Stratford England is a market town in the southern area of the county of Warwickshire. Today the town has many thriving and prominent theatres though its greatest playwright existed three hundred years ago. This of course is William Shakespeare. He was born and raised in Stratford and is often referred to as the Bard of Avon, a direct association to the river on which the town lies. Due to its being the origin of one of, if not the greatest writer in the history of the English language, millions of tourists descend on its streets every year and fill the Stratford hotels to capacity.
Shakespeare was born in April of 1564 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. His father was John Shakespeare, a well known and successful glove maker and his mother was Mary Arden, of the prominent Arden family. The family was well respected in the community and his father served on the city council. There is strong evidence that Shakespeare’s early life involved an apprenticeship with his father and learned the trade of glove making. There are references in his works to various aspects of this field and the dynamics of leather working and its various properties.
It was while he was still in Stratford that he met, fell in love with and married Anne Hathaway. She would stay in this town and raise their children after Shakespeare had move on to London and began his career, first as an actor, and then as the leading playwright of the time. Shakespeare remained true to his family and provided all of their economic and financial needs. He was able to buy a large house for them to move into. The couple had three children, Judith, Hamnet and Susanna. Unfortunately Hamnet did not make it to adulthood and died when he was only eleven years old. There are many theories that suggest Shakespeare’s grief over the loss of his son was the topic of many of his sonnets and may have been connected to his choice of Hamlet as the name for one of his greatest tragic heroes.
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