This is the essay for the 27th week of the 7th Grade Ron Paul Curriculum. It’s about William Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. Nobody knows exactly when Shakespeare was born, but is close to April 26, 1564. This is when Shakespeare was officially baptized. Historians believe he was born on April 23, 1564. This is agreed to be the date that Shakespeare was born in. Shakespeare was the 3 child of John Shakespeare and Mary Arben. Shakespeare had 2 older sisters and three younger brothers. There was Joan, Judith, Gilbert, Richard, and Edmund. Shakespeare went to school at King’s New School where he had a pretty basic education.

Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 years old. He had 3 children. Their first child was a daughter named Susanna was born in May 1582. Two years later Shakespeare had twins Hamnet and Judith in February 1584. Unfortunately, Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11. There is another period in Shakespeare’s life when nobody knew what he was doing. After the birth of the twins, there is a 7 year dark age. Nobody knows what he was doing. There have been several theories about what he was doing. But there just theories no proof.

In 1592 the dark age ended when there was evidence that Shakespeare was an actor and playwright in London. He started working with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. This was a popular play company in London. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men was the only company publishing Shakespeare’s famous plays, so it became even more famous. Shakespeare’s plays were being sold as literature In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain’s Men built their own theatre. The globe theatre next to the Thames. This is where they practiced their plays. In 1603 the king of England James I awarded the company a royal patent. Due to this, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men changed its name to the King’s Men.

 

Shakespeare made different types of plays.

First are Comedies. Instead of having a bunch of jokes like nowadays, it was a light story with a happy ending.

Second are Histories. It is a play about a real-life person.

Third are tragedies. Tragedies are sad stories with sad endings.

Last are Tragicomedies or Romances. Tragicomedies were complex stories with a usually happy ending, but sometimes also sad.

 

Shakespeare died of a fever in April 1616. Shakespeare has been remembered as one of the best playwrights in history. His plays have influenced famous writers, like Herman Melville. But there has been debate over historians if Shakespeare even made his own plays. People think that somebody else wrote the plays and Shakespeare was just a cover name. The reason they think this is because Shakespeare had a pretty average education and wouldn’t have been able to create plays of this level. Historians suggest that either the 17th, Earl of Oxford, the 6th Earl of Derby, Francis Bacon or Christopher Marlowe wrote the plays.