5) Why do we know so little about Shakespeare’s life?

The mystery of Shakespeare’s genius is something we will probably never solve, and any attempt to understand how a human mind can be so creative fails even the most learned scholars. Efforts to achieve a clear idea of what Shakespeare looked like are only partially successful, and how any man can come to know so much about so many things in one short lifetime is beyond us. Still, with what little information there is about the man, we’ve put together the following Shakespeare biography.

Perhaps the most fascinating thing is why we know so little about Shakespeare’s life. He is a shadowy figure, and that is almost unbelievable, considering that during the last two decades of his life he was so famous. Going to plays was the most popular pastime during those decades and he was the most successful and popular playwright in London. He regularly performed at the courts of two monarchs and partially owned the Globe – London’s most prominent theatre. During the last few years of his life he was one of Stratford’s leading figures. And yet he lies hidden in obscurity.

6) What did Shakespeare do besides writing plays and sonnets?

Shakespeare also wrote sonnets and long narrative poems. Besides writing comedies, tragedies and history plays, William Shakespeare wrote many poems. He wrote 157 sonnets and three long poems, "Venus and Adonis," "The Rape of Lucrece, "The Passionate Pilgrim," The Phoenix and Turtle," and "A Lover's Complaint." At some point in the late 1580s, Shakespeare made the four-day ride to London, and by 1592 had established himself as a writer. In 1594 came the event that changed the course of literary history – Shakespeare joined Richard Burbage’s acting company and became its chief playwright for the next two decades. Here, Shakespeare was able to hone his craft, writing for a regular group of performers.Shakespeare also worked as an actor in the theater company, although the lead roles were always reserved for Burbage himself. Like his father, Shakespeare had excellent business sense. He had bought the largest house in Stratford-upon-Avon by 1597, he owned shares in the Globe Theater, and profited from some real estate deals near Stratford-upon-Avon in 1605. Before long, Shakespeare officially became a gentleman, partly due to his own wealth and partly due to inheriting a coat of arms from his father who died in 1601.

7) What was the most popular form of entertainment in Elizabethan England?

In Elizabethan England, during the times when plays were not completely outlawed, going to the theatre was the favourite activity of the masses. When disease ravaged London, actors would travel across the English countryside, entertaining farmers. There were also many days devoted to feasting, such as Mad Day, Midsummer Day, and Ascension Day, when people would drink and make merry. Dances were popular, whether you lived in London or in a small town, and so was getting together at the local pub for sing-alongs. Games like chess, checkers, and tennis were extremely popular; Miranda plays chess in The Tempest and Queen Elizabeth herself was known to love the game. Reading was also very popular, and most educated people could read their favourite books in more than one language. The upper classes engaged in tournaments of fencing and hunted for sport. All classes seemed to delight in the vicious form of entertainment known as bear-baiting, but it was without doubt Queen Elizabeth's favourite pastime. Much as the royal patron of Shakespeare and Burbage was inclined to favour the players, she waxed indignant when the attractions of the bear garden paled before those of the theatre; and in 1591 an order issued from the privy-council forbidding plays to be acted on Thursdays, because bear-baiting and such pastimes had usually been practised on that day. This order was followed by an injunction from the lord mayor to the same effect, in which his lordship complained, ' that in divers places, the players do use to recite their plays to the great hurt and destruction of the game of bear-baiting, and such-like pastimes, which are maintained for her majesty's pleasure.'