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The Wife of William Shakespeare: Anne Hathaway

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The Wife of William Shakespeare: Anne Hathaway

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So you think you know a foul word or two? Shakespeare's insults, put downs and cussing were second to none, and with his insults Shakespeare was most certainly a master of his trade! Read our selection of the top 50 Shakespeare insults below, ordered alphabetically by quote, with play and act/scene listed too. From " a most notable coward" to "Villian, I have done thy mother" Shakespeare had an insult for any occassion.

Top 50 Shakespeare Insults:

1. "A most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality."

All's Well That Ends Well (Act 3, Scene 6)

2. "Away, you starvelling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's-tongue, bull's-pizzle, you stock-fish!"

Henry IV Part I (Act 2, Scene 4)

3. "Away, you three-inch fool! "

The Taming of the Shrew (Act 3, Scene 3)

4. "Come, come, you froward and unable worms!"

The Taming Of The Shrew (Act 5, Scene 2)

5. "Go, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-liver'd boy."

Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 3)

6. "His wit's as thick as a Tewkesbury mustard."

Henry IV Part 2 (Act 2, Scene 4)

7. "I am pigeon-liver'd and lack gall."

Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2)

8. "I am sick when I do look on thee "

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Act 2, Scene 1)

9. "I must tell you friendly in your ear, sell when you can, you are not for all markets."

As You Like It (Act 3 Scene 5)

10. "If thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them."

Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 1)

11. "I'll beat thee, but I would infect my hands."

Timon of Athens (Act 4, Scene 3)

12. "I scorn you, scurvy companion. "

Henry IV Part II (Act 2, Scene 4)

13. "Methink'st thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee."

All's Well That Ends Well (Act 2, Scene 3)

14. "More of your conversation would infect my brain."

The Comedy of Erros (Act 2, Scene 1)

15. "My wife's a hobby horse!"

The Winter's Tale (Act 2, Scene 1)

16. "Peace, ye fat guts!"

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 2)

17. "Poisonous bunch-backed toad! "

Richard III (Act 1, Scene 3)

18. "The rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended nostril"

The Merry Wives of Windsor (Act 3, Scene 5)

19. "The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes."

The Comedy of Erros (Act 5, Scene 4)

20. "There's no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune."

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 3, Scene 3)

21. "Thine forward voice, now, is to speak well of thine friend; thine backward voice is to utter foul speeches and to detract."

The Tempest (Act 2, Scene 2)

22. "That trunk of humours, that bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloak-bag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with pudding in his belly, that reverend vice, that grey Iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity in years?"

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

23. "Thine face is not worth sunburning."

Henry V (Act 5, Scene 2)

24. "This woman's an easy glove, my lord, she goes off and on at pleasure."

All's Well That Ends Well (Act 5, Scene 3)

25. "Thou art a boil, a plague sore"

King Lear (Act 2, Scene 2)

26. "Was the Duke a flesh-monger, a fool and a coward?"

Measure For Measure (Act 5, Scene 1)

27. "Thou art as fat as butter."

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

28. "Here is the babe, as loathsome as a toad."

Titus Andronicus (Act 4, Scene 3)

29. "Like the toad; ugly and venomous."

As You Like It (Act 2, Scene 1`)

30. "Thou art unfit for any place but hell."

Richard III (Act 1 Scene 2)

31. "Thou cream faced loon"

Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 3)

32. "Thou clay-brained guts, thou knotty-pated fool, thou whoreson obscene greasy tallow-catch!"

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4 )

33. "Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat."

Henry V (Act 4, Scene 4)

34. "Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog!"

Richard III (Act 1, Scene 3 )

35. "Thou leathern-jerkin, crystal-button, knot-pated, agatering, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish pouch!"

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

36. "Thou lump of foul deformity"

Richard III (Act 1, Scene 2)

37. "That poisonous bunch-back'd toad!"

Richard III (Act 1, Scene 3)

38. "Thou sodden-witted lord! Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows "

Troilus and Cressida (Act 2, Scene 1)

39. "Thou subtle, perjur'd, false, disloyal man!"

The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Act 4, Scene 2)

40. "Thou whoreson zed , thou unnecessary letter!"

King Lear (Act 2, Scene 2 )

41. "Thy sin's not accidental, but a trade."

Shakespeare Insult 45 - Measure For Measure (Act 3, Scene 1)

42. "Thy tongue outvenoms all the worms of Nile."

Cymbeline (Act 3, Scene 4)

43. "Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon"

Timon of Athens (Act 4, Scene 3)

44. "Would thou wouldst burst!"

Timon of Athens (Act 4, Scene 3)

45. "You poor, base, rascally, cheating lack-linen mate! "

Henry IV Part II (Act 2, Scene 4)

46. "You are as a candle, the better burnt out."

