1. William Shakespeare – some biographical notes

2. The early years  Born in April 1564 in Stratford on Avon  His father - a fairly rich merchant

3. Stratford on Avon

4. Shakespeare‘s schooling

5. Wife and Children  Marriage to Anne Hathaway in 1582  Anne was 26, he was 18  3 children  The youngest, Hamnet died at the age of 11

6. London  went to London at 21  joined a travelling company of actors  worked both as an actor and a writer

7. London Life in the 16 th century  Poor sewer system  High crime rate  But …  200,000 inhabitants  the cultural and political heart of England

8. The Globe Theatre  opened in 1599  His successes had made Shakespeare a rich man  He became one of the principal investors

9. The end of his life  Return to Stratford in 1610  Destruction of the Globe Theatre in 1613 (the Great Fire of London)  In 1616 Shakespeare died on April, 23 (his birthday!)

10. Looking back  Shakespeare wrote 37 plays …  … and 154 sonnets…  … and an unknown number of long epic poems "All‘s well that ends well"

11. Two Lies and a Truth… Will Shakespeare never married Will Shakespeare married twice Will Shakespeare married an older woman

12. How Many Words Did He Write? 1,000,00 500,000 500 1,000,000

13. How many words written by WS Survived? 1,400 14,000 14

14. Will Shakespeare Died… On his Mum’s birthday On the same date he was born On Christmas Day On the same date (not DAY!) he was born (April 23 – St Georges Day)

15. His father was fined one shilling for… Not paying tax Being drunk in a public place Keeping a dung heap Keeping a dung heap (yick)

16. How old was Will when he wed? 28 18 38 18

17. How many sonnets did he write? 554 54 154

18. Will wrote 37 plays in how many years…. 26 16 6