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Haley Nantz
Dr. Shaw
English 209
27 November 2012
Shakespeare: A Life Book Review
Shakespeare: A Life by Park Honan is a biography on the great poet, William
Shakespeare, with a twist different from biographies before it. The book was first published in
1998. Honan’s purpose for writing this book was to shed light on new facts learned about
Shakespeare’s life that could tell us more about him in general and about how the poet came to
be. The book contains 18 chapters that range from his birth, to love, and to his last phases.
Honan begins his story at Shakespeare’s birth, delicately describing that area where
Shakespeare was born, near the river of Avon, Stratford’s Church of Holy Trinity, and other
surrounding areas such as Arden. Stratford was a market town that had mild weather that caused
many farmers to grow their crops here. About 15 years before Shakespeare was born, the owners
of the land in Stratford were Worcester bishops, until 1169 when a bishop bought the right to
create a market in the area. The plan was well thought out with many roads and plots in a grid
form that would allow for a profitable market. Stratford’s claim to fame was membership to its
religious Guild of the Holy Cross. It took care of the community and allowed for “common
religious and social purposes.” The Guild allowed women membership and having their votes
count just as equal as a man’s. Robert’s son John, and five other priests found a chantry to honor
Thomas a Becket, and they were to pray for among many things, the kings of England, which led
to Henry V recognizing them, and finally being called Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity.
Eventually Stratford upon Avon became a royal borough and Mary Tudor declared Roman
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Catholicism to now be the religion of the country. Stratford was one of the places that had
martyrs burned because of this religious issue. This plays into how Shakespeare’s father and
even Shakespeare had to hide their true religious feelings. When Lady Elizabeth came to the
throne and any Catholicism representative left, Stratford still was in this kind of religious
confusion, with no concrete leader for religion. John Brethgirdle became the new Protestant
vicar, and he brought an enormous library, with many of the books believed to be those that
shaped Shakespeare. Shakespeare was born into a time at the collapse of Catholicism and the
rise of Renaissance and Reformation, where there was a mix of Old Catholic and new Protestant.
Stratford was different in the sense that they kept their Catholic past in the community for a
while until 1563 when all remnants were gone. Shakespeare’s father, John, was a prominent
figure in the Stratford community and heavily depended on. Amidst the plague and children
dying left and right, including older siblings of Shakespeare, William Shakespeare was born.
Stratford was compiled of many roads and areas that lead to the market and that each had
their own bearings to present. John Shakespeare had two houses on the north row, Woolshop
and Birthplace, and we know this because of rent manuscripts from around 1590. Shakespeare’s
father also owned a barn in the Gild Pits because it provided enough room for him to do his
leather working and bought another property on Greenhill for more room and because of its close
proximity to his other prosperities. In late 1556, John Shakespeare married Mary Arden because
her father’s farm was leased to John’s father. We can assume that Mary was born at the farm in
Wilmcote because, despite its many owners, has a matching description. Mary was the youngest
and her father’s favorite, and even became an executor of his will. We are unsure of her talents,
and cannot say if she could write, because there is only evidence of her signing a document, but
it seems that since the sign was smooth and correct, she knew how to use a quill. It is unusual
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that her father allowed her to be a part of his will because she was a woman and he was a strong
Catholic. There is reference that the mix of John and Mary’s Catholic faith is seen in the raising
of William. There is no concrete evidence of when Shakespeare was born but it is concluded
that he was either born on April 21st, 22nd, or 23rd in 1564. Because of the plague, it was also
unlikely that William was baptized because of the dangers to an infant. The plague finally
reached Stratford on July 11th. About 2/3 of Stratford women died because they were helping the
sick and caught the contagious plague by what was sneezed or coughed into the air. There is no
evidence of how much Mary took precaution for William’s sake during the time of plague, but
we somehow do not need it because we know of the kind of sacrifice any mother is willing to go
through for the love of their child. Because of the chaos and need for order during this time,
there is reason to believe this is why Shakespeare had strong feelings for civic order. After the
plague, everything returned back to normal, with many children playing in the streets, but acting
proper in the house. He learned etiquette at meal time and manners elsewhere. Shakespeare’s
father wanted a coat of arms and his family’s name to be known as respectable and this was able
to happen because of his wife, Mary’s name. We are able to believe that Shakespeare’s family
was of prominent status because of the manners and etiquette he showed in his plays is not
something you can learn outside of that lifestyle. The Arden’s and their role in the community
have a lot to do with the shaping of Shakespeare. He did not know of religious troubles and
lived in Stratford in its better times. Shakespeare was in awe of nature, even though Stratford
lacked the best of it, and was the way he was partly because it was just him and his mother for
about 30 months, until she had more children. There is record of a baptism of Gilbert
Shakespeare, William’s brother, in 1566, when William was about five years old. We can
attribute Shakespeare’s understanding of feeling to his mother because of her actions towards
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him and in the home. Like many other Tudor boys, it is believed Shakespeare had some sort of
learning in music, because the people of that time believed in things that lifted the spirits. Boys
at this time also looked like girls until they were around six because of the outfits they were
required to wear and had no status yet. In the late 1560’s, Shakespeare’s father became Master
Shakespeare and William now went to school.
