Romeo and Juliet

WilliamShakespearewasborninStratford-upon-AvoninApril1564,andhisbirthistraditionallycelebratedonApril23.Thefactsofhislife,knownfromsurvivingdocuments,aresparse.HewasoneofeightchildrenborntoJohnShakespeare,amerchantofsomestandinginhiscommunity.WilliamprobablywenttotheKing'sNewSchoolinStratford,buthehadnouniversityeducation.InNovember1582,attheageofeighteen,hemarriedAnneHathaway,eightyearshissenior,whowaspregnantwiththeirfirstchild,Susanna.ShewasbornonMay26,1583.Twins,aboy,Hamnet(whowoulddieatageeleven),andagirl,Judith,werebornin1585.By1592ShakespearehadgonetoLondonworkingasanactorandalreadyknownasaplaywright.Arivaldramatist,RobertGreene,referredtohimas"anupstartcrow,beautifiedwithourfeathers."Shakespearebecameaprincipalshareholderandplaywrightofthesuccessfulactingtroupe,theLordChamberlain'sMen(laterunderJamesI,calledtheKing'sMen).In1599theLordChamberlain'sMenbuiltandoccupiedtheGlobeTheaterinSouthwarkneartheThamesRiver.HeremanyofShakespeare'splayswereperformedbythemostfamousactorsofhistime,includingRichardBurbage,WillKempe,andRobertArmin.Inadditiontohis37plays,Shakespearehadahandinothers,includingSirThomasMoreandTheTwoNobleKinsmen,andhewrotepoems,includingVenusandAdonisandTheRapeofLucrece.His154sonnetswerepublished,probablywithouthisauthorization,in1609.In1611or1612hegaveuphislodgingsinLondonanddevotedmoreandmoretimetoretirementinStratford,thoughhecontinuedwritingsuchplaysasTheTempestandHenryVIIuntilabout1613.HediedonApril231616,andwasburiedinHolyTrinityChurch,Stratford.Nocollectededitionofhisplayswaspublishedduringhislife-time,butin1623twomembersofhisactingcompany,JohnHemingesandHenryCondell,puttogetherthegreatcollectionnowcalledtheFirstFolio.