Interesting facts about William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was one of the greatest dramatists of the world and mostly known for his plays which are popular around the world even after hundreds of years of his death. Everything is known about this man. However, the man has become one of the top popular historical figures of the world. Some of the fascinating facts about this great playwright are noted here for you. Hope you would enjoy reading them.



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Spelling variation:

There are a wide number of variations found about the spelling of this man’s name. There are no problems with the first name of this dramatist but the spelling of ‘Shakespeare’ got the dissimilarities. Even in the present age, the last part of his name is spelt in different ways.

Same date of birth and death:

Traditionally, it is believed that Shakespeare was born on April 23 in 1564. And this was the national day for England. Interestingly, the recorded death date is the same – April 23 in 1616. He lived for 52 years on this planet. And he was born under the Julian calendar.

Mysterious figure:

William Shakespeare is one of the most mysterious figures of history. In fact, some of the days of his life are missing and there are no traces of them. As a result, a hypothesis was created that someone or some people were using this name as a front to create literary works.

Son of an illegal trader:

Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare used to get involved in different types of business. But he preferred illegal activities like money lending or trading with wool. As a result, he was prosecuted several times.

Married to an older woman:

Shakespeare got married to Anna Hathaway. He was 18 while his wife was 26. She was a pregnant woman before getting married to Shakespeare and around eight years older than him. But their married life was completely balanced and they lived happily. They had three children together.

An actor:

Shakespeare was an enlisted actor. He also took part in acting in line with writing plays. But he played the minor roles in the plays. The roles brought him more time to compose the plays which made him famous around the world.

A great scholar:

Though there are fewer pieces of evidence that Shakespeare had formal education, he was a great scholar of his time. He wrote a large number of quotes that we use in our everyday life. Spoken English is enriched by this great playwright.

The King’s Men:

Shakespeare formed a company to continue his playwriting and after a certain time, the company became the official player of King James I. Since then the company was known as The King’s Men. It was a great honour for the dramatist and his fellow artists to perform in the Court of the King.

Sonnets:

Shakespeare composed many sonnets. Though they basically romantic poems, they were addressed in various issues. Around 154 sonnets were composed by Shakespeare but this is not known still today that whom he addressed the sonnets. Based on the sonnets, it is assumed that Shakespeare was bisexual. In 1609, the sonnets were published and interestingly, no permissions were taken before publishing the sonnets.

Play themes:

Most of the plays written by Shakespeare were based on histories. Besides, he also connected some of his plays with the earlier plays and of course with his poems. It was usual that the plays would be written in this order at that time.

Shakespeare’s Will:

Before his death, Shakespeare made a will where he gifted many of his belongings to many people intimate to him but donated almost all of his real estate to his daughter. Moreover, he also left something for his wife – a bed only with bedclothes.

A wealthy man:

Shakespeare became a wealthy man of his time. All of his wealth was gathered by his own attempts. He owned a huge property, formed a business company. He also earned a lot by writing plays.

Wrote his epitaph:

Shakespeare composed his own epitaph. It forbids people to disturb him in his grave. And he also cursed those who will try to disturb him after the death. So, the grave he is lying in is still untouched.

Collaborative writer:

In his lifetime, Shakespeare has composed lots of plays. But some of his pieces were collaborative. Some other writers contributed to his writing. He also contributed in a similar manner.

Comedy and Tragedy:

The most impressive plays of Shakespeare were comedies and tragedies. All the comedies ended with marriage while the tragedies ended with deaths, to be more specific in this case – suicide. The protagonists of the tragedies committed suicides.

Male actors:

In that era, it was forbidden for women to perform in theatres. So, the roles composed for females were mostly played by male artists. Some of the female characters of his plays have been played by male actors.

Damaged the Globe Theatre:

The renowned Globe Theater was burnt in fire shot from a cannon while performing the Henry VIII on the stage. It took around a year to rebuild the theatre.


Based on the points above, it is clear that Shakespeare was one of the most impressive individuals in the world. He had a great contribution to the development of English plays and literature. His writings are now the subject of analysis for many of the scholars of the present day. However, he is admired around the world and people enthusiastically celebrate his birth and death anniversary.