The town of Stratford was a considerably large town for its time, even though its numbers
dwindled because of the plague, but still was considered large with around 1,000 people.
Because of the town’s makeup Shakespeare was able to experience things like politics, religion,
crime, and passion. Christopher Marlowe was like Shakespeare because he grew up in similar
surroundings but Shakespeare had the upper hand because of his family’s status. John
Shakespeare did a lot to help his community run smoothly and was eventually appointed
alderman. John Shakespeare kind of had to be a leader in his community because many eligible
men lived just outside of the borough limits. After an election, he was appointed head bailiff,
and was prominent in community life. William learned because of his father’s status how a child
should respect the parent, which is later reflected in his plays like with Hermia in Midsummer
Night’s Dream, or Cordelia in King Lear. John had to work hard for this status, as his father
Richard was a money pinching farmer when he died. There is record of John being a glover,
who worked hard at this and working in his community. Boys at the time were taught to respect
artisans like John, so we can assume by the mentions of glove makers and leather workers in his
plays, that William was familiar with the trade because his father taught him. Any craft at the
time required full commitment which is why it would seem right if William put everything he
had in the beginning of an acting troupe. Shakespeare would have taken care of his hygiene and
cared about appearance. His mother, Mary, might have had servants help her, especially when it
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came to market days, which is where her husband would be trying to sell his gloves and leather
goods. Some of the town’s social scenes came from the market but there were also church
festivals and fairs for the townspeople. Private matters were held in vicar’s court but the people
who were sent here had records that could been seen by the public. John Shakespeare as the
town bailiff dealt with many people from drapers to leather workers and those who worked with
farming. He also worked with educated men like John Bretchgirdle and John Brownsword who
was a teacher. William, he liked to observe others behavior had a lot of candidates to work with
like his eccentric uncle Henry and his flurry of cousins. As far as schooling, William only went
to petty school in the beginning with a teacher, Higgs, who had a love for Latin and taught from
the horn book. William also had catechism in the vicar’s office that was so boring, many
children had a list of things they would rather be doing. The people at the time knew about what
was going on in Europe with the issue of Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, and King Lear.
