The Life Of William Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet)

Angelique Earley

Block B

His Family Tree

His Life

William Shakespeare was born the child of John and Mary Shakespeare in April, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. There has been some confusion on the day that he was born because the actual day was not recorded. Some say that April 23 was given to him because that was the day he was baptized, and some say that it was given to him because he died on that same day 52 years latter. Some also think that the 23 of April was given to him as his birth date because that is St. George's day, the patron saint of England. But no matter what you believe, it has become April 23, 1564.

Timeline of His Life

· 1555-1564/John and Mary Shakespeare have two daughters who die while they are still babies.

· 1564/William Shakespeare is born to John and Mary Shakespeare in the town of Stratford Upon Avon.

· Approximately 1570/William begins grammar school.

· Approximately 1572/John Shakespeare takes his son, William, to see a play being performed in the town where they live.

· 1576/James Burbage builds the first theatre and calls it The Theatre, which Shakespeare will begin acting in when he is grown up.

· 1582/William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway.

· 1583/Anne and William Shakespeare have a baby girl named Susanna.

· 1585/Anne and William Shakespeare have twins, a boy named Hamnet and a girl named Judith.

· 1588/William Shakespeare leaves his wife and children at home in Stratford and travels to London to work as an actor and playwright.

· 1593/The Earl of Southampton begins to pay Shakespeare for his work and this lets William continue his writing.

· 1594/All the theatres in London are closed for a year because of the plague.

· 1599/William and a group of other actors build The Globe, a new theatre.

· 1603/Queen Elizabeth dies and James the First becomes the King of England. Shakespeare's group of actors becomes the King's Men.

· 1614/The Globe burns down.

· 1616/William Shakespeare retires home to Stratford.

· 1616/William Shakespeare falls ill and dies. In his will he leaves his wife his second best bed.

My Opinion of the Play

Romeo and Juliet was based on real lovers who lived in Verona, Italy, and died for each other in the year 1303. At that time the Capulets and Montagues were among the inhabitants of the town. When you say Romeo and Juliet, most people think "the greatest tragedy of all time," but was it meant to be a tragedy? In my opinion, it was. This story was meant to teach people the lesson that life is to short for anything but understanding. Shakespeare knew that people could relate to the first love theme and would be touched by the young lover’s deaths. Shakespeare found the tale in Arthur Brooke's poem 'The Tragical History of Romeos and Juliet' (1562). The play has inspired other works, such as Berlioz's dramatic symphony (1839), Tchaikovsky's fantasy-overture (1869-80), and Prokofiev's full-length ballet (1938). The Tempest, often considered Shakespeare's farewell to his theatrical art, has inspired Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, and Jean Sibelius, who wrote music for it in 1926.