Henry IV Part 2 (Act 1, Scene 2)

47. "You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I'll tickle your catastrophe!"

Henry IV Part 2 (Act 2, Scene 1)

48. "You starvelling, you eel-skin, you dried neat's-tongue, you bull's-pizzle, you stock-fish-O for breath to utter what is like thee!-you tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck!"

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

49. "Your brain is as dry as the remainder biscuit after voyage."

Shakespeare Insult 45 - As You Like It (Act 2, Scene 7)

50. "Virginity breeds mites, much like a cheese."

All's Well That Ends Well (Act 1, Scene 1)

51. "Villain, I have done thy mother"

Titus Andronicus (Act 4, Scene 2)

Shakespeare Insult Generator:

Got the hang of Shakespeare's insult style and want to try your own? Have a go using the chart below. Simply combine one word from each of the 3 text columns below, and prefix with a "Thou":

Shakespeare Insult Infographic:

This stunning Shakespeare insult chart was put together by Charley Chartwell. It charts 100 of Shakespeare's greatest zingers, sorted by topic, with each insult labelled with the play it comes from. Size is 18×24 inches, and available to buy here >>

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So you think you know a foul word or two? Check out the ultimate guide to Shakespeare's insults. Shakespeare, even with his insults, put downs and cussing, was most certainly a master of his trade! Read our selection of Shakespeare insults below...

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April 23rd is generally considered to be a good day to celebrate the birth of England's greatest poet and playwright, William Shakespeare. This is partly because there are no records of his birth-although he was baptized on April 26-and partly because he died on April 23 (and April 23 is St. George's day, patron saint of England), so there is a pleasing, almost poetic symmetry about the way the dates line up.

Today is the 450th anniversary of the day Shakespeare was (possibly) born, and in tribute to his astonishing contribution to the English language, it's time to for a challenge. One that will suit all comers, faint-hearted (1) or not.

Below there are 45 common expressions that were either coined by Shakespeare or popularized by him (at this vertiginous historical remove, it's hard to be certain what was created and what was pinched from his immediate surroundings). All you have to do, if you truly love the Bard, is work just five of them into your everyday conversations throughout this live-long day (2).

That's all, just five and then you'll be fancy free (3). And because brevity is the soul of wit (4), we've stuck to the short ones.

The game is afoot (5! See? Easy.):

"All our yesterdays"- ( Macbeth)

"As good luck would have it" - ( The Merry Wives of Windsor)

"As merry as the day is long" - ( Much Ado About Nothing / King John)

"Bated breath" - ( The Merchant of Venice)

"Be-all and the end-all" - ( Macbeth)

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be" - ( Hamlet)

"Brave new world" - ( The Tempest)

"Break the ice" - ( The Taming of the Shrew)

"Brevity is the soul of wit" - ( Hamlet)

"Refuse to budge an inch" - ( Measure for Measure / The Taming of the Shrew)

"Cold comfort" - ( The Taming of the Shrew / King John)

"Conscience does make cowards of us all" - ( Hamlet)

"Crack of doom" - ( Macbeth)

"Dead as a doornail" - ( Henry VI Part II)

"A dish fit for the gods" - ( Julius Caesar)

"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war" - ( Julius Caesar)

"Devil incarnate" - ( Titus Andronicus / Henry V)

"Eaten me out of house and home" - ( Henry IV Part II)

"Faint hearted" - ( Henry VI Part I)

"Fancy-free" - ( A Midsummer Night's Dream)

"Forever and a day" - ( As You Like It)

"For goodness' sake" - ( Henry VIII)

"Foregone conclusion" - ( Othello)

"Full circle" - ( King Lear)

"The game is afoot" - ( Henry IV Part I)

"Give the devil his due" - ( Henry IV Part I)

"Good riddance" - ( Troilus and Cressida)

"Jealousy is the green-eyed monster" - ( Othello)

"Heart of gold" - ( Henry V)

"Hoist with his own petard" - ( Hamlet)

"Ill wind which blows no man to good" - ( Henry IV Part II)

"In my heart of hearts" - ( Hamlet)

"In my mind's eye" - ( Hamlet)

"Kill with kindness" - ( The Taming of the Shrew)

"Knock knock! Who's there?" - ( Macbeth)

"Laughing stock" - ( The Merry Wives of Windsor)

"Live long day" - ( Julius Caesar)

"Love is blind" - ( The Merchant of Venice)

"Milk of human kindness" - ( Macbeth)

"More sinned against than sinning" - ( King Lear)

"One fell swoop" - ( Macbeth)

"Play fast and loose" - ( King John)

"Set my teeth on edge" - ( Henry IV Part I)

"Wear my heart upon my sleeve" - ( Othello)

"Wild-goose chase" - ( Romeo and Juliet)

See more:
Fraser's Phrases: "What The Dickens"
10 Old British Slang Terms That Deserve A Revival
Five Tiny U.S. Phrases With Opposite Meanings In The U.K.
10 Irish Slang Terms Americans Should Adopt

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45 Everyday Phrases Coined By Shakespeare | BBC America

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April 23rd is generally considered to be a good day to celebrate the birth of England's greatest poet and playwright, William Shakespeare. This is partly because there are no records of his birth-although he was baptized on April 26-and partly because he died on April 23 (and April 23 is St.

