For such a famous man, very little is known for sure about William Shakespeare. Many of the facts that have been recorded are colourful. Here are a few lesser-known or unusual gems.
Ten Facts on William Shakespeare
1. Shakespeare was only 18 when he married Anne Hathaway, a farmer’s daughter, who was 26. As their first child was born 6 months after the wedding, it is popularly believed that Shakespeare was forced to marry Anne.
2. Shakespeare fathered twins. His first child was Susanna born in 1583, then came the twins Hamnet (note: NOT Hamlet) and Judith, born 1585. The children were actually named after good friends of Shakespeare’s, the local baker, Hamnet Sadler, and his wife, Judith.
3. There is the possibility, according to William-shakespeare.org, that Shakespeare fathered an illegitimate child to Jane Davenant, the wife of a friend in Oxford. The link is specious: it is based on the fact that the boy was named Will, and Will Shakespeare was his Godfather. Young Will rose to be a poet and playwright and Samuel Butler said he wrote like Shakespeare “and seemed content to be called his son.”
4. Shakespeare’s true son, Hamnet, was only 11 years old when he died, a victim of the plague. The two daughters lived to a very old age by Elizabethan standards. Susanna was 66 when she died in 1649; Judith was 77 when she died in 1662.
5. For such a popular playwright, it is strange that there is still uncertainty about which play was the first Shakespeare wrote. Most authorities believe it to be Henry VI Part One, but others make a case for Love’s labour’s Lost, according to BalletNotes.org.
6. William Shakespeare probably made little money from writing his plays. His real source of income was as a businessman – co-owner of the Globe Theatre with friends (and fellow-players) from the Chamberlain’s Men.
7. William Shakespeare became so prosperous that, according to William-shakespeare.info, he purchased a100 acre farm, some London houses, Stratford real estate and tithes, and a second theatre, the Blackfriars Gatehouse.
8. Shakespeare had a co-writer for some of his plays. Towards the end of his period as writer for his troupe, the King’s Men, he seemed to hand over the reins to another playwright, John Fletcher, who became the chief writer for the troupe after Shakespeare’s death. According to Luminarium.com, Shakespeare is named as the co-writer of Fletcher’s The Two Noble Kinsmen and it is believed there is evidence of Fletcher's style in what is considered Shakespeare’s last play, Henry VIII.
9. There are two lost plays that most academics presume were written by Shakespeare. One is Cardenio, also believed to have been co-written with John Fletcher. The other was a sequel to Love’s Labour’s Lost’ called “Love’s Labour’s Won.” There are several references to this play, but Shaksper.org suggests it might be another name for a play already known - Troilus and Cressida.
10. Shakespeare died at his home, New Place, in Chapel St, Stratford upon Avon after a short retirement of 6 years. The Britannica Online cites an account written by the vicar of Stratford which suggests William’s illness started with a night of heavy drinking with Ben Jonson and Richard Drayton, whereupon he ‘died of a fever there contracted.’
For full details of Shakespeare’s death, please see this Suite101 article.
