The Biography of William Shakespeare.
                     THE BIOGRAPHY OF 
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
INTRODUCTION
• William Shakespeare was a 
renowned English poet, 
playwright, and actor born in 
1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. 
• His birthday is most celebrated 
on 23 April which is also believed 
to be the date he died in 1616.
Source: 
www.shakespeare.org.uk
SHAKESPEARE’S 
POEMS 
• Shakespeare was a prolific writer 
during the Elizabethan and 
Jacobean ages of British theatre. 
• Shakespeare’s plays are perhaps 
his most enduring legacy, but 
they are not all he wrote. 
Shakespeare’s poems also 
remain popular to this day. 
Source: 
www.shakespeare.org.uk
CHILDHOOD AND 
EDUCATION
• Scant records exist of 
Shakespeare's childhood and 
virtually none regarding his 
education. 
• Scholars have surmised that he 
most likely attended the King's 
New School, in Stratford, which 
taught reading, writing and the 
classics. 
Source: www.biography.com
SHAKESPEARE'S 
FAMILY LIFE
•  John Shakespeare married Mary 
Arden, and together they had 
eight children. 
• John and Mary lost two daughters 
as infants, so William became 
their eldest child. 
• William Shakespeare would have 
lived with his family in their 
house on Henley Street until he 
turned eighteen.
Source: 
www.shakespeare.org.uk
SHAKESPEARE IN 
LONDON
• Shakespeare's twins were 
baptised in 1585, and that by 
1592 his reputation was 
established in London, but the 
intervening years are considered 
a mystery. Scholars generally 
refer to these years as ‘The Lost 
Years’.
Source: 
www.shakespeare.org.uk
SHAKESPEARE 
FIRST POEM
• During this time in London, 
Shakespeare’s first printed works 
were published. They were two 
long poems, 'Venus and Adonis' 
(1593) and 'The Rape of Lucrece' 
(1594). 
• He also became a founding 
member of The Lord 
Chamberlain’s Men, a company 
of actors. 
Source: 
www.shakespeare.org.uk
SHAKESPEARE'S 
WORKS
• Shakespeare's works include 38 
plays, 2 narrative poems, 154 
sonnets, and a variety of other 
poems. 
• No original manuscripts of 
Shakespeare's plays are known 
to exist today.
Source: 
www.shakespeare.org.uk
SHAKESPEARE’S 
LEGACY 
• Shakespeare’s legacy is as rich 
and diverse as his work; his plays 
have spawned countless 
adaptations across multiple 
genres and cultures. 
• His plays have had an enduring 
presence on stage and film.
Source: 
www.shakespeare.org.uk
SHAKESPEARE’S 
WRITINGS
• His writings have been compiled 
in various iterations of The 
Complete Works of William 
Shakespeare, which include all 
his plays, sonnets, and other 
poems. 
• William Shakespeare continues 
to be one of the most important 
literary figures of the English 
language.
Source: 
www.shakespeare.org.uk
A HOME IN 
STRATFORD
• Shakespeare’s success in the 
London theatres made him 
considerably wealthy, and by 
1597 he was able to purchase 
New Place, the largest house in 
the borough of Stratford-upon-
Avon.
Source: 
www.shakespeare.org.uk