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Shakespeare as an Actor and His Lost Years

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Shakespeare as an Actor and His Lost Years

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Shakespeare the Actor and Playwright
We know very little about Shakespeare's life during two major spans of time, commonly referred to as the "lost years." The lost years fall into two periods: 1578-82 and 1585-92. The first period covers the time after Shakespeare left grammar school until his marriage to Anne Hathaway in November of 1582. The second period covers the seven years of Shakespeare's life in which he must have been perfecting his dramatic skills and collecting sources for the plots of his plays. "What could such a genius accomplish in this direction during six or eight years? The histories alone must have required unending hours of labor to gather facts for the plots and counter-plots of these stories. When we think of the time he must have spent in reading about the pre-Tudor dynasties, we are at a loss to estimate what a day's work meant to him. Perhaps he was one of those singular geniuses who absorbs books. George Douglas Brown, when discussing Shakespeare, often used to say he knew how to 'pluck the guts' out of a tome" (Neilson 45).

No one knows for certain how Shakespeare first started his career in the theatre, although several London players would visit Stratford regularly, and so, sometime between 1585 and 1592, it is probable that young Shakespeare could have been recruited by the Leicester's or Queen's men. Whether an acting troupe recruited Shakespeare in his hometown or he was forced on his own to travel to London to begin his career, he was nevertheless an established actor in the great city by the end of 1592. In this year came the first reference to Shakespeare in the world of the theatre. The dramatist Robert Greene declared in his death-bed autobiography that "There is an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers heart wrapt in a Players hide supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you; and, being an absolute Johannes Factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country." After Green's death, his editor, Henry Chettle, publicly apologized to Shakespeare in the Preface to his Kind-Heart's Dream:
About three months since died M. Robert Greene, leaving many papers in sundry booksellers' hands, among other his Groatsworth of Wit, in which a letter written to divers play-makers is offensively by one or two of them taken, and because on the dead they cannot be avenged, they willfully forge in their conceits a living author....With neither of them that take offence was I acquainted, and with one of them I care not if I never be. The other, whom at that time I did not so much spare as since I wish I had, for that, as I have moderated the heat of living writers and might have used my own discretion (especially in such a case, the author being dead), that I did not I am as sorry as if the original fault had been my fault, because myself have seen his demeanor no less civil than he excellent in the quality he professes. Besides, the diver of worship have reported his uprightness of dealing, which argues his honesty, and his facetious grace in writing that approves his art.

Such an apology indicates that Shakespeare was already a respected player in London with influential friends and connections. Records also tell us that several of Shakespeare's plays were popular by this time, including Henry VI, The Comedy of Errors, and Titus Andronicus. The company that staged most of the early productions of these plays was Pembroke's Men, sponsored by the Earl of Pembroke, Henry Herbert. The troupe was very popular and performed regularly at the court of Queen Elizabeth. Most critics conclude that Shakespeare spent time as both a writer and an actor for Pembroke's Men before 1592.

The turning point in Shakespeare's career came in 1593. The theatres had been closed since 1592 due to an outbreak of the plague and, although it is possible that Shakespeare toured the outlying areas of London with acting companies like Pembroke's Men or Lord Strange's Men, it seems more likely that he left the theatre entirely during this time to work on his non-dramatic poetry. The hard work paid off, for by the end of 1593, Shakespeare had caught the attention of the Earl of Southampton.

Southampton became Shakespeare's patron, and on April 18, 1593, Venus and Adonis was entered for publication. Shakespeare had made his formal debut as a poet. The dedication Shakespeare wrote to Southampton at the beginning of the poem is impassioned and telling, "phrased with courtly deference" (Rowse 74):
TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE HENRY WRIOTHESLEY, EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON, AND BARON OF TICHFIELD.
RIGHT HONORABLE,

I KNOW not how I shall offend in dedicating my
unpolished lines to your lordship, nor how the world will
censure me for choosing so strong a prop to support so weak a
burden only, if your honour seem but pleased, I account
myself highly praised, and vow to take advantage of all idle
hours, till I have honoured you with some graver labour. But if
the first heir of my invention prove deformed, I shall be
sorry it had so noble a god-father, and never after ear so
barren a land, for fear it yield me still so bad a harvest.
I leave it to your honourable survey, and your honour to your
heart's content; which I wish may always answer your own wish
and the world's hopeful expectation.

