Shakespeare’s childhood belongs to the period immediately after the Reformation and the contrasting reigns of the Protestant Edward VI and the Catholic Queen Mary. Educated at Stratford Grammar School, Shakespeare marries young, but then the trail goes cold – leaving many intriguing theories about his whereabouts during the so-called ‘lost years’.
Shakespeare’s impact on the London theatre is rapid. First employed as an actor, he begins to collaborate with others (‘Edward III’) before turning his hand to comedies (‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’) and Histories. When the Plague closes the theatres in 1593–4, he turns to poetry, writing the hugely successful ‘Venus and Adonis’.
Though poems like ‘Venus and Adonis’ and ‘The Rape of Lucrece’ enjoy widespread popularity, once the theatres reopen after the plague, Shakespeare returns to his first love with an exceptional display of versatility, composing ‘The Merchant of Venice’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Richard II’ in a single year.
The last years of the century see Shakespeare lionised by his peers and admired by the Queen, for whom he writes ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’. Other light comedies from this era include ‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘As You Like It’ – alongside major Histories like the two parts of ‘Henry IV’ and ‘Henry V’.
The new century brings still greater triumphs – ‘Hamlet’ (1600) for example – but also set-backs. Will Kemp, one of Shakespeare’s greatest actors, leaves for new challenges, while the company is inadvertently caught up in the Earl of Essex’s insurrection. Essex is executed, but as the Queen approaches her death, the company escapes censure.
At the peak of his powers, Shakespeare produces two of his greatest Tragedies – ‘King Lear’ and ‘Macbeth’ – in a little over a single year. But once again Shakespeare seems to court danger away from the theatre as rumoured connections between himself and the Gunpowder Plot (1605) suggest.
Signs of anger among some of Shakespeare’s leading characters at this time (Coriolanus, for example, and Timon) are not reflected in the increasing success of his company, which opens a new indoor theatre at Blackfriars in 1608, expanding the possibilities for Shakespeare’s work as well as the income for his company.
Shakespeare’s Sonnets are published as a single collection for the first time, before the playwright turns his attention to his Late Plays, narratives of remorse and forgiveness. After buying property in London for the first time, the playwright repairs to Stratford, where he dies on his birthday, aged 52.
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