Who Was Shakespeare?

    Shakespeare is one of the most important writers in history,whose playwrights are read and performed to this day; but what do we know about this man? Who was Shakespeare?

    Well, there are a few things that historians don't quite know. For starters, his exact birth date is unknown. They know the year was 1564, but the only exact date they found from that year was his baptism (April 26, 1954). He did get married to Anne Hathaway at age 18, and had three children with her. The start of his career is, again, not known exactly, but supposedly it started mid-1580s. His career got its first boost with the playing company The Lord Chamberlain's Men performing Shakespeare's plays. In this period of time, from the mid 1580s to early 1600s, Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other works of different genres such as tragedies and comedies.

    Shakespeare is a name that almost every junior high and high school student knows. I know that he is not particularly popular with a lot of these students because initially his works of literature are difficult to comprehend. I am one of those students. But I'm slowly coming to realize how clever these works are and how clever of a write Shakespeare really is. Lots of literary elements I've missed as a younger student are more easy to spot, and I can actually understand what he's trying to convey through his characters' dialogue (still working on it though). I still do struggle with the style his playwrights are written in though (curse you, Old English!) Hopefully, before I'm too old, I'll be able to fully grasp the greatness that Shakespeare has provided for us from so long ago.