Your honour's in all duty,
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

Although there is no concrete proof that Shakespeare had a long and close friendship with Southampton, most scholars agree that this was the case, based on Shakespeare's writings, particularly the early sonnets.

Shakespeare returned to the theatre in 1594, and became a leading member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, formally known as Lord Strange's Men. The manuscript accounts of the treasurer of the royal chamber in the public records office tells us the following:
To William Kempe, William Shakespeare, and Richard Burbage, servants to the Lord Chamberlain, upon the council's warrent dated at Whitehall xv die Marcij 1594 for two several comedies or interludes showed by them before her Majesty in Christmas time last past, viz; upon St. Stephan's day and Innocent's day, xiiij li. vj s. viij d. and by way of her Majesty's reward...
This is proof that Shakespeare had performed with the Chamberlain's Men before Elizabeth I on several occasions. As payment for their performance the actors each received 10 pounds. During his time with the Chamberlain's Men Shakespeare wrote many plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, King John, and Love's Labour's Lost. As G.E. Bentley points out in Shakespeare and the Theatre, Shakespeare had by this time become immersed in his roles as actor and writer. He was "more completely and more continuously involved in theatres and acting companies than any other Elizabethan dramatist. [Shakespeare is] the only one known who not only wrote plays for his company, acted in the plays, and shared the profits, but who was also one of the housekeepers who owned the building. For seventeen years he was one of the owners of the Globe theatre and for eight years he was one of the housekeepers of the company's second theatre, the Blackfriars, as well" (Rowse 128). During the years Shakespeare performed with the Chamberlain's Men, before their purchase of the Globe in 1599, they played primarily at the well-established theatres like the Swan, the Curtain, and the Theatre. The troupe would also give regular performances before Elizabeth I and her court, and tour the surrounding areas of London. Some important events in Shakespeare's personal life also take place during this time period.

The Shakespeares finally received a coat of arms 1596 (see "Shakespeare's Parents" for more information on the coat-of-arms), and on August 11 of the same year, Shakespeare's son, Hamnet, died at the age of eleven. Shakespeare no doubt returned to Stratford for the burial, although we have no documented proof. In 1597, Shakespeare purchased the second largest house in Stratford: New Place. The house stood at the corner of Chapel Lane and Chapel Street, north of the Guild Chapel and right across from the very school he attended in his youth. He bought it from William Underhill for the low price of 60 pounds, and below is the actual deed (translated from the original Latin) transferring New Place from Underhill to Shakespeare on May 4, 1597:
Between William Shakespeare, complainant, and William Underhill, deforciant [wrongful occupier, supposed by the legal fiction on which the fine method of transfer was based to be keeping the complainant out of his rightful property], concerning one dwelling house, two barns, and two gardens with their appurtenances in Stratford-on-Avon, in regard to which a plea of agreement was broached in the same court: Namely, that the said William Underhill acknowledged the said tenements with their appurtenances to be the right of W. Shakespeare as being those which the same William Shakespeare has by gift of the said W. U., and remitted and waived claim to them from himself and his heirs to the said W.S. and his heirs forever....and agreement the same W.S. has given the foresaid W./U. sixty pounds sterling (Brooke 21).
Many theorize that Shakespeare renewed his interest in Stratford only after the death of Hamnet and that, for the many years he was away in London, he neglected his family back home. However, it is just as likely that he made frequent yet unrecorded trips to Stratford while he was trying to find success in London.

How to cite this article:
Mabillard, Amanda.Shakespeare as Actor and Playwright. Shakespeare Online. 12 Nov. 2000. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/shakespeareactor.html >.

References
Brooke, Tucker. Shakespeare of Stratford. New Haven: Yale UP, 1926.
Neilson, Francis. Shakespeare and the Tempest. New Hampshire: Richard C. Smith Inc., 1956.
Rowse, A.L. Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron
King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron
The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron
Going to a Play in Elizabethan London

The Shakespeare Sisterhood - A Gallery
Worst Diseases in Shakespeare's London
Preface to The First Folio

Shakespeare's Pathos - General Introduction
Shakespeare's Portrayal of Childhood
Shakespeare's Portrayal of Old Age
Shakespeare's Attention to Details
Shakespeare's Portrayals of Sleep

Publishing in Elizabethan England
What did Shakespeare drink?
Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama
Publishing in Elizabethan England

Alchemy and Astrology in Shakespeare's Day
Entertainment in Elizabethan England
London's First Public Playhouse
Shakespeare Hits the Big Time Shakespeare the Man. London: Macmillan, 1973.

