William Shakespeare was not only the author of around 38 plays, but he also wrote around 150 sonnets. While we know fairly little about him as a person, his legacy remains highly alive to this day. His works continue to be the most frequently staged plays of all time and his writing has been adapted into various ballets, operas, and films. Here are 13 curious facts about the genius who wrote Hamlet, Macbeth, and several other masterpieces.
1. Nobody is Sure About William Shakespeare’s Date of Birth
The mystery around the man behind masterpieces like Hamlet begins with the day of his birth. As it turns out, there is no record of his actual birthday. The only document that could be found is a paper confirming that his baptism occurred on the 26th of April 1564. Given that babies were traditionally baptized when they were three days old, it is generally assumed that Shakespeare was born on the 23rd of April 1564.
2. Shakespeare Married a Woman Eight Years Older Than Him
Shakespeare was the son of a wealthy land heiress and a successful glove maker, which means that he must have enjoyed a good education. But apart from that, we know very little about his youth. What we do know is that he got married to Anne Hathaway in 1582. It seems to have been a shotgun wedding—6 months after the ceremony, the bride gave birth to their first daughter.
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterAnother curious thing about the couple was their age difference. Anne Hathaway was 26 years old at the time of the wedding, while the young Shakespeare was 18. We do not know whether they married out of love or due to the pressure from their families. But even if the marriage was forced on them as a way of avoiding a scandal, it seems that they must have been at least somewhat enamored with each other. A few years later, Anne Hathaway gave birth to twins.
There has been a lot of speculation about their relationship, given that Shakespeare spent many years of his adult life living in London, while Anne remained in Stratford-upon-Avon. However, we do know that he took good care of his family’s material needs and moved back to live with Anne and his three children a few years before his death.
3. He Was Also an Actor
Although Shakespeare has gone down in history as a writer, he started his career as an actor and performed in many of his own plays. It is unknown how exactly Shakespeare managed to enter the London Theater scene. All we know is that by 1594 he was already a part of the acting troupe called The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. His plays were hugely successful and his troupe was invited to perform in front of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I on numerous occasions. Due to their popularity with the royal family, the acting troupe even ended up renaming themselves The King’s Men.
4. His Son Died of the Bubonic Plague
During Shakespeare’s day, England was visited by a disease that killed millions of Europeans—the Black Death. The disease, which is also known as the bubonic plague, affected Shakespeare in various ways. It forced his theater to close down on numerous occasions. While Shakespeare himself survived the bubonic plague, his son Hamnet died at the age of 11. We know very little about how his son’s death affected Shakespeare. However, many scholars assume that he named his famous character Hamlet after his deceased son. Shakespeare also made various references to the plague in his plays.
5. There Are Conspiracy Theories About His Work
William Shakespeare is thought to have authored around 38 plays and most scholars agree that he collaborated with other writers on some of them. However, some conspiracy theorists claim that Shakespeare was not the real author of at least some of the plays attributed to him. Some researchers have suggested that his plays were in fact written by a collective of writers, and there are even some theories suggesting that the person behind Shakespeare was actually a woman.
While it is of course impossible to know how much of Shakespeare’s work was written by him, the evidence supporting such conspiracy theories is very thin. When considering the question of authorship, we must also be aware that back in Shakespeare’s day a thing like copyright did not exist. In order to protect the text of performances from being stolen and used by rival theater companies, actors would only receive the text for their character and the last two words of their partner’s text. We only have records of Shakespeare’s plays today because some of his colleagues published the full editions of his works a few years after his death.
6. During His Day, There Were No Actresses
Many of Shakespeare’s plays involve gender-bending scenarios. For example, in Twelfth Night, the female character Viola pretends to be a boy so that she can get employment with the local count. However, modern audiences often forget that during Shakespeare’s time, there were no actresses. This meant that in the case of Twelfth Night, Viola was actually played by a male actor pretending to be a woman who was pretending to be a man. It also meant that roles like Juliet or Lady Macbeth would have been played by a male actor dressed as a woman.
