Page 6 - As you like it demo

Anti-Stratfordians — modern scholars who question the authorship of
Shakespeare’s plays — have used this lack of information to argue that William
Shakespeare either never existed or, if he did exist, did not write any of the plays
we attribute to him. They believe that another historical figure, such as Francis
Bacon or Queen Elizabeth I, used the name as a cover. Whether or not a man
named William Shakespeare ever actually existed is ultimately secondary to the
recognition that the group of plays bound together by that name does exist and
continues to educate, enlighten, and entertain us.

William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

When Shakespeare was born in 1564, Elizabeth I was the reigning monarch of
England. He was raised in the little town of Stratford-upon-Avon and attended
the grammar school there. His father was a trader who produced and sold gloves
there. Shakespeare did not attend college after he graduated from high school;
instead, he may have worked for his father’s company. He married Anne
Hathaway when he was eighteen, and she became the mother of his twins in
1585 as well as his daughter Susanna in 1583.

There is nothing noteworthy or even unique about this tale. No documentation
exist that can shed any light on Shakespeare. Yet, we now know that he was well-
known in London in 1592 and that he was a playwright as well as an actor.

In his comedies, young people fall in love with one another and eventually get
married and live happily ever after. He also created romantic love stories.
Shakespeare composed some sad, sour, and tragic plays at the end of the
sixteenth century. There may have been some sadness in the writer’s life that
led to this shift (his only son died in 1596). Yet, Shakespeare was not the only
author at this time whose works were extremely serious. England as a whole was
in trouble. Elizabeth I was advancing in years. The thought that she will soon
pass away broke the hearts of those who cherished her; they were also afraid,
because the queen had never married, and so there was no child to succeed her.

Shakespeare continued to write serious theatre, including the major tragedies

4 As You Like It - William Shakespeare