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More Resources

The Ghost in his Own Hamlet
Scholars believe Shakespeare might have played the title role in Edward I (a play by Edward Peele) in 1593. It is also assumed that Shakespeare played many roles in a variety of his own plays, including Macbeth (King Duncan), As You Like It (Adam), Henry IV (King Henry), and Hamlet (the Ghost of Hamlet's father). Nicholas Rowe, Shakespeare's first biographer, mentioned that Shakespeare's role as "the Ghost in his own Hamlet" was "the top of his performance." Read on...

More to Explore
Shakespeare's Ancestry
Shakespeare's Parents
Shakespeare's Birth
Shakespeare's Sibings

Shakespeare's Education
Shakespeare's Lost Years
Shakespeare's Marriage

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A Striking Allusion... Shakespeare's sonnets, a collection of his personal thoughts not intended for publication, help us understand Shakespeare the man. Sonnet 111 reveals Shakespeare's feelings about his role in the public eye:

O, for my sake do you with Fortune chide,
The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds,
That did not better for my life provide
Than public means which public manners breeds.
"The allusions in this Sonnet to Shakespeare's profession as an actor are not to be doubted. To this cause the poet attributes his errors. Poverty, compelling him to gain a livelihood by catering for public entertainment, was the source of his faults and of the scandal which they had occasioned. He would fain, at almost any cost, purify himself from the stain. He deserves to be pitied by his friend, rather than to be blamed." Thomas Tyler. Read on...

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Shakespeare's Children
Shakespeare's Death
Shakespeare's Burial

Was Shakespeare Italian?
How Many Plays Did Shakespeare Write?
What Did Shakespeare Look Like?

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Hamlet and the Players... In Act 2, Scene 2 of Hamlet (lines 312-349), Shakespeare takes his audience out of Denmark briefly, to allude to some pressing matters in Elizabethan London. Many believe that these are Shakespeare's personal feelings about the state of the Elizabethan theatre at the time. Do you think Shakespeare is using Hamlet to voice his own disdain? Read on...

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Shakespeare's Religion
Shakespeare's Contemporaries: Top Five Greatest
Shakespeare's Audience: The Groundlings
Four Periods of Shakespeare's Life

Shakespeare's Language
Words Shakespeare Invented
Shakespeare's Reputation in Elizabethan England

Shakespeare at the Globe
Shakespeare's Impact on Other Writers
Quotations About William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Boss: The Master of Revels

Daily Life in Shakespeare's London
Life in Stratford (structures and guilds)
Life in Stratford (trades, laws, furniture, hygiene)
Stratford School Days: What Did Shakespeare Read?

Games in Shakespeare's England [A-L]
Games in Shakespeare's England [M-Z]
An Elizabethan Christmas
Clothing in Elizabethan England

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We know very little about Shakespeare's life during two major spans of time, commonly referred to as the "lost years." The lost years fall into two periods: 1578-82 and 1585-92. The first period covers the time after Shakespeare left grammar school until his marriage to Anne Hathaway in November of 1582.

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William Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616, his 52nd birthday. In truth, the exact date of Shakespeare's death is not known, but assumed from a record of his burial two days later, 25 April 1616, at Holy Trinity Church. Stratford Upon Avon, where his grave remains.

When Shakespeare retired from London around 1610, he spent the remainder of his life in Stratford Upon Avon's largest house - New House - which he had purchased as a family home in 1597. It is believed that Shakespeare's death occurred in New House, where he would have been attended by his son-in-law, Dr John Hall, the local physician.

The cause of Shakespeare's death is not known for sure, though there's a commonly held theory that Shakespeare died after contracting a fever after a drinking binge with fellow playwrights Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton. The source of this theory is John Ward, the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in. In 1661, many years after Shakespeare's death, the noted in his diary: "Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting, and it seems drank too hard; for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted." However, most historians agree that given Stratford-upon-Avon's reputation for scandalous stories and rumors in the 17th century this an overblown anecdote with no base in fact.

More convincing is the theory that Shakespeare was sick for over a month before he died. The evidence comes from the fact that on 25 March 1616 (just 4 weeks before his death) Shakespeare dictated his will - in keeping with the 17 th Century tradition of drawing up wills on one's deathbed. This points to the fact that Shakespeare was aware his life was coming to an end. Some scholars also point to his signature on his will being somewhat shaky, giving evidence of his frailty at the time.

Despite all of the theories, the cause of Shakespeare's death at the age of just 52 will likely remain a mystery. But living in Elizabethan England where the average life expectancy was just 35 years, Shakespeare died a grandfather after living a relatively long and healthy life.

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Read about Shakespeare's life >>
Read about Shakespeare timeline >>
Read about Shakespeare biography >>
Read about Shakespeare's early childhood >>
Read about Shakespeare's teenage years >>
Read about Shakespeare's lost years >>
Read about Shakespeare's London years >>
Read about Shakespeare's final years >>
Read about Shakespeare's death >>

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Shakespeare's Death: How Did Shakespeare Die?

