A Frame of William Shakespeare's Life: Timeline
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”
(from As You Like It, spoken by Jaques)
William Shakespeare is regarded as Britain’s, and perhaps the world’s, most important writer. While some may disagree with this, it is certain that this highly influential poet and playwright had a gift for language. Shakespeare’s work was much loved by a wide range of people in his time, and it has continued to influence all kinds of audiences since his death. We can call him as universal playwriters.
A start in Stratford-Upon-Av
He was born into a provincial middle class family in the town of Stratford-Upon-Avon in Warwickshire. His father was a glove-maker, who served as Stratford’s mayor, but also descended into serious debt. Shakespeare was the third of eight children. Three siblings died young and only one outlived him. Shakespeare probably received a good classical education at the town’s grammar school—his work is full of classical references. This early experience could have sparked off his later interest in theater. He married Anne Hathaway and left his family behind around 1590 and moved to London, where he became an actor and playwright. He was an immediate success: Shakespeare soon became the most popular playwright of the day as well as a part-owner of the Globe Theater. He had three children, one of whom died in childhood—some say that passages in Twelfth Night reflect this tragedy.
The King’s Man
Shakespeare appeared in London in the 1590s as a well-established actor-dramatist. By the early 1600s, Shakespeare and his plays were leading the King’s Men (named after their patron King James I) to triumph as England’s greatest theater company. Shakespeare was now mixing with everyone from royalty to the era’s leading dramatists. From the 1590s, Shakespeare produced many plays, as well as his beautiful sonnets. Born into the culturally rich Elizabethan age, with influences including the ancient classics and traditional English folk and mystery plays, Shakespeare made the most of his sources. His settings ranged from the ancient world of Anthony and Cleopatra to the contemporary Danish court of tragic Hamlet.
His plays include: histories such as Henry V and Richard III; comedies such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It, and more complex comedies such as All’s Well that Ends Well and Measure for Measure; the great tragic plays, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and King Lear; the Greek and Roman works, including Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra; and the mature tragi-comedies at the close of his career, such as The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest.
Shakespeare explored the spirit of his times and the human condition in a newly approachable way, using language to conjure varied moods and control complex plots full of mistaken identities and misunderstandings. He is admired for his probing psychological studies (unusual at the time) of complex characters. His work often contains a central character with a fatal flaw that causes their downfall, an idea common to ancient classical philosophy and writing. Othello’s jealousy is just one example of this.
Mysterious to the end
Many mysteries have connected themselves to Shakespeare’s life. His early years may have seen him fleeing to London to escape a deer-poaching charge. He may have been a secret lover of the “Dark Lady” of his sonnets, whose identity has also been hotly debated. Many have even indicated that he did not indeed pen his plays and this has become a contentious issue. Others believe that he collaborated with the likes of Ben Jonson, Sir Francis Bacon, Edward de Vere, and Sir Walter Raleigh.
“He was not of an age, but for all time!”
■ April 26, 1564 Shakespeare is baptized at Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, as the first son of Mary Arden and John Shakespeare, glover and burgess.
■ 1570s Shakespeare most likely attends Stratford’s grammar school, the King’s New School, where he would have taken part in the classical rhetorical declamation (the art of using speech to persuade an audience), which was part of a good education in his day. He probably watches traveling theater shows with his father. John Shakespeare gets involved in dubious trade dealings and serious debt, and drops down the social scale.
■ 1582 An 18-year-old Shakespeare gets married—very probably to Anne Hathaway.
■ 1583–85 Shakespeare and his wife have a daughter, Susanna (1583) and twins, Hamnet and Judith (1585).
■ 1590 It is thought he starts writing plays.
■ c.1591–1595 Shakespeare writes the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III.
■ 1592 A pamphlet provides evidence that Shakespeare is established as an actor-dramatist in London.
■ June 1592–94 London’s theaters close due to plague, causing a temporary break to Shakespeare’s career.
■ 1595 Shakespeare has a share in the theater company known as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (founded in 1594). The company performs plays by leading dramatists of the time, including Ben Jonson, and gives most of Shakespeare’s plays their first outing.
■ 1596 John Shakespeare is granted a coat of arms, probably testifying to his son’s success by this time.
■ 1597 Shakespeare buys an impressive house in Stratford called New Place.
■ 1599 Cuthbert Burbage builds the Globe Theatre at Bankside, Southwark; most of Shakespeare’s plays from this point onward premiere here.
■ 1603 Elizabeth I dies and James I ascends to the throne. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men become known as the King’s Men, under the direct patronage of the King.
■ 1609–11 Writes his more mature plays: The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline, and The Tempest.
■ 1613 The Globe burns down. Shakespeare buys a property in Blackfriars, home of the Blackfriars Theatre, where the King’s Men perform during winters as the Globe is roofless.
■ 1614 A rebuilt Globe reopens for business.
■ April 23, 1616 Dies at Stratford-upon-Avon, possibly as a result of a heavy drinking session, and is buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.
