William Shakespeare Research Paper

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William Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest playwright of all time, even though many facts about his life still remain a mystery. In his lifetime Shakespeare wrote 36 plays and 154 sonnets. The following paragraphs will included the key moments known about William Shakespeare's life, birth through death. Shakespeare is believed to have been born on April 23, 1564 and baptized three days later on April 26, 1564 at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. He started school at the age of five and there William Shakespeare learned how to read and write. By the age of eight he was enrolled at the Stratford's Grammar School where he was taught by well paid Oxford men. Shakespeare learned Latin text, that fired his imagination, and Greek from the Greek New Testament. "William Shakespeare [ at the age 18 ] married Anne Hathaway [ who was 26 ] on November 28, 1582, in Worcester, in Canterbury Province" (William Shakespeare Biography). Their first child was, a daughter who was named Susanna, born on May 26, 1583. They had twins, Hamnet and Judith, two years later on February 2, 1585. "After the birth of the twins, there are seven years of William Shakespeare's life where no record exist" (William Shakespeare Biography). A tragedy stuck this family when Hamnet died at the age of eleven due to an unknown cause. " In 1597 he was able to purchase a large house, New Place, in his native town" (Encyclopedia International). William Shakespeare was a Protestant that attended the Church of England. This church was a mixture between the old Roman Catholic Church and the newer Protestant Church. The Bible was Shakespeare greatest source throughout his career as a playwright and poet. He used quotes from "Genesis," "... ... middle of paper ... ...daughter, Susanna. Though entitled to a third of his estate, little seems to have gone to his wife, Anne, whom he bequeathed his 'second-best bed' " (William Shakespeare Biography). " [Shakespeare] was buried in the chapel of Holy Trinity, as a distinguished Stratford man, on April 25, 1616" (The Shakespeare Handbook). "Shakespeare's name survived in Stratford through New Place until 1759....., but principally through his monument, a framed half-length bust on the north wall of the chancel of Holy Trinity, a few yards from his grave." (The Shakespeare Handbook). His reputation for his dramatic intelligence did not get noticed until the nineteenth century. " The greatest monument [of William Shakespeare] lies not in Holy Trinity, .... but in libraries, bookshops, and homes throughout the globe, in the collected editions of his works" (The Shakespeare Handbook).

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