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William Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616, his 52nd birthday. In truth, the exact date of Shakespeare's death is not known, but assumed from a record of his burial two days later, 25 April 1616, at Holy Trinity Church. Stratford Upon Avon, where his grave remains.

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William Shakespeare Biography
The Wife of William Shakespeare - Anne Hathaway

THE COURTSHIP OF ANNE HATHAWAY AND WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The hamlet of Shottery was only a mile from the town of Stratford where William Shakespeare lived with his family. Anne Hathaway would have often visited the town and would have therefore had the opportunity to meet William Shakespeare. At this time Anne would have been 26 and William 18. A considerable age difference, with William Shakespeare still under the age of consent (21). It is apparent that Anne Hathaway became pregnant prior to marriage which would have no doubt caused a scandal for both of the families. Not an auspicious start for a marriage or a perfect choice of a wife for the son of an ambitious family. William Shakespeare's father John, in particular, would not have been pleased at the detrimental effect that the gossip would have had on his own social standing in Stratford. A hasty affair would have been arranged.
THE LEGAL DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE MARRIAGEThe recordings in the Episcopal register at Worcester on November 27th 1582 and November 27th 1582

show that William Shakespeare wanted to marry a girl named Anne. The confusion begins. Both days have different entries. November 27th 1582 the issue of a marriage license to one Wm Shakespeare stating the following: Anno Domini 1582...Novembris...27 die eiusdem mensis. Item eodem die supradicto
emanavit Licentia inter Wm Shaxpere et Annam Whateley de Temple Grafton. On 28 November, 1582, two husbandmen of Stratford, named Sandells and Richardson, became sureties for 40 in the consistory court of Worcester to free the bishop from liability in case of lawful impediment, by pre-contract or consanguinity, to the marriage of William Shagspeare and Anne Hathwey which might proceed hereupon with only one publication of banns. The episcopal register records the marriage bond granted to one Wm Shakespeare stating that the condition of this obligation is such that if hereafter there shall not appear any lawful let, or impediment by reason, of any precontract, consanguinity, affinity or by any other lawful means whatsoever, that William Shagspere and Anne Hathwey may lawfully solemnize matrimony together... The documents apparently refer to two different women; Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton and Anne Hathwey of Stratford. The interpretation of these documents have led to all sorts of speculation. Was Shakespeare involved with two women, both called by the same first name? Did he intend to marry Miss Whateley but as soon as the license was issued did Anne Hathaway intervene saying that she was pregnant? Did he really love Miss Whateley but was forced to marry Miss Hathwey due to her pregnancy? Or was the name simply entered incorrectly on the first document? Or was she in fact a widow and therefore known by either Whateley or Hathwey ( Hathaway ) by local people?

ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE WEDDING
From the will of her late father it seems that Anne Hathaway brought a dowry to the marriage. A dowry was an amount of money, goods, and property that the bride would bring to the marriage. It was also referred to as her marriage portion. The arrangements for the wedding of Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare would have been with the local church. Weddings were always a religious ceremony, conducted by a minister. There were no Registry Office marriages or marriages conducted by a Justice of the Peace. The first stage was Crying the Banns, announcing a couples intention to marry. The same procedure still applies to Church marriages in England today. The intention to marry must be announced in the church three times on three consecutive Sundays or holy days. This allows time for any objections to be raised or pre-contracts to be discovered. Any marriage not published before hand was considered clandestine and illegal. An alternative, faster, route to legalising a ceremony required a marriage bond which acted as security and proof to a bishop that the issue of a marriage licence was lawful with a sworn statement that there were no pre-contracts. The existence of such a marriage bond would require only one reading of the Banns, thus speeding the marriage process.

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Biography - The Wife of William Shakespeare Marriage to Anne Hathaway

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Visit this William Shakespeare site including information about his wife and marriage to Anne Hathaway. Educational resource for William Shakespeare about his wife and marriage to Anne Hathaway. Comprehensive facts in the William Shakespeare biography about his wife and marriage to Anne Hathaway.

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The birth place and date of William Shakespeare

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The birth place and date of William Shakespeare

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shakespeare's baptism birth of william shakepear

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Everything we know about Shakespeare's birth and baptism.

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Synopsis of the life of William Shakespeare

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Synopsis of the life of 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 company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward.

Known throughout the world, Shakespeare's writings capture the range of human emotion and conflict and have been celebrated for more than 400 years. And yet, the personal life of William Shakespeare is somewhat a mystery.

There are two primary sources that provide historians with an outline of his life. One is his work - the plays, poems and sonnets - and the other is official documentation such as church and court records. However, these provide only brief sketches of specific events in his life and yield little insight into the man himself.

