Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 15

Research paper - Essay Example In the following paragraphs, we will try to extract the information about the life of this great man from the biographies written about William Shakespeare. Shakespeare was the offspring of an alderman, John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, a daughter of a wealthy farmer. The birthplace of this great poet is Stratford-upon-Avon. No exact information is available about is date of birth but he was known to have been baptized on 26th April, 1564. There is no record of date of birth in church’s register but â€Å"traditionally, Shakespeare’s birthday has been 23rd April, which was feast of St.George† ( Potter 1). William Shakespeare was named after his godfather, William and â€Å" according to Camden, this name has been most common in England since king William the Conqueror â€Å" ( qtd. in Potter 5). The early schooling of the bard was done at King’ s New School situated at Stratford. At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway who was eight years older than he. The couple had to hasten their marriage due to the pregnancy of Anne. The couple had three children, the eldest a daughter name Susanna and twins Hamnet an d Judith. The son died in childhood at the age of 11. Bevington refers to the controversy regarding the religious affiliations of Shakespeare and suggests that no one has the sure knowledge whether he belonged to Anglican church or was a covert believer of Catholic church. He also alludes to the skeptic mind of the great poet ( Bevington ch. 2). Schoenbaum reveals that during Shakespeare’s time church going was compulsory and the people who did not attend the church were dragged to church by church court and were imposed heavy fines. Throwing light on religious leanings of William Shakespeare, Schoenbaum declares that â€Å" the religious training provided for Shakespeare by his community was orthodox and Protestant† ( 55). He also clarifies the claims that Shakespeare was a