People were beginning to believe the Catholics were trying to take out the Protestants, so places
like Stratford began to prepare for a battle. There was some entertainment for the youth of
Stratford but the scene began changing to plays and acting companies. William’s father paid the
Queen’s men and the Earl of Worcester’s men to perform, and they came back several times,
allowing the young people and experience they might never forget. They also had other
companies like Leicester, Warwick, Derby, Strange, Berkely and Essex that William had the
opportunity to see. Even stiffer people enjoyed the players and they liked people would could
actually critique their work. Morality plays were a big hit during this time and these players
always kept it interesting for their audiences and had boys like William thirsting for more. These
players were protected because they were loved by the Queen. However, lawful touring groups
stop coming so unlawful ones took their place to provide entertainment. Boys also found
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entertainment in football and wrestling after school. The land behind the Gild Pits provided
Shakespeare with a sense of country that would later come out in his plays in imagery. There
were many beautiful estates owned by Thomas Lucy and the Rainsford’s that showed their
wealth and power. Lucy had guests like the Queen and actors that acted in the troupe Sir
Thomas Lucie’s Players. The Rainsford’s had guests like poet Michael Drayton during the
summer at their estate. Shakespeare was able to notice the rich and poor divide in Stratford
during this time. In the mid 1570’s the price of leather had inflated causing John Shakespeare to
have workers that stole from him and he even began to break laws. In 1570 John was accused of
charging high interest on loans to Walter Musshem, who was a sheep farmer and a business
partner. While this did not ruin his career, John had to worry about other charges against him in
the wool trade. William learned many things about the wool trade such as its worth and the
people who worked in it and with it. John had other fallbacks to assist him during these difficult
wool times likes farming and his shop. All the questioning that was going on could be dangerous
to the Shakespeare’s because of their Catholic beliefs and the nation’s slow turn against it. We
know John did not attend Anglican services, making his lack of Protestant faith more noticeable,
but he said it was so he could avoid his debtors. However, the Shakespeare’s did fall on hard
times, John unable to pay for many things and therefore avoiding borough meetings and paying
taxes. They even lost land from Mary’s brother in law Edmund Lambert because they could not
pay him. John also played his game in illegal wool trade but still could not pay there. His power
and wealth was quickly diminishing. He had gone into the shadows, hiding, while they had more
children, Joan, Anne, Richard, and Edmund. Being the oldest gave William pride in his family
and even referenced Joan in later work. Even though his father was facing a tough downfall, we
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can believe that William still remained close to him and used his school to take his mind off of
family troubles.
John Shakespeare was known as an entrepreneur even though he got into a little legal
trouble with the wool business. Thinking of William and his future name, he could only send
William to the King’s New School, the only grammar school around. We can credit evidence
from Nicholas Rowe talking about John and William when it came to schooling and by the work
William provided in his later plays. The school house was in or close to Gild Hall, but
eventually moved, to a room that was divided and had forty-two boys, the teacher, and the
teacher’s assistant and they “met six days a week for nearly a whole year”. To be able to go to
this kind of school was a big deal during this time because many children did not make it through
the beginning, or “petty” school. William took in the information like a sponge. Students had
class starting at 6 a.m. and ending at 5:30 p.m. Memorization was key for schooling so William
memorized Latin from age 7 to 15. His learning of Latin would later help him in his writing
because he was able to be more precise and get to the point without the overuse of English
words. Aside from Latin though, schoolboys did not learn much of anything that would be
useful later on. It is believed his reading was not that great but he learned a lot from listening to
his classmates joke around. Parents approved of the education being received at the grammar
school, learning from the Grammar and Lily’s Brevissima Institutio. The teaching of Latin and
Greek was important to British teachers. This type of training would prepare students to write
for literary enriched audiences and think about what is to come for their lives. Even though the
school learned from Terrence writing, William liked the work of Plautus, who was deemed too
coarse to be taught. You could say school lasted seven days because students were required to
learn during sermons, homilies, and the Bible. They were taught about religion in school, having
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to do daily devotions and sing psalms. There was the big question about the English language
since students were learning so much about Latin, and then came books like Perambulation of
Kent and Hollinshed’s Chronicles showing the importance and pride of country and the
language. One teacher of William’s, Simon Hunt, was known to throw things and break
windows when students were rowdy, which plays into the world Shakespeare saw which was
crazy, mishap schools. Thomas Jenkins and John Cotton were two of William’s teachers, who
were both Catholic but supported the Queen. It is believed that Jenkins introduced Ovid’s Latin
version of Metamorphoses and an English version from Golding as well to William. William
loved the English version and would continue to work on and learn from it. If William were just
like how he was taught to be in school he would be a follower and not the creative man he came
to be so this constant try for him to be a follower would cause his dislike for it. While other boys
were to stay in the shadows, William wanted to take from the great works and make them
something individual and original. School boys were taught the way of great language and
rhetoric but their surroundings did not allow this to flourish. We can see this in the stiffness of
William’s early plays. Schools caused students like William to not be able to harness in their
literary talent and eventually do work that had nothing to do with it. They were outwardly
developed but neglected inward development. Shakespeare eventually is able to work past the
straight laced verbal training and use his education of rhetoric in his plays with clowns or jesters
to poke fun at them. Times were changing the older William got, with clothes no longer
reflecting power and there was a social revolution on the rise. Even though he was receiving
education, William loved to have the physical experience and he once found that in deer hunting.
