Courtesy The Independent
This weekend marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare died on April 23 in 1616 at the age of 52 – a relatively old age to live to in those times.
Although Shakespeare is engrained in British culture and history and most people have learnt about, read or watched his plays, there’s actually not much we know about the acclaimed playwright.
There’s even a time period dubbed the “lost years” of Shakespeare’s life – two time periods between leaving school and marrying his wife Anne Hathaway and the second being the seven year gap between his children being born and him establishing himself as a London playwright in 1592.
A study has found that those between the ages of 18 and 25 are more likely to recognise a lyrics by the “Baby” singer than words crafted by William Shakespeare.
The survey, commissioned by Deezer, found that 43 percent of young people could identify Bieber lyrics while only 38 percent recognised the work of England’s famous playwright.
Over half knew the lines “Girlfriend, girlfriend, you could be my girlfriend” and “Is it too late now to say sorry?” were from Bieber songs, while only a third knew “To be or not to be” was a Shakespearian line.
“Strong reasons make strong actions” and “All that glitters is not gold” fared even worse, with just 12 percent recognising the former and 17 percent the latter.
So what do we know? Take a look at the most interesting facts about the life of William Shakespeare, below:
Nobody actually knows when he was born
There’s no records giving an exact date of birth for Shakespeare, however, what is recorded is his christening on April 26 1564. Given that the traditional date to get christened in those days was a few days after birth, it’s very possible he might have also been born (as well as died) on April 23rd in which case he’d be 452 today – Happy birthday Shakespeare.
He married at a relatively young age
Shakespeare was 18 when he married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years his senior. The marriage of an elder woman would have been controversial at the time, especially considering she was pregnant. Their first child Susanna was born six months after they married.
There are no direct descendants of Shakespeare alive today
Shakespeare’s eldest daughter Susanna had one child Elizabeth in 1608, Elizabeth later went on to marry twice but had no children by either husband, according to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Shakespeare’s other daughter Judith married and had three sons. Sadly, all three of her sons died before they married anyone and had children of their own.
The ‘lost years’
No one is sure exactly what Shakespeare did in two time periods during his life where records seem to disappear (1578-1582 and 1585-1592), however multiple theories have been made. The SBT reports suggestions that he was a school teacher in his birthplace of Stratford-Upon-Avon, a butcher, a lawyer’s clerk, a soldier or even that he fled to London after poaching deers – this claim apparently has no evidence but has instead been fuelled by word of mouth
Everyday phrases
Aside from introducing an estimated 3,000 words into the English language, there are also everyday phrases the Bard coined that we still use today, 400 years later. The British Council report if it wasn’t for Shakespeare we wouldn’t be saying “heart of gold”, “wild goose chase”, “faint-hearted”, “break the ice” or “love is blind”.
Savvy businessman
While he is known for the 37 plays he wrote during his lifetime, Shakespeare was also a savvy businessman with a few properties to his name. These properties include New Place (which can still be visited today), a cottage and acres of farm land in Stratford-Upon-Avon and a gatehouse in London. He also had his eye on shares and was a shareholder in the Globe theatre and Blackfriars theatre, according to the SBT.
We might have been spelling his name wrong all along
Spellings of the playwright’s name vary in different records. The one we use today is the most common however his name was also printed as “Shappere” and “Shaxberd”. According toHistory.Com, the man himself never actually signed his name using the spelling we use today.
