale," and "The Tempest were all writen between1597 and 1616.
It is quite a concidence, that fifty-two years later, exactly, Shakespeare died, and he is buried under the same church where he was christened.