Just six years before his birth Elizabeth I became queen of England in 1558. It was a time of great history and relative political stability, followed and preceded by eras of upheaval.
For the time being, arts held a great importance; theaters thrived and playwrights were active including William Shakespeare. Theater was central to Elizabethan social life leading to great buildings and the development of companies of actors, both professional and amateur. It did receive criticism. Puritan leaders of the Church of England considered actors to be of questionable character, criticizing playwrights for using the stage to disseminate irreverent opinions and censoring plays for profanity, heresy, or politics. Concerns were handled with loosely enforced rules prohibiting the …show more content…
Their first child, Susanna, was born in 1583, and twins, Hamnet and Judith, came in 1585. Shakespeare's only son, died at the age of 11. His older daughter Susanna married a Stratford doctor, John Hall and had a child named Elizabeth. Just months before his death, Judith married Thomas Quiney, a Stratford vintner. Even so, the family subsequently died out, leaving no direct descendants. (cite) In the years ahead, Anne and the children lived in Stratford while Shakespeare worked in London.
The seven years following the twins birth are titled his “Lost Years” due to incomplete, contradictory and unreliable telling of his whereabouts. During this time William Shakespeare disappears from all records until 1592 where he reappears in as an “upstart crow flapping his poetic wings in London”, according to a pamphlet by Robert Green. Now an established actor and playwright, Shakespeare became shareholder of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a popular acting company in London, in 1594. He remained a member of this company for the rest of his career, often playing before the court of Queen Elizabeth I.
For the time being, arts held a great importance; theaters thrived and playwrights were active including William Shakespeare. Theater was central to Elizabethan social life leading to great buildings and the development of companies of actors, both professional and amateur. It did receive criticism. Puritan leaders of the Church of England considered actors to be of questionable character, criticizing playwrights for using the stage to disseminate irreverent opinions and censoring plays for profanity, heresy, or politics. Concerns were handled with loosely enforced rules prohibiting the …show more content…
Their first child, Susanna, was born in 1583, and twins, Hamnet and Judith, came in 1585. Shakespeare's only son, died at the age of 11. His older daughter Susanna married a Stratford doctor, John Hall and had a child named Elizabeth. Just months before his death, Judith married Thomas Quiney, a Stratford vintner. Even so, the family subsequently died out, leaving no direct descendants. (cite) In the years ahead, Anne and the children lived in Stratford while Shakespeare worked in London.
The seven years following the twins birth are titled his “Lost Years” due to incomplete, contradictory and unreliable telling of his whereabouts. During this time William Shakespeare disappears from all records until 1592 where he reappears in as an “upstart crow flapping his poetic wings in London”, according to a pamphlet by Robert Green. Now an established actor and playwright, Shakespeare became shareholder of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a popular acting company in London, in 1594. He remained a member of this company for the rest of his career, often playing before the court of Queen Elizabeth I.