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William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

 English playwright and poet, one of the greatest of all dramatists and greatest influences on modern drama.   Little is known of his actual life, due to a scarcity of written contemporary records.  It is commonly accepted that he was born in 1564, and it is known that he was baptized at Stratford-upon-Avon.   Depending on accounts, he either became apprenticed to a butcher or else was a schoolmaster.   In 1582 Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, of whom two survived.

The earliest record of Shakespeare's arrival in London is in 1588, and of his plays being performed in 1592, under the patronage of  the Earl of Southampton.  Contrary to common belief his plays were more popular with the common masses than with the aristocracy or intellectuals, who considered contemporary plays to be vulgar and beneath the level of the classic dramatists.   However, his plays were popular and frequent presentations at the courts of Elizabeth I and James I , more so than those of his peers.   He did narrowly avert being convicted of treason after his company performed his play of Richard II, concerning the deposing and killing of the monarch, before a group of noblemen who at the time were conspiring against Elizabeth.

Shakespeare's plays are among the most famous in the world, well-known to those with even a mere passing knowledge of  drama or literature.   Many of the most popular phrases and cliches in the modern English language trace their origins to his plays and poems.   These include Richard III, Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of  Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, Henry VI, A Midsummer Night's Dream,  The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth, Troilus and Cressida, All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest.   While some debate has been made about the authorship of the plays, wih theories ascribing them as being the actual works of Sir Francis Bacon, the Earl of Oxford,  or the Earl of Southampton, most authorities recognize them as Shakespeare's writings, though acknowledging that some were collaborations with other playwrights.

Shakespeare's bisexuality appears most evidenced by his poems, especially his sonnets to "Mr. W.H.," filled with praises of the mystery man's youthful beauty, charm, and sensuality which are frankly too flowery and even at times erotic to be the mere sentiments of admiration literary authorities have traditionally claimed.   One scholar has demonstrated that his "Venus and Adonis" is in fact another love poem to "W.H.," with Shakespeare assuming the role of the goddess of love pursuing the beautiful yet elusive youth.   Gay historian Rictor Norton even goes so far as to point out that Shakespeare purposely changed the genders in later drafts of his poems to conceal their true homoerotic nature.   Some scholars will cite accounts of Shakespeare in which he appears to condemn or ridicule male love, but they forget that in the Renaissance, as in classical times, homoerotic relations were usually condemned only when they were exclusive and between men of the same age, or when one or both of the men exhibited effeminate behavior or dress; bisexuality was much more common and tolerated than many people today are led to believe.   Theories as to the identity of W.H. abound, though he may have been a member of Shakespeare's acting company, perhaps even one of the teen-aged boys employed to perform the roles of women in his plays.   Love relationships and pederasty between adult members of the various acting troupes and younger performers was a known secret through much of London society at the time.   The issue is further confused by the recent film, Shakespeare In Love, which shows the playwright in an entirely fictitious relationship with a  noblewoman who secretly performs in his troupe.   While the deliberate anocronysms added for comedic effect and pacing clearly mark the movie as a fantasy protrayal of Shakespeare's life, the film is too often accepted as fact by the increasingly culturallly and historically illiterate populace of our time.

After 1608, Shakespeare wrote fewer plays and spent more time with his family in Stratford.   One of the greatest disasters of his career occurred during this time, when the Globe Theater in London burned during opening night for Henry VIII.   He died at age 52, and was buried in the Stratford church.

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