When Was Shakespeare Born?

No birth records exist, but an old church record indicates that a William Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, 1564. From this, it is believed he was born on or near April 23, 1564, and this is the date scholars acknowledge as Shakespeare's birthday.

Located about 100 miles northwest of London, during Shakespeare's time Stratford-upon-Avon was a bustling market town along the River Avon and bisected by a country road.

Family

Shakespeare was the third child of John Shakespeare, a leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a local landed heiress. Shakespeare had two older sisters, Joan and Judith, and three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard and Edmund.

Before Shakespeare's birth, his father became a successful merchant and held official positions as alderman and bailiff, an office resembling a mayor. However, records indicate John's fortunes declined sometime in the late 1570s.

Childhood and Education

Scant records exist of Shakespeare's childhood and virtually none regarding his education. Scholars have surmised that he most likely attended the King's New School, in Stratford, which taught reading, writing and the classics.

Being a public official's child, Shakespeare would have undoubtedly qualified for free tuition. But this uncertainty regarding his education has led some to raise questions about the authorship of his work (and even about whether or not Shakespeare really existed).

Wife and Children

Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582, in Worcester, in Canterbury Province. Hathaway was from Shottery, a small village a mile west of Stratford. Shakespeare was 18 and Anne was 26, and, as it turns out, pregnant.

Their first child, a daughter they named Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. Two years later, on February 2, 1585, twins Hamnet and Judith were born. Hamnet later died of unknown causes at age 11.

Shakespeare's Lost Years

There are seven years of Shakespeare's life where no records exist after the birth of his twins in 1585. Scholars call this period the "lost years," and there is wide speculation on what he was doing during this period.

One theory is that he might have gone into hiding for poaching game from the local landlord, Sir Thomas Lucy. Another possibility is that he might have been working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire.

It's generally believed he arrived in London in the mid- to late 1580s and may have found work as a horse attendant at some of London's finer theaters, a scenario updated centuries later by the countless aspiring actors and playwrights in Hollywood and Broadway.

The King's Men

By the early 1590s, documents show Shakespeare was a managing partner in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, an acting company in London with which he was connected for most of his career.

Considered the most important troupe of its time, the company changed its name to the King's Men following the crowning of King James I in 1603. From all accounts, the King's Men company was very popular. Records show that Shakespeare had works published and sold as popular literature.

Although the theater culture in 16th century England was not highly admired by people of high rank, some of the nobility were good patrons of the performing arts and friends of the actors.

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Actor and Playwright

By 1592, there is evidence Shakespeare earned a living as an actor and a playwright in London and possibly had several plays produced.

The September 20, 1592 edition of the Stationers' Register (a guild publication) includes an article by London playwright Robert Greene that takes a few jabs at Shakespeare: "...There is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country," Greene wrote of Shakespeare.

Scholars differ on the interpretation of this criticism, but most agree that it was Greene's way of saying Shakespeare was reaching above his rank, trying to match better known and educated playwrights like Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe or Greene himself.

Early in his career, Shakespeare was able to attract the attention of Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated his first and second published poems: "Venus and Adonis" (1593) and "The Rape of Lucrece" (1594).

By 1597, Shakespeare had already written and published 15 of his 37 plays. Civil records show that at this time he purchased the second-largest house in Stratford, called New House, for his family.

It was a four-day ride by horse from Stratford to London, so it's believed that Shakespeare spent most of his time in the city writing and acting and came home once a year during the 40-day Lenten period, when the theaters were closed.

Globe Theater

By 1599, Shakespeare and his business partners built their own theater on the south bank of the Thames River, which they called the Globe Theater.

In 1605, Shakespeare purchased leases of real estate near Stratford for 440 pounds, which doubled in value and earned him 60 pounds a year. This made him an entrepreneur as well as an artist, and scholars believe these investments gave him the time to write his plays uninterrupted.

Shakespeare's Writing Style

Shakespeare's early plays were written in the conventional style of the day, with elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases that didn't always align naturally with the story's plot or characters.

However, Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the traditional style to his own purposes and creating a freer flow of words.

With only small degrees of variation, Shakespeare primarily used a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse, to compose his plays. At the same time, there are passages in all the plays that deviate from this and use forms of poetry or simple prose.

William Shakespeare: Plays

While it's difficult to determine the exact chronology of Shakespeare's plays, over the course of two decades, from about 1590 to 1613, he wrote a total of 37 plays revolving around several main themes: histories, tragedies, comedies and tragicomedies.

Early Works: Histories and Comedies

With the exception of the tragic love story Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's first plays were mostly histories. Henry VI (Parts I, II and III), Richard II and Henry V dramatize the destructive results of weak or corrupt rulers and have been interpreted by drama historians as Shakespeare's way of justifying the origins of the Tudor Dynasty.

