Wherever we go today, we just can’t seem to get away from him. He is in movies, in the theater, even on TV. Whether modernized or set back in Elizabethan times, his influence is everywhere in the things we use for our entertainment. We think we know who he really was, what his life has all about. He almost seems immortal in our eyes. Who was William Shakespeare? Who was this man we still have placed on a pedestal almost four thousand years after he lived? Was he really the man that Hollywood glamorized? Shakespeare’s life, work and controversies come together to form our beliefs of who this great writerreally is. William Shakespeare is clouded with mystery. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England in 1564. Although his exact birth date is not know, there is a record of his baptism on April 26, 1954 (Kay 13). His date of birth would have fallen shortly before that day. He was born to John Shakespeare and his wife, Mary Arden and was the oldest of three sons. He also had four sisters. Shakespeare was educated at the local grammar school. Other than that, there really is not much known about Shakespeare’s youth. The next concrete piece of evidence about Shakespeare’s life is his marriage to Anne Hathawayin November 1582, when he was just eighteen years old. It was a marriage of inconvenience. Anne was eight years older than he was and pregnant at the time so they had no choice but to marry. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born in 1583 and twins Hamnet and Judith were born in 1585. Shakespeare is said to have felt trapped by this marriage. Soon after he left for London. That is where he stayed until he returned to Stratford in 1610 for the last few years of his life. He died April 23, 1616. After his death, none of his personal papers or books survived or their whereabouts are unknown. It is not know when exactly Shakespeare arrived inLondon. It is speculate...
