King King
...eare and Anne Hathaway of Stratford" (Encyclopedia Americana 104). In only a few short years, the newlyweds gave birth to Susanna, who was baptized on May 26, 1583, then twins Hamnet and Judith, who were baptized on February 2, 1585. Unfortunately, the boy Hamnet, Shakespeare's only son, died 11 years later (Britannica 254). Shakespeare and his new family didn't stay long in Stratford and eight years after the birth of his twins, they moved to London. There are many theories as to what Shakespeare had done in those eight years and what made him move. "The most accepted theory is that he worked odd jobs for minimal pay and decided to move to London to avoid getting in trouble for poaching deer in the park of Sir Thomas Lucy, a local justice of the peace" (Encarta 96). As funny as it seems, it is on record that Shakespeare was caught poaching deer; however, there is no indication of a punishment, leaving room for rumors to begin about why he actually moved. Once the Shakespeare family moved to London in 1588, they needed a start. He began working in the Globe Theater and in his spare time wrote his first poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrese in 1594, once people started reading his plays and watching him on stage. They then realized that Shakespeare was a talented man. Other works began to circulate around like his Sonnets which drew more attention and fame to his name. The hard part was behind him and Shakespeare now had a base to his career as a writer and entertainer (Encyclopedia Americana 104). "Shakespeare's works are usually divided into different groups, according to the time periods in which they were written" (Encarta '96). His first plays, often called his worst because they were experimentations, fit into the First Period. These plays are characterized by stylized verse and obvious construction. It is already known that Shakespeare probably loved historical events and thus it is not surprising that his earliest works are the historically accurate Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III (1590), and Richard III (1593). These are known for their bloody detail and horrendous language, such that also appears in Titus Andronicus (1594). His comedies from this period include: The Comedy of Errors (1592), The Taming Of The Shrew (1593), The Two Gentlemen Of Verona (1594), and Love's Labour's Lost (1594). Shakespeare's second period shows his more important plays which were concerned with history, comedy, and tragedy. During this period, his style and approach became more mature and individualized. The historical plays include Richard II (1595), Henry IV, Parts I, II (1597), and Henry V (1598), all of which show excellent examples of Shakespeare's new, mature writing style. The outstanding comedies, which include the best of all the periods are: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595), The Merchant of Venice (1596), Much Ado About Nothing (1599), As You Like It (1599), The Twelfth Night (1600), and The Merry Wives of Windsor (1599). His two most famous tragedies, Romeo and Juliet (1595) and Julias Caesar (1599), are also included in this period. This period began to show quotes that seemed to linger in people's minds, such as the quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream, "The course of true love never did run smooth" (A Midsummer Night's Dream 1.1.134). The Third Period includes more of the tragedies than anything else. It seems as if after seeing the success and popularity that Romeo and Juliet and Julias Caesar brought him, he decided that more tragedies would do his reputation nothing but good. Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1605), Antony and Cleopatra (1606), Macbeth (1606), Troilus and Cresside (1602), Coriolanus (1608), and Timon of Athens (1608) are the tragedies that were done in this period. "Each of them presents such an uncontrollable amount of action that the audience can't resist being emotionally attached to all of the actors" (Reese 6). There were also two comedies in this period: All's Well That Ends Well (1602), and Measure For Measure (1604). Both of these plays question the ways of Shakespearean people, but they surprisingly don't give better alternatives. (Encarta 96). The Fourth and final period includes his principal romantic tragic- comedies. Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1608), Cymbeline (1610), and The Winter's Tale (1611), were his last complete plays. While using a humorous atmosphere, Shakespeare stages the dramatic plots, creating a mixture of two of his best types of plays. Besides containing the least amount of Shakespeare's works, it also contains the most controversial. The two final plays, almost always ascribed to Shakespeare, are probably the works of a collaboration. The historical drama, Henry VIII (1613), is believed to also be written with the English dramatist John Fletcher, and so is The Two Noble Kinsmen (1613; published 1634). "When these rumors began to circulate, Shakespeare's name began to be the center of attention, attention he did not want. People against him used this as an example to show how one man alone could not excel in writing as Shakespeare did" (Burgess 101). Toward the end of Shakespeare's career, he began to settle down. The family moved back to Stratford and bought a summer house they called New Place and they became leading local citizens (Encarta 96). With no records that show why, William Shakespeare died in 1616 and is buried in Stratford church. After his deat...