We believe that he quit school around age 15 to help out at home, but at this time this was not
unusual. His teachers however did not notice his early genius because there is no record of him
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being sent somewhere to further this education but we believe these teachers pushed plays on
him.
It is unsure if William went to teach after he left school because there is no record of a
license and he was only good at Latin. Other than that boys left to be seven year apprentices. It
is believed he might have been a tutor or servant to the wealthy Hoghton family but it is unsure
as the evidence is light. However, going off of this we can possibly believe that Shakespeare
spent time in Northern England and some troupe under the Derby or Strange name performed a
few of William’s early plays. It is believed he spent sometime in the North as well because he
was able to write about landscapes not of Stratford. We learn that Cottom, one of William’s
teachers, was friends with the Hoghton’s. They both had Catholic backgrounds just like
Shakespeare’s family. However, there is not concrete evidence that William went north and if he
did, why? The evidence we do have is of a “Shakeshafte” being Hoghton’s servant. If he was
like the rest of his family he would be able to earn the trust of those around him despite his lack
of other training. If William did work for Hoghton he would have lived in a place where things
were slightly that of old times with outrageous number of servants and displays of loyalty. There
is a connection between Shakespeare and Lady Heskeths because in 1581 “Shakeshafte” was
referred to them in Hoghton’s will and later when the Globe Theatre was built, Savage from
Rufford as a trustee. Shakespeare may have gotten his love of the past from where he was or at
his own home because he wrote nine of eighteen plays about history. If William was
“Shakeshafte” he would have experience teaching children plays. Also, connecting him to
Hoghton would make sense because of his early plays are linked with troupe’s with Houghton,
Strange, and Hesketh. William came back to Stratford at 18 in 1582.
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William had relations with the Hathaway’s oldest daughter Anne, and she was pregnant
with his child around 27 when he was still a minor. It is believed he married young because of
his stifling experience in grammar school and he was thirsting for other experiences. Even
though his father was in debt, he would not end up poor because he kept up with his trades. It is
believed he used a pun with her name Hathaway in Sonnet 145 as “hate-away” but this is unsure.
They were not strangers before they married, their families working with each other and William
was welcome at their house. Even though they could be tried for their child out of wedlock they
had Anne’s father and Fulke Sandells on their side to legitimize the marriage and child. There
was religious tension in the area and William learned to be discreet and also to not take sides,
which plays into his works later on where he present both sides but no better side. Their families
were typical of Catholic ones at the time, who kept their faith hidden behind the guise of the
Anglican Church. Many of their close friends, including their daughter, would be called to court
for religious reasons. William admired Anne for her strength through loss and fell in love with
her. William’s father was not happy with the situation because this kind of scandal could hurt
his business even more. However, they were excited that the lady William was to marry was
Anne because they knew her family well. He had to take on the responsibility of husband and
father immediately which is a daunting task. There was a mishap though on the marriage license
that had William married to “Anne Whately”. He was free to marry but had to recite banns in
church. They went back to live on Henley Street where Shakespeare learned more about law and
had to share the abode with Anne and his parents. He learned through his day to day to be able
to be free in his mind. He eventually was drawn to Davy’s troupe and took interest in them.
Anne and William had a daughter Susanna whose name defies her being born out of wedlock,
because it is pure and spiritual. They eventually had two more children, twins, named Judith and
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Hamneth. This caused financial troubles for Shakespeare and he experienced hardship early on
that many do not experience until later.
