William Shakespeare
A Day in the Life
Early Life
William gets Married!
KIDS!
Susanna Shakespeare
- First born of William and Anne.
- On June 5, 1607, Susanna married the famed and prosperous Stratford physician John Hall.
- Susanna's marriage to Dr. Hall must have pleased Shakespeare tremendously, for Shakespeare appointed John and Susanna as executors of his will.
- Susanna moved into John's home (Hall's Croft) and on February 21, 1608 gave birth to a baby girl. Shakespeare's granddaughter, Elizabeth Hall.
Judith Shakespeare
- Shakespeare’s daughter Judith appears to have had a gloomy and tragic life.
- Judith's marriage to a vintner named Thomas Quiney in February 1616 caused Shakespeare much hate because Quiney did not receive the license necessary for a wedding during Lent before his marriage, and so the couple were excommunicated a month later.
- Then, Quiney was prosecuted for 'carnal copulation' with a local woman named Margaret Wheeler, who had died in March along with her baby by Quiney.
- Thomas and Judith Quiney had three children named Shakespeare, Richard, and Thomas.
- Shakespeare Quiney died in infancy and was buried in 1617.
- Richard and Thomas died within weeks of each other (aged twenty-one and nineteen) and were buried in 1639. With the death of her husband sometime around 1652, Judith was alone.
- Judith lived to the amazing age of 77, and was buried on February 9, 1662.
Hamnet Shakespeare
- Hamnet Shakespeare was the only son of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway.
- The fraternal twin of Judith Shakespeare.
- He died at age 11
Jobs, Interests, and Hobbies
What to do?
When William could take a break from writing his plays, he would almost certainly have enjoyed going to the tavern and drinking with his friends. He might have enjoyed playing cards and games like chess, and backgammon, all of which were popular in Elizabethan time. He might have also enjoyed watching wrestling, which was a popular Elizabethan spectator sport. William may have enjoyed the more bloodthirsty spectator sports of Bear-baiting and Cockerel (Rooster) fighting.
Plays
COMEDIES
All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
Comedy of Errors
Love's Labour's Lost
Measure for Measure
Merchant of Venice
Merry Wives of Windsor
Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado about Nothing
Taming of the Shrew
Tempest
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Winter's Tale
HISTORIES
Henry IV, Part I
Henry IV, Part II
Henry V
Henry VI, Part I
Henry VI, Part II
Henry VI, Part III
Henry VIII
King John
Pericles
Richard II
Richard III
TRAGEDIES
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Cymbeline
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
Troilus and Cressida
POETRY
A Lover's Complaint
The Rape of Lucrece
Venus and Adonis
Funeral Elegy by W.S.
Later Years & Will
Death & Burial
7 Interesting Facts
- William's birth and death are on the same day.
- One of Shakespeare’s relatives on his mother’s side, William Arden, was arrested for plotting against Queen Elizabeth I, imprisoned in the Tower of London and executed.
Shakespeare is the second most quoted writer in the English language – after the various writers of the Bible.
The American President Abraham Lincoln was a lover of Shakespeare's plays and frequently recited from them to his friends. His assassin, John Wilkes Booth was a famous Shakespearean actor.
All Uranus’ satellites are named after Shakespearean characters.
Shakespeare’s original grave marker showed him holding a bag of grain. Citizens of Stratford replaced the bag with a quill in 1747.
William was right-handed.