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William Shakespeare Biography
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Life of William Shakespeare
1564-1616
Birthplace and Parents.--William Shakespeare, the greatest of the
world's writers, was born in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. The name
originally meant one skilled in wielding a spear. The first William
Shakespeare of whom mention is made in the records was hanged for
robbery near Stratford; but it is only fair to state that in those
days hanging was inflicted for stealing even a sheep.
The great dramatist's birthplace lies in the midst of England's
fairest rural scenery. When two Englishmen were asked to name the
finest walk in England, one chose the walk from Stratford to Coventry,
the other, the walk from Coventry to Stratford. A short distance
northeast of Stratford are Warwick with its castle, the home of the
famous king-maker, and Kenilworth Castle, whose historic associations
were romantic enough to stir the imagination of a boy like
Shakespeare.
He was the son of John Shakespeare, an influential merchant, who in
1571 was elected chief alderman of Stratford. The poet's mother was
the daughter of Robert Arden, a well-to-do farmer. We are told that
she was her father's favorite among seven children. Perhaps it was due
to her influence that he had a happy childhood. His references to
plays and sports and his later desire to return to Stratford are
indicative of pleasant boyhood days.
Probably his mother was the original of some of her son's noblest
conceptions of women. His plays have more heroines than heroes. We may
fancy that it was his mother who first pointed out to him--
"...daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty; violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes."
We may imagine that from her teaching, as she walked with him over the
Stratford fields, he obtained suggestions which enabled him to hold
captive the ear of the world, when he sang of the pearl in the
cowslip's ear, of the bank where the wild thyme blows, of the
greenwood tree and the merry note of the bird. Many of the references
to nature in his plays are unsurpassed in English verse.
What He Learned at School.--In all probability Shakespeare entered
the Stratford Grammar School at about the age of seven and continued
there until he was nearly fourteen. The typical course in grammar
schools of that period consisted principally of various Latin authors.
One school in 1583 had twenty-five Latin books on its list of studies,
while the only required works in English were the Catechism, Psalter,
Book of Common Prayer, and New Testament. Children were required to
study Lilly's Latin Grammar instead of their mother tongue. Among
the works that Shakespeare probably read in Latin, AEsop's Fables
and Ovid's Metamorphoses may be mentioned.
Although English was not taught, Shakespeare shows wonderful mastery
in the use of his mother tongue. We have the testimony of the
schoolmaster, Holofernes, in Love's Labor's Lost to show that the
study of Latin led to facility in the use of English synonyms:--
"The deer was, as you know, sanguis, in blood, ripe as the
pomewater, who now hangeth like a jewel in the ear of caelo, the
sky, the welkin, the heaven; and anon falleth like a crab on the
face of terra, the soil, the land, the earth."
Three English equivalents are here given for each of the Latin terms
caelo and terra. The same schoolmaster uses seven synonyms in
describing the "fashion" of speech of the ignorant constable,
--"undressed, unpolished, uneducated, unpruned, untrained,
or, rather unlettered, or, ratherest, unconfirmed, fashion." When we
remember that it was really Shakespeare who wrote this, we know that
he had been led to study variety of expression. His large vocabulary
could not have been acquired by any one without hard work.
A good translation of the English Bible was accessible to him.
Scriptural phrases and references appear in his plays, and volumes
have been written to show the influence of the Bible on his thought.
Financial Reverses of the Shakespeare Family.--It is probable that
Shakespeare at about the age of fourteen was taken from school to
assist his father in the store. The elder Shakespeare was then
overtaken by financial reverses and compelled to mortgage his wife's
land. His affairs went from bad to worse; he was sued for debt, but
the court could not find any property to satisfy the claim. It is
possible that he was for a short time even imprisoned for debt.
Finally he was deprived of his alderman's gown.
These events must have made a deep impression on the sensitive boy,
and they may have led him to an early determination to try to master
fortune. In after years he showed a business sagacity very rare for a
poet.
Marriage and Departure from Stratford.--The most famous lovers' walk
in England is the footpath from Stratford, leading about one mile
westward through meadows to the hamlet of Shottery. Perhaps William
Shakespeare had this very walk in mind when he wrote the song:--
"Journeys end in lovers' meeting
Every wise man's son doth know."
The end of his walk led to Anne Hathaway's home in Shottery. She was
nearly eight years his senior, but in 1582 at the age of eighteen he
married her.
There is a record that Shakespeare's twin children, Hamnet and Judith,
were baptized in 1585. From this we know that before he was twenty-one
Shakespeare had a wife and family to support.
We have no positive information to tell us what he did for the next
seven years after the birth of his twins. Tradition says that he
joined a group of hunters, killed some of the deer of Sir Thomas Lucy
at Charlecote Park, and fled from Stratford to London in consequence
of threatened prosecution. There is reason to doubt the truth of this
story, and Shakespeare may have sought the metropolis merely because
it offered him more scope to provide for his rapidly increasing
family.