The city of London was full of suburbs and shops, people, and workers. It was home to
the largest market and port, and the parliament. It was a bustling capital fit for a young man like
Shakespeare. He needed success in the theatre for success at all. There were many different
areas that hosted their own prominent people and had famous landmarks. The Thames was a
center point in London, as was the Tower of London. Shakespeare refers to the tower frequently
not only because of its romantic side but because of the history is holds. Newsgate was a world
of its own with different unwanted, lower tier citizens. Shakespeare lived around French
Huguenots who were among of group of other undesirable immigrants, and with this vast new
knowledge Shakespeare had a bigger outlook on things. Shakespeare arrived in the area when
theatre was becoming a bigger deal. Plays were put on in a number of areas outside of a theatre,
which the first of those being the Red Lion. There was another theater built just outside of town,
somewhat safe from those who opposed it, and it was an expensive and risky project. With its
own issues, the Rose Theater had become a sink for the builders and investors. However, in
1592, Henry IV Part 1 was performed and it is believed that The Spanish Tragedy and all of
Marlowe’s plays were performed here. Shakespeare enjoyed the theater because it allowed for
the audience to truly see the actors. For a long time Shakespeare was missing from a spot of
records because of the probability he was a “hireling”, though there is no concrete evidence.
During these times, acting was not considered a noble job, and was often paralleled to a beggar.
Later, with other actors and Shakespeare, they formed the Chamberlain’s company. Shakespeare
could have been with the Queen’s men and eventually Strange’s men, but he did not. Troupes
typically performed every day except Sunday and Lent, each member having multiple roles and a
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lot to memorize. He did join a troupe but did not necessarily succeed and his success as a
playwright and poet was slow. However, his time as an actor would help him as a playwright
because he knew what made the audience laugh and applause. Unlike The University Wits,
Shakespeare wrote for his fellow actors. A play could be written in quartos or folios, but folios
were more expensive. Shakespeare wrote Henry IV Part 1, Richard III and Richard II, in quarto
but received nothing for them, and then put thirty-six in a folio. Contrary to popular belief, actors
did not steal each other’s companies’ works and respected that ownership. His early works were
not as good as later ones because he relied heavily on soliloquies and dialogues but eventually
learned to write more freely.
There is the question of how Shakespeare developed not outwardly as an actor of
playwright but how he developed inwardly. There was danger that Shakespeare would have to
rush his works because of the demand, and we can see this in his beginning plays, being very
tight and normal, and not necessarily the creative works his later ones would become. He lived
around other actors who were able to influence him but he also tended to be alone, using the
excuse he had a toothache. He was also influenced by another famous author, Christopher
Marlowe, who came from a similar background. Marlowe was a Cambridge man that influenced
Shakespeare especially in their shared love for writing historic plays, particularly for this time
the Spanish war. Marlowe also helped Shakespeare work on his style of writing, and
Shakespeare showed tribute to him after his death. He borrows Marlowe’s tactics for Henry IV,
Titus, Richard, Hamlet, Coriolanus, and Timon. Shakespeare had the ability when he acted to
not only memorize lines but also invoke a feeling inside of him to make the theatrics something
different. Shakespeare was able to take his background knowledge of class and his own
childhood growing up to also help him in his writing. Shakespeare was able to notice other good
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poets such as Thomas Kyd and the Spanish Tragedy. Also during this time, Puritans began
imprisoning players and having them turn on each other so Shakespeare was taking a chance still
writing. He became basically the servant for a new group of players because he really had no
status and they wanted fame. Shakespeare wrote Henry IV during the plague year and this was
the beginning of his history series, and had minor censorship. He then writes Richard III that
makes it seem like history is happening on the stage.
The plague was happening in London at this time and Shakespeare was also under attack
in Chettle and Greene’s Groats-worth of Witte. The public theater mix was a lot like a church
and Shakespeare saw this and wrote plays towards all types of people in his audience.
Interestingly enough, the players and audience were somehow avoiding the plague because the
fleas did not like the nuts they ate or the bright colors they wore. Shakespeare was successful
because of his ability to be a professional, create easily memorable works, his thick skin, and the
good players who acted his plays. Also, Shakespeare was able to roll with the punches of
theater. However, the plague and riots had caused the theater to be shut down and Shakespeare
was in a spot he had never been in before. Traveling companies were not really an option either
because country towns shut them out because of the dangers of the plague. Robert Greene had a
career like Shakespeare’s, he created raunchy pamphlets among other things but was also a
plagiarizer. After Greene died, Henry Chettle, one of his partners, took some of his work and
called it Greene’s Groat-worth of Witte and basically tore Shakespeare apart. He was not
immune to the humiliation it brought. He then wrote the comedy The Comedy of Errors, and
some believe that the play suggests he was more deeply hurt by Chettle and Greene than he had
let on. His sonnets that he wrote tended to be autobiographical, it was not always clear, and
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during this time of reflection, he thought a lot about himself and they way he and other saw
himself.
