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17 FUN FACTS ABOUT WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
1. William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as
the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.
2. He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon".
3. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England on April 23, 1564
and died on his birthday in 1616.
4. Shakespeare’s parents were John and Mary Shakespeare (nee Arden) and he had seven siblings.
5. Shakespeare married his wife Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and
she was 26 and had three children together.
the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.
2. He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon".
3. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England on April 23, 1564
and died on his birthday in 1616.
4. Shakespeare’s parents were John and Mary Shakespeare (nee Arden) and he had seven siblings.
5. Shakespeare married his wife Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and
she was 26 and had three children together.
6. Did you know...
Today, we have MANY everyday expressions and phrases thanks to Mr. Shakespeare...
7. Apart from writing his numerous plays and sonnets, Shakespeare was also an actor
who performed many of his own plays as well as those of other playwrights.
There is evidence that he played the ghost in Hamlet and Adam in As You Like It.
8. By the seventeenth century Shakespeare was a famous playwright in London but in
his hometown of Stratford, where his family lived, he was a well-respected
businessman and property owner, which brought him great wealth.
9. Shakespeare’s burial at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford Upon Avon is
documented as happening on April 25, 1616. Based upon the tradition of the time
it’s likley he would have been buried two days after his death, meaning
Shakespeare likely died April 23, 1616 – his 52nd birthday.
10. Although Catholicism was effectively illegal in Shakespeare’s lifetime,
the Anglican Archdeacon, Richard Davies of Lichfield, who had known
him wrote some time after Shakespeare’s death that he had been a Catholic.
11. It is estimated that Shakespeare wrote an average of 1.5 plays a year since he started writing in 1589 based on the fact that he wrote at least 37 plays, 154 sonnets and a number of poems! that we know of. This is In addition to a number of “lost plays” and plays that Shakespeare collaborated on.
who performed many of his own plays as well as those of other playwrights.
There is evidence that he played the ghost in Hamlet and Adam in As You Like It.
8. By the seventeenth century Shakespeare was a famous playwright in London but in
his hometown of Stratford, where his family lived, he was a well-respected
businessman and property owner, which brought him great wealth.
9. Shakespeare’s burial at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford Upon Avon is
documented as happening on April 25, 1616. Based upon the tradition of the time
it’s likley he would have been buried two days after his death, meaning
Shakespeare likely died April 23, 1616 – his 52nd birthday.
10. Although Catholicism was effectively illegal in Shakespeare’s lifetime,
the Anglican Archdeacon, Richard Davies of Lichfield, who had known
him wrote some time after Shakespeare’s death that he had been a Catholic.
11. It is estimated that Shakespeare wrote an average of 1.5 plays a year since he started writing in 1589 based on the fact that he wrote at least 37 plays, 154 sonnets and a number of poems! that we know of. This is In addition to a number of “lost plays” and plays that Shakespeare collaborated on.
12. Shakespeare has been credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with
introducing almost 3,000 words to the English language. Estimations of his
vocabulary range from 17,000 to a dizzying 29,000 words – at least
double the number of words used by the average conversationalist.
13. Shakespeare’s last play was The Two Noble Kinsmen and is believed to
have been written in 1613 when he was 49 years old.
14. Shakespeare’s shortest play, The Comedy of Errors is only a third of the length
of his longest, Hamlet, which takes four hours to perform.
15. There are only two Shakespeare plays written entirely in verse:
they are Richard II and King John.
16. The Royal Shakespeare Company sells more than half a million tickets a year for
Shakespeare productions at their theatres in Stratford-on-Avon,
London and Newcastle – introducing an estimated 50,000 people
to a live Shakespeare performance for the first time each year.
17. Suicide occurs an unlucky thirteen times in Shakespeare’s plays,
with three suicides occuring in both Antony & Cleopatra and Julius Caesar,
and two suicides in Romeo and Juliet.
introducing almost 3,000 words to the English language. Estimations of his
vocabulary range from 17,000 to a dizzying 29,000 words – at least
double the number of words used by the average conversationalist.
13. Shakespeare’s last play was The Two Noble Kinsmen and is believed to
have been written in 1613 when he was 49 years old.
14. Shakespeare’s shortest play, The Comedy of Errors is only a third of the length
of his longest, Hamlet, which takes four hours to perform.
15. There are only two Shakespeare plays written entirely in verse:
they are Richard II and King John.
16. The Royal Shakespeare Company sells more than half a million tickets a year for
Shakespeare productions at their theatres in Stratford-on-Avon,
London and Newcastle – introducing an estimated 50,000 people
to a live Shakespeare performance for the first time each year.
17. Suicide occurs an unlucky thirteen times in Shakespeare’s plays,
with three suicides occuring in both Antony & Cleopatra and Julius Caesar,
and two suicides in Romeo and Juliet.