7. He Was a Co-Owner of the Globe Theater
William Shakespeare was by no means a starving artist. For one thing, Shakespeare held a share in his theater company, which meant that he was also the co-owner of the famous Globe Theater. But while the Globe Theater you see in London today mirrors the way the theater must have looked during Shakespeare’s day, it is nothing more but a copy. The real Globe Theater burned down during a performance of Henry VIII in 1613. At the time, Shakespeare was most likely already retired. And while nobody died during the fire, the theater company did not have the funds needed to rebuild the theater at the time. Over 350 years later in 1997, a new theater was built close to the original site of Shakespeare’s Globe. Today, the Globe continues to host performances written by the famous playwright.
8. Shakespeare Almost Went to Jail for Evading Taxes
Despite the burning down of the Globe, Shakespeare continued to live a prosperous life. Throughout his life, he purchased several properties including New Place, one of the biggest houses in Stratford. On top of that, he is also believed to have stored grain and other foods in order to sell them at inflated prices during times of famine. He is also known to have avoided paying taxes and was even prosecuted on the charge of hoarding grain during the famine. Immoral or not, we can be sure of one thing: Shakespeare was not only a genius writer, but a great businessman who made sure he would not end up a starving artist too.
9. He Invented Around 1700 New Words
Shakespeare’s contribution to humanity goes way beyond the world of theater. Among other things, he is said to have invented around 1700 words, some of which have become an integral part of the English language. His plays feature the first-ever recorded use of words like alligator, eyeball, critic, gossip, traditional, and obscene. Phrases like break the ice, heart of gold, and love is blind have also been attributed to him.
10. His Works Are Full of Sexual Innuendos
Today, going to see a Shakespeare play is considered to be a very classy thing to do. However, many of us tend to forget that Shakespeare’s plays are full of sexual innuendos and dirty jokes. While Shakespeare was a genius wordsmith, he was also a great entertainer, with a special knack for bringing together the lowest of the low with the highest of the high.
It is also important to keep in mind that Shakespeare’s theater was very different from contemporary theater. His audience would bring together people of different classes who would be consuming food and drinks while watching the performance. And while there were some places up on the balcony for the people who could afford a pricier ticket, the majority of the audience would be crammed together just below the stage.
In general, Shakespeare’s audiences were not only very smelly but also very rowdy. It is unlikely that Shakespeare’s troupe ever got to enjoy the silent focus and attention we have grown used to in the theater of our day. Quite to the contrary, in Shakespeare’s day, it was normal for audience members to make noise, talk back, and throw food at the actors.
11. William Shakespeare Probably Died on His Birthday
William Shakespeare died at the age of 52. While the cause of his death is unknown, we know that he died on the 23rd of April 1616. Although we cannot be completely sure about his date of birth, this means that he most likely died on his 52nd birthday. Apart from this strange coincidence, there are a few other stories surrounding the playwright’s death.
12. He Left His Wife His Second-Best Bed
William Shakespeare’s will is yet another subject of wild speculation. Apart from leaving his estate to his eldest daughter, the playwright made a point of mentioning that he was leaving his second-best bed to his wife Anne Hathaway. This strange clause has given rise to a range of theories and speculations. While some scholars have tried to interpret this as evidence of William Shakespeare’s estrangement from his wife, it is more likely that he meant it as an inside joke. According to the English Common Law, Anne would have been automatically entitled to one-third of his estate. Given that the second-best bed was probably their marital bed, Shakespeare probably included this clause as a way of leaving one last saucy message to the woman who had been at his side for over 30 years.
13. There Is a Curse Written on William Shakespeare’s Grave
It seems that Shakespeare really did think of everything when preparing for his upcoming death. For one thing, he instructed those in charge of his funeral to leave an epigraph on his grave which threatened anybody who moved his bones with a curse. It seems that the threat worked. When the Holy Trinity Church was being renovated in 2008, the people in charge of the works carefully avoided moving Shakespeare’s bones.