During the time of the plague Shakespeare wrote two erotic works for both men and
women that were about rape, seduction, and female grief to oppose the gloomy plague-ridden
London. It is believed Shakespeare wrote more under the name “Hand D” for Sir Thomas
Moore. There is also the question of whether Shakespeare was homosexual or bisexual. There is
vocal evidence that the Earl of Southampton was homosexual and he was a friend of
Shakespeare’s. At this time, men were encouraged to have close relationships but Shakespeare
also understood homosexual feelings. He even writes many of his sonnets with sexual
ambiguity. He began to write many plays for the young earl and eventually wrote to him in
Sonnets 1-17, however not making them obviously about him but about the language of praise
that everyone could relate to. Sonnets, however, became to be outdated and overused, but
Shakespeare used this to his advantage making his sonnets something different than the same old
ones being used over and over again. The first 126 sonnets were geared towards the youth
readers. His sonnets 127-152 deal with the Dark Lady and the obsession with sex. Shakespeare
manages to stay neutral on his stance on morals in his sonnets. He also wrote King John in
which religion is political and upset many people.
After the plague, the theaters two most significant supporters had died and it seemed that
the further Shakespeare’s career went the more trouble it was. There was much difficulty
between players because groups split up and many people were against theater. Two men,
Hudson and Howard, devised a plan to help out some players by having two play groups, the
Admiral’s and the Chamberlain’s men, supported by a family and have a part of England and
keep who they needed to stay happy, happy. Shakespeare took a share in one of the group’s, the
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Chamberlain’s, where it was possible he wrote two plays for them a year. While Shakespeare
was an actor, computer evidence believes that during this time as a playwright he spent more
time writing and less time acting, usually taking very small parts and having less than 300 words
a performance. Because of a butter riot in 1595, all public occurrences were banned, so the
theater was again shut down, hurting Shakespeare’s career. Shakespeare then began writing
about tragedy, first in the form of Romeo and Juliet. Then, he mocks himself and tragedy in
Midsummer Night’s Dream that greatly contrasts from the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet so there
is a question of whether it was written for another occasion. Writing for the Chamberlain’s men
at this time was difficult because there were so many other worries besides the theater that the
work was subpar as was the audience in attendance. So Shakespeare began to write historical
plays since Henry IV went over so well.
By 1596, William Shakespeare had written a handful of great works and had substantial
income. With this it seemed that Shakespeare wanted to become well established in Stratford
with his family who he visited whenever the theater was shut down. It is interesting to find out
that Shakespeare eventually left around 200 shillings to the poor in Stratford in his will. While
he was in Stratford, Shakespeare was finally able to get the coat of arms his father had always
desperately wanted. Shakespeare’s life at home with his wife was good, as she bore him a
handful of children, but it seems she was ill in receiving much from his will and only his
daughter Susanna received a good portion of it. During a sad time in his family’s life, when is
youngest passed away, Shakespeare became more devoted o writing comedies. They eventually
moved into a house that had two murders occur in it and introduced him to murder in the family,
which would play into later works such as Hamlet. It is also believed he wrote the comedies As
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You like It and Twelfth Night to think of something else besides what was going on in his town of
Stratford.
Shakespeare’s most famous theater, The Globe, had its own share of troubles when it was
trying to be built. There is much evidence from The Globe Theater that proves Shakespeare had
his hand in its making. Closer to the end of Shakespeare’s life, the owner was John Bodley.
