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Apr 23, 1564
Birth
William Shakespeare was born in the town of Stratford. His parents were Mary and John Arden Shakespeare. William Shakespeare was the fourth born out of eight. On April 26,1564 Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford (Stuart 142). -
Jan 1, 1570
School
Shakespeare went to school at the New Kings School in Stratford. Historians say Shakespeare started school around the age of 6 or 7. Historians also say that he had an excellent education in latin grammer, study of logic, and composition ("William Shakespeare"). -
London
Shakespeare decided to leave his home town of Stratford and move to London. The main reason why Shakespeare moved was that he wanted to pursue his acting and playwright career in London. He left his family home in Stratford while he was away. But this all paid off because he wrote some of his best pieces there (Fox 41). -
Comedy
Shakespeare went through a period of time whe he wrote many comedies. This period of time lasted a couple of years. His second comedy he wrote was "The Two Gentalmen of Verona" in 1591. Some of his more famous comdies were "Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Much Ado about Nothing" (Stuart 143). -
Shakespeare's Enemy
Robert Greene was known as Shakespeare's enemy. He would pick on Shakespeare and call him names like up-start crow. Robert Greene would also say Shakespeare was lacking originality because Shakespeare would get his ideas from events or other plays ("Shakespeare"). -
Plague
All theaters were closed down because the plague was spreding throughout the whole town. About five percent of the towns population was gone becasue so many were dying. Shakespeare used this time wisly and started to write poetry (Shakespeare"). -
Romeo an Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedy. This play was so popular that it was published twice in Shakespeare's life and back then that was a big deal. Romeo and Juliet is considered his most accessible work (Stuart 144). -
Reopen
Theaters reopened to the public after the disease went away. During this time Shakespeare and his group called the chamberlain men became more popular. This group moved on to do many performances for people including Queen Elizabeth I (Frye 55). -
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was bulit by the chamberlain men. The theatre was all wooden and was where some of the most famous plays were performed. The creation of this theatre was important to the chamberlain men because this was the first time actors owned a theatre in which they performed in (Frye 55). -
Hamlet
Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and among the most powerful and influential tragedies in English literature.The play was one of Shakespeare's most popular works during his lifetime. This was also around the same time Shakesperes father died ("William Shakespeare"). -
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth died due to blood poisoning. She was 70 years old when she passed. Due to her passing this left King James to the throne. Today Queen Elizabeth is know as one of England's greatest monarchs (Fox 21). -
Kings Men
The chamberlain men were renamed the Kings men. This group of people began tp perform at Blackfairs, a theater in London. When performing in this theater Shakespeare began to write in more of a lighter tone then what he normally writes (Mabillard). -
Returns
Shakespeare returns to his hometown in Stratford and is reunited with his family. While he was in Stratford he signed his will because we was sick. This was also the time when Shakespeare retired ("Shakespeare"). -
Fire
Just after 14 years of the Globe theater being built it was burnt down. This happened durning one of Shakespeares performances. It was said that after a cannon shot off it left a spark which caused the whole theater to burn down (Mabillard). -
Reputation
Just before Shakespeare died his reputation grew quickly. People bcame amazed at his pieces of work. The plays he put on were always ambitious and impressive (Stuart 143,145). -
Death
Shakespeare died at age 52 on his birthday. Historians haven't been able to discover what disease he died from. Later Shakespeare was buried in Holy Trinity Church, the church where he was baptized when he was born (Frye 111).
