William Shakespeare Research Paper

905 Words4 Pages

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-avon, England April 23,1564. William Shakespeare was born in a small market town. He is the third of eight children. His mother, born Mary Arden, was the daughter of a landowner from a neighboring village. His father, John Shakespeare, son of a farmer, was a glove maker and trader in farm produce. At the age of seven William Shakespeare attended school at the Stratford grammar school. Shakespeare studied Latin grammar during his early years and then went on to study of logic, rhetoric, composition, oration, versification, and the monuments of roman literature like other Elizabethan schoolboys. Shakespeare discontinues his education at Stratford Grammar School when about 13 to help his father in 1578. He …show more content…

The companies had aristocratic patrons, and the players were mostly servants of nobles that got sponsored by them. The companies were commercial operations that relied on selling tickets to the general public for income. Some connections between Shakespeare’s plays and the number of plays were performed by the Queen’s Men, a company that played in Stratford in 1587. By 1594 Shakespeare was fully engaged in his career. In that year, Shakespeare became the principal writer for the successful Lord Chamberlain’s Men. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men were one of the most popular companies in London. Shakespeare’s position was a sharer allowed him to achieve a level of financial success unmatched by other dramatists of the age, many who lived in poverty. Shakespeare maintained a relationship with a single company. London authorities closed the theaters because of repeated outbreaks of the plague. Without earnings provided by acting and playwriting, Shakespeare turned to poetry. When the theaters reopened, Shakespeare returned to acting and …show more content…

The ruler of the political system at the time was Elizabeth the First. Many opposed Elizabeth for her decision to never marry. The nobility and merchants were in the political system. Elizabeth the First had reigned unmarried and without an heir for 45 years, but without a male heir the same secession crisis that brought her to the throne hung over her entire reign. The society in Shakespeare’s time was divided by class. The first class were the nobility, which were the richest people, who were the lords and ladies in Shakespeare’s time. Below them were the gentry, they were knights, esquires, gentlemen, and gentlewomen who did not work with their hands. They were not noble, but they became gentry by owning their own land and being wealthy. The middle class were the merchants, craftsmen, and the yeomen which were farmers that owned their own land. Shakespeare was from this class because his father was a glove maker. The lower class were the poor. They worked as servants or as labourers. The poor were responsible for each parish. The poor were not allowed to leave the parish and if they did they would have gotten punished. Some of Shakespeare’s plays had all of the

Open Document