Shakespeare became part holder of the Globe. It was like many other theaters in its build and
necessities, but soon had competition like the Fortune Theater. Julius Caesar was a popular
show performed at the Globe because it was suitable for all ages but had small pokes at the
audience. Next, Shakespeare wrote Hamlet which is thought to be the play that made William
the revered poet he is today. There was a Poets’ war in the 1590s that dealt with child actors in
the theater, and Shakespeare managed to stay out of it. Hamlet is a play that was relevant to the
times, and it was a complex tragedy that matched its satire. Hamlet is different than anything
Shakespeare has written because it is so different and unique that the reader can tell the writer of
the poem was confident in his work. While the work of Hamlet seemed easy, Shakespeare took
a long time with it and worked very hard for the outcome. It has so many things that make it
great, from the family concept to the inward blunder of Hamlet himself, Shakespeare goes places
that no one has really dared to go before. With this success, Shakespeare bought more land in
Stratford to show his influence. At this time, despite the success of Hamlet, Shakespeare and his
players were in trouble because the Queen who was a supporter would surely go soon, and their
current patron could not help them. When the Queen died, King James of Scotland came to
power and he still allowed Shakespeare and other players to continue their art. The King paid for
them to play for him and so they took out jabs towards the Scots in all plays, however after they
played for him they did not really have any elevated status. The Queen also had many talented
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people in her court because she loved the arts. It is noted that Shakespeare has this ability to give
each character its own importance and make their character real. In the early 1600’s tragedy
plays drew in the crowds. In the plays written around this time as well Shakespeare makes sure
to make his feelings ambiguous and show no favor to one side so he does not sway the
audience’s opinion.
There was a woman, Jennet who Shakespeare befriended. She was previously married
and gave birth to a number of stillborn children. She remarried and had seven children, one of
which became a dramatist and Shakespeare was believed to be his godfather. There was a rumor
that Shakespeare had an affair with this woman but there is no evidence. He did stay with many
different people while he was in London. He even got in a tangle with one family he lived with
who took their dispute to court and took Shakespeare with them. The play King Lear went over
well with King James and it became to be a famous piece. He took some of his ideas from
Hollinshed’s Chronicles to help him with the historical aspects. Shakespeare returned to
Stratford after London, when his daughter Susanna was to be married at age 24 to John Hall. He
was excited for this marriage as the act of the father giving his daughter up was sacred. It is well
known that Shakespeare loved Susanna from his will and when he refers to her in later poems.
Around the time she was married; the plague was on and off with its brutality and the King’s
Men still wanted to play at the Globe. To keep the money flowing, Shakespeare had to cater to
the upper-class citizens who supported him and his players. He brings up the idea of females
distrusting sexuality in his sonnets, particularly Measure for Measure. When Shakespeare opens
The Tempest he sheds light on his view of social realism and it was his final farewell. He uses
this tragicomedy to keep viewers and readers searching for life. During a show, the actor playing
King Henry shot a cannon that would burn down the entire Globe Theater. Eventually it was the
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end of Shakespeare’s career. It was only him and his sister left in their group of siblings. He
kind of stayed away in the shadows for a while so that some people forgot he was alive. His
daughter had sued a man for claiming she had gonorrhea when she was married and had five
children. The town respected Shakespeare for his works and what he had done throughout his
life. He died around 1662 because of a fever. Only a fraction of Shakespeare’s work has
survived and his popularity grew immensely after his death.
After reading Shakespeare: A Life by Park Honan, I appreciate the works that I have read
all semester. It has made what I have learned so far about Shakespeare come together and as I
was reading, I was not in the dark about how and why he wrote certain plays, etc. It was a nice
finale to the semester. I do, however, feel that the book was a kind of dark side to Shakespeare’s
life. While that is only my opinion, I just felt that I have read other biographies on Shakespeare
that seemed brighter. I can also understand though that this is the exact reason that this book was
considered different because it did not fantasize about what Shakespeare’s life was like, but
worked with facts and concrete evidence to form assumptions that were probably true. I learned
more about Shakespeare’s early life than I had before and more about how his life was as an
actor. Amazingly, I did not know before that he was also an actor and not only a playwright. I
wish the book would have been a little more concise with its details because there were times I
felt that the author talked about things that were unimportant to the grand picture of
Shakespeare’s life. Overall, this book was able to put everything I have learned this semester
into one clear, flowing picture and allowed me to notice connections and parallels I had not
realized before.