Julius Caesar portrays upheaval in Roman politics that may have resonated with viewers at a time when England's aging monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, had no legitimate heir, thus creating the potential for future power struggles.

Shakespeare also wrote several comedies during his early period: the whimsical A Midsummer Night's Dream, the romantic Merchant of Venice, the wit and wordplay of Much Ado About Nothing and the charming As You Like It and Twelfth Night.

Other plays written before 1600 include Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew, Love's Labour's Lost, King John, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry V.

Works after 1600: Tragedies and Tragicomedies

It was in Shakespeare's later period, after 1600, that he wrote the tragedies Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. In these, Shakespeare's characters present vivid impressions of human temperament that are timeless and universal.

Possibly the best known of these plays is Hamlet, which explores betrayal, retribution, incest and moral failure. These moral failures often drive the twists and turns of Shakespeare's plots, destroying the hero and those he loves.

In Shakespeare's final period, he wrote several tragicomedies. Among these are Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest. Though graver in tone than the comedies, they are not the dark tragedies of King Lear or Macbeth because they end with reconciliation and forgiveness.

Other plays written during this period include All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Timon of Athens, Coriolanus, Pericles and Henry VIII.

When Did Shakespeare Die?

Tradition holds that Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday, April 23, 1616, but some scholars believe this is a myth. Church records show he was interred at Trinity Church on April 25, 1616.

The exact cause of Shakespeare's death is unknown, though many believe he died following a brief illness.

In his will, he left the bulk of his possessions to his eldest 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." This has drawn speculation that she had fallen out of favor, or that the couple was not close.

However, there is very little evidence the two had a difficult marriage. Other scholars note that the term "second-best bed" often refers to the bed belonging to the household's master and mistress - the marital bed - and the "first-best bed" was reserved for guests.

Did Shakespeare Write His Own Plays?

About 150 years after his death, questions arose about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. Scholars and literary critics began to float names like Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere and Francis Bacon - men of more known backgrounds, literary accreditation, or inspiration - as the true authors of the plays.

Much of this stemmed from the sketchy details of Shakespeare's life and the dearth of contemporary primary sources. Official records from the Holy Trinity Church and the Stratford government record the existence of a Shakespeare, but none of these attest to him being an actor or playwright.

Skeptics also questioned how anyone of such modest education could write with the intellectual perceptiveness and poetic power that is displayed in Shakespeare's works. Over the centuries, several groups have emerged that question the authorship of Shakespeare's plays.

The most serious and intense skepticism began in the 19th century when adoration for Shakespeare was at its highest. The detractors believed that the only hard evidence surrounding Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon described a man from modest beginnings who married young and became successful in real estate.

Members of the Shakespeare Oxford Society (founded in 1957) put forth arguments that English aristocrat and poet Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of the poems and plays of "William Shakespeare."

The Oxfordians cite de Vere's extensive knowledge of aristocratic society, his education, and the structural similarities between his poetry and that found in the works attributed to Shakespeare. They contend that Shakespeare had neither the education nor the literary training to write such eloquent prose and create such rich characters.

However, the vast majority of Shakespearean scholars contend that Shakespeare wrote all his own plays. They point out that other playwrights of the time also had sketchy histories and came from modest backgrounds.

They contend that Stratford's New Grammar School curriculum of Latin and the classics could have provided a good foundation for literary writers. Supporters of Shakespeare's authorship argue that the lack of evidence about Shakespeare's life doesn't mean his life didn't exist. They point to evidence that displays his name on the title pages of published poems and plays.

Examples exist of authors and critics of the time acknowledging Shakespeare as the author of plays such as The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors and King John.

Royal records from 1601 show that Shakespeare was recognized as a member of the King's Men theater company and a Groom of the Chamber by the court of King James I, where the company performed seven of Shakespeare's plays.

There is also strong circumstantial evidence of personal relationships by contemporaries who interacted with Shakespeare as an actor and a playwright.

Literary Legacy

What seems to be true is that Shakespeare was a respected man of the dramatic arts who wrote plays and acted in some in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. But his reputation as a dramatic genius wasn't recognized until the 19th century.

Beginning with the Romantic period of the early 1800s and continuing through the Victorian period, acclaim and reverence for Shakespeare and his work reached its height. In the 20th century, new movements in scholarship and performance have rediscovered and adopted his works.

Today, his plays are highly popular and constantly studied and reinterpreted in performances with diverse cultural and political contexts. The genius of Shakespeare's characters and plots are that they present real human beings in a wide range of emotions and conflicts that transcend their origins in Elizabethan England.

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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor of the Renaissance era. He was an important member of the King's Men company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward. Known throughout the world, Shakespeare's writings capture the range of human emotion and conflict and have been celebrated for more than 400 years.