William Shakespeare was born in Stratfo
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon in 1564. His father sold gloves and became an important person in the town. William, one of eight children, was the eldest son and was probably educated at the local grammar school. He married when he was only 18 and his wife, Anne Hathaway, was eight years older than him. They had two girls and a boy (who died aged 11).
Nobody knows how Shakespeare began to write or when he entered the theatre, but we know that he became a leading member of the theatre troupe known as 'The Lord Chamberlain's Men'. The company proved very popular and later, when King James I granted them the right to perform at his court, the troupe became known as 'The King's Men'. Shakespeare wrote over 30 plays for 'The King's Men', making it the most important theatre company in the country, and he often wrote parts for particular actors. He was very successful and wealthy in his time, and his work has remained very popular ever since.
Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in 1606, which was the same year in which the alleged gunpowder plot took place. It’s important to understand the political context in which the play was written since it plays such a huge role in the main theme of the play in which over ambition results in terrible consequences.
When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, she had no children, nieces nor nephews. The throne was offered to James Stuart, James VI of Scotland, who then became James I of Britain. He was a distant cousin of Elizabeth; being descended from Margaret Tudor, the sister of Elizabeth's grandfather, Henry the Eighth. James was the son of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, who had been deposed and imprisoned when he was a baby, and later executed on Elizabeth's orders. Brought up by Protestant regents, James maintained a Protestant regime in Scotland when he came of age, and so was an acceptable choice for England which had become firmly Protestant under Elizabeth. However, his accession was by no means a popular choice
Nobody knows how Shakespeare began to write or when he entered the theatre, but we know that he became a leading member of the theatre troupe known as 'The Lord Chamberlain's Men'. The company proved very popular and later, when King James I granted them the right to perform at his court, the troupe became known as 'The King's Men'. Shakespeare wrote over 30 plays for 'The King's Men', making it the most important theatre company in the country, and he often wrote parts for particular actors. He was very successful and wealthy in his time, and his work has remained very popular ever since.
Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in 1606, which was the same year in which the alleged gunpowder plot took place. It’s important to understand the political context in which the play was written since it plays such a huge role in the main theme of the play in which over ambition results in terrible consequences.
When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, she had no children, nieces nor nephews. The throne was offered to James Stuart, James VI of Scotland, who then became James I of Britain. He was a distant cousin of Elizabeth; being descended from Margaret Tudor, the sister of Elizabeth's grandfather, Henry the Eighth. James was the son of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, who had been deposed and imprisoned when he was a baby, and later executed on Elizabeth's orders. Brought up by Protestant regents, James maintained a Protestant regime in Scotland when he came of age, and so was an acceptable choice for England which had become firmly Protestant under Elizabeth. However, his accession was by no means a popular choice