He was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire. This coincided with the feast of
Saint George, the patron saint of England. He was baptized on April 26. His father, John, was a glove
maker and wool merchant who achieved a certain importance in public life: he was also Bailiff of Stratford
(that is, mayor). His mother, Mary Arden, came from a prominent country family.
As a young boy, Shakespeare almost certainly attended the grammar school in Stratford. He would have
started at the age of 6 or 7, studying rhetoric, poetry, Latin and some Greek. In November 1582, at the age
of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older than him. At the time of the wedding, Anne
was already pregnant, and their first daughter, Susanna, was born in May 1583. In February 1585, twins
were born, Judith and Hamnet. (Hamnet, who had the same name as Shakespeare’s most famous
character, Hamlet – the two names were variants – died at 11 years old, in 1596.)It was probably during
that period that Shakespeare decided to move to London to work in the theatre. In fact, from the birth of the
twins in 1585 until 1592, when he is mentioned in a book by another playwright, we have no certain news
about where he was. These are the so-called “lost years.”
Already in 1592, Shakespeare was active in London as an actor and playwright.In those early years, he
experimented with two genres that were very popular at the time: light romantic comedy and a Roman
tragedy full of blood and atrocities, what we would now call “pulp fiction.” He also tried a comedy of
classical inspiration, based on the Latin playwright Plautus.
A new outbreak of plague in 1592 led to the closure of theatres for about two years.During that time away
from the stage, Shakespeare quickly built a reputation as a poet thanks to two long mythological poems. In
1594, however, the plague subsided and the theatres reopened: it was time for Will to return to the theatre.
In 1594, Lord Hunsdon, Lord Chamberlain of Queen Elizabeth (one of the three main officials of the Royal
Household), formed a new company of actors: the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Shakespeare was part of
it.The Chamberlain’s Men performed at the Theatre in Shoreditch, north of the walls of the City of London,
or at Court during the Christmas festivities.
Shakespeare was a great asset to the company, bringing with him his old plays and writing on average two
new ones each year. In return, the company gave him a stable position and financial independence,
especially after he became a sharer, that is, a partner in the company (he received one tenth of the
theatre’s profits). This allowed him to buy New Place, the second most important house in Stratford, as well
as land and a coat of arms for his family.Shakespeare was the most successful playwright of his time. He
excelled in all the theatrical genres in vogue: comedies, tragedies and history plays. At the end of the
century, the Chamberlain’s Men moved to a new theatre, the one that has since been associated with
Shakespeare’s name: the Globe.
When James I succeeded Elizabeth in 1603, the fortunes of Shakespeare’s company further improved. The
new king loved the theatre and wanted to take Shakespeare’s company under his protection: as a result,
they changed their name to the King’s Men. Shakespeare paid tribute to James (who came from Scotland,
where he was still king under the name James VI) with a Scottish play, Macbeth, which celebrated one of
the king’s mythical ancestors, Banquo.
From 1603 to 1608, Shakespeare wrote and staged many of his most tragic stories, the so-called “great
tragedies”: Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra. These are very intense stories that present
a bleak view of life.
During this period, the Globe, an open-air public theatre, was used in summer, while in winter the company
performed at the Blackfriars Theatre, an indoor private theatre. Although much smaller, the private theatre
attracted a more select audience and generated income equal to or even greater than that of the open-air
theatres.