Connects Himself with the London Stage.--The next scene of
Shakespeare's life is laid in London. In 1592 Robert Greene, a London
poet, dramatist, and hack-writer, wrote:--
"There is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with
his Tyger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as
well able to bumbast out a blank verse as the best of you; and being
an absolute Iohannes fac-totum, is in his owne conceit the only
Shake-scene in a countrie."
The best critics agree that the "upstart Crow" and "Shake-scene" refer
to Shakespeare. The allusion to "Tyger's heart" is from the third part
of King Henry VI. and is addressed by the Duke of York to Queen
Margaret of Anjou:--
"O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!"
Greene's satiric thrust shows that Shakespeare was becoming popular as
a playwright. We can only imagine the steps by which he rose to his
ascendancy as a dramatist. Perhaps he first served the theater in some
menial capacity, then became an actor, and assisted others in revising
or adapting plays before he acquired sufficient skill to write a play
entirely by himself.
In 1593 he published the non-dramatic poem, Venus and Adonis, which
he dedicated to the Earl of Southampton. This nobleman is said to have
given Shakespeare, on one occasion, "a thousand pounds to enable him
to make a purchase which he heard he had a mind to." This would show
that Shakespeare had a capacity for attracting people and making
lasting friendships. In 1597 he purchased "New Place," the stateliest
house in Stratford, and we hear no more of his father's financial
troubles.
Twentieth-century Discoveries.--In the first decade of the twentieth
century, Professor C.W. Wallace discovered in the London Record Office
a romantic story in which Shakespeare was an important figure. This
story opens in the year 1598 in the London house of a French Huguenot,
Christopher Mountjoy, wig-maker, with whom Shakespeare lived. Mountjoy
took as apprentice for six years, Stephen Bellott, a young Frenchman.
Beside him worked Mary Mountjoy, the proprietor's only daughter, who
looked with favor upon the young apprentice. At the end of his
apprenticeship Stephen left without proposing marriage to Mary; but on
his return Mrs. Mountjoy asked Shakespeare to make a match between
Stephen and Mary,--a task in which he was successful.
Seven and a half years later Shakespeare was called into court to
testify to all the facts leading to the marriage. After a family
quarrel, Mr. Mountjoy declared that he would never leave Stephen and
Mary a groat, and the son-in-law brought suit for a dowry.
Shakespeare's testimony shows that he remembered Mrs. Mountjoy's
commission and the part that he played in mating the pair, but he
forgot the amount of the dowry and when it was to be paid. The puzzled
court turned the matter over for settlement to the French church in
London, but it is not known what decision was reached.
The documents in the case show that Shakespeare was on familiar terms
with tradesmen, that they thought well of him, that he was willing to
undertake to try to make two people happy, and that he lived in the
Mountjoy house at the corner of Silver and Monkwell streets. During
the period of Stephen's apprenticeship (1598-1604), Shakespeare wrote
some of his greatest plays, such as Hamlet and Othello. From its
connection with Shakespeare, this is the most important corner in
London for literary associations.
Wallace also found documents showing that Shakespeare owned at the
time of his death a one-seventh interest in the Blackfriars Theater
and a one-fourteenth interest in the Globe. The hitherto unknown fact
that he continued to hold to the end of his life these important
interests, requiring such skilled supervision, makes more doubtful the
former assumption that he spent the last years of his life entirely at
Stratford.
Last Years and Death.--Shakespeare probably bought New Place in
Stratford as a residence for his family and a retreat for himself out
of the theatrical season, but he doubtless continued to live in London
for the greater part of his time until a few years before his death in
1616. The Mountjoy testimony proves that he was in London in May,
1612.
We are positive, however, that he was living in Stratford at the time
of his death. He may for several years have taken only occasional
trips to London to look after his interests in his theaters. It is not
improbable that his health forced him to retire to Stratford, for it
is difficult to see how any one could have produced nearly two
Shakespearean plays a year for almost twenty years without breaking
down under the strain. He had in addition almost certainly helped to
manage the production of the plays, and tradition says that he was
also an actor. Some of the parts which he is said to have played are
the ghost in Hamlet, Adam in As You Like It, and Old Knowell in
Ben Jonson's Every Man in his Humor.
In 1616, at the age of fifty-two, this master-singer of the world,
who, in De Quincey's phrase, was "a little lower than the angels,"
died and was buried in the parish church at Stratford. Shakespeare
knew that in the course of time graves were often opened and the bones
thrown into the charnel house. The world is thankful that he
deliberately planned to have his resting place remain unmolested. His
grave was dug seventeen feet deep and over it was placed the following
inscription, intended to frighten those who might think of moving his
bones:--
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