William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s preeminent dramatist. He wrote approximately 38 plays and over 150 sonnets during his lifetime. Shakespeare’s works have been translated into every major language and are performed more than any other playwright’s. His influence extends from theatre and literature to present-day movies, western philosophy, and modern English idioms. Relatively little is known about Shakespeare’s life, and what details are available often raise more questions than answers. With such little surviving contemporary information, research and analysis about Shakespeare has remained a very active area of academic scholarship. This introduction will provide context on Shakespeare’s life and times, highlight areas that remain uncertain or disputed amongst scholars, and set the stage for the research paper to follow.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England in 1564 to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. Very few verifiable details of Shakespeare’s life come from archives and records of the time. We know that he likely attended Stratford Grammar School as a boy, where he would have studied Latin literature and rhetoric. School attendance was not compulsory, and many scholars point out that the education offered may not have been sufficient to impart Shakespeare’s demonstrated vast literacy and evident familiarity with various subjects. It is uncertain what occupations or career path he pursued between leaving school and rising to fame, often referred to as his “lost years.” Traditionally, it was thought that he worked as a schoolmaster in the countryside, but most modern scholars find this unlikely. In 1582, at about age 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was 26 years old and pregnant with their daughter Susanna. Less than two years later, the unmarried Stratford couple had twins, Hamnet and Judith.
In 1585, at age 21, Shakespeare left his family behind in Stratford. The reason for this abrupt change and his activities in the following years in London remain unknown and are usually inferred based on available evidence. There are no surviving records of Shakespeare’s occupations or associates from this time. Modern scholars are certain that by 1592 he had achieved enough success and reputation in London to incur the animosity of the playwright Robert Greene. In his pamphlet Greene’s Groatsworth of Wit, Greene warns his fellow writers against imitating “an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger’s heart wrapped in a Player’s hide supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you.” While not by name, this is almost unanimously accepted as the earliest reference to Shakespeare as a playwright. It seems clear he was already making inroads both as a writer and actor.
By 1594, Shakespeare had become a principal playwright and shareholder of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (which would later become the King’s Men when King James I ascended the throne in 1603). His works began being published in the late 1590s. Scholars group Shakespeare’s plays into three distinct periods by literary style and theatrical venues: early plays through 1594 focused on history, comedy, and performed in Shoreditch indoor theaters; middle plays 1595-1601 focused on tragedy and performed at the Globe theater built in 1599; later romances from 1602 focused on tragicomedy and romance published in the First Folio of 1623. Although not a member of the nobility, Shakespeare was well connected to the royal court through his successful theater troupe and became a very affluent member of Stratford’s society by the late 1590s. In 1597, he purchased New Place, the second-largest house in Stratford, and a family coat of arms was granted in 1599. Following his remarkable prolific career, Shakespeare retired to Stratford around 1611-1613, at age 47, where he died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52.
Despite his lasting fame and influence, many intriguing mysteries remain about William Shakespeare’s life and career based on the sparse factual records that survive. Uncertainties continue to generate much ongoing analysis and debate among scholars. Three areas of particular interest and disagreement are: his religious beliefs and lack of dedications to his works; what prompted his departure from Stratford at age 21 and activities during the so-called “lost years”; as well as the authorship question raised by a very small minority of skeptics across history. On the first point, most scholars believe Shakespeare to have been a conforming member of the Church of England, not declaring strong religious views that could have offended patrons. Others point to subversive spiritual themes in works like Hamlet and King Lear as evidence Shakespeare may not have been orthodox.
Regarding his lost years, popular old legends reemerged in his own time asserted he worked variously as a butcher, teacher or lawyer. The historical record states none of these occupations can be proven, leaving much space for speculation. A widely discussed theory is that he fled Stratford to escape consequences of poaching deer on local aristocrat land as a trespasser, though this also remains uncertain. Lastly, only a tiny minority starting in the late 19th century have claimed someone else must have actually written works attributed to Shakespeare based on various analyses of style, language usage, or theory no man from Stratford could have achieved such literary heights. The overwhelming consensus dismisses these arguments, believing countless allusions across hundreds of contemporary documents that refer to Shakespeare as a playwright and poet show beyond reasonable doubt the body of work is authentic to the man from Stratford.
Overall, while firmly established as one of humanity’s greatest creative geniuses, mystery and debates still persist around William Shakespeare the man due to the lack of reliable documents from his era. This analysis has hopefully provided useful context on what is definitively known and area of continued open inquiry and scholarship around Shakespeare’s life that could be explored further in this research paper. The next steps would analyze in more depth a particular aspect of interest, such as his relationship to religion and spiritual ideas, reconstructing the so-called “lost years,” or evaluating common counterarguments against Shakespeare’s authorship. By delving deeper into an area that remains open to scholarly investigation and debate, this paper aims to offer a fresh contribution expanding our understanding and appreciation of the iconic bard.
Andrew Stroud