The Shortest William Shakespeare Biography Ever

Let’s start with a couple disclaimers. First, I wouldn’t refer to this biography as the official, authorized one. Second, there might be even shorter ones, making my claim a little shaky. In any event, if you want to sound smart and/or improve at Jeopardy!, you have to know a little about Shakespeare. I’ve been told he’s one of the greatest English-language writers of all time, though that didn’t come across in the CliffsNotes I read in high school. Regardless, here is the shortest William Shakespeare biography ever, as in 10 numbers long. (Some dates and details may be approximate.) I used Who Was William Shakespeare? as a guide.

 

1564

The year Shakespeare was born. His birth took place in Stratford-upon-Avon, a small market town on the Avon River about 100 miles northwest of London. While the exact date is not known, April 23 is the most common day of celebration.

 

1582

The year Shakespeare married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, perhaps prompted in part by a pregnancy. The couple would have three children, with the latter two being twins, one of whom unfortunately died in 1596 at age 11.

 

1585

The start of a seven-year period in Shakespeare’s life that—due to a dearth of information—is referred to by scholars as the lost years (the second such period if the years 1578 – 1582 are also considered lost). At some point in this period, Shakespeare landed in London without his family, setting the stage for some good stuff to come.

 

1589

The year Shakespeare’s first play may have been performed. Some believe it was Henry VI, Part 1. Others list The Two Gentleman of Verona.

 

1594

The year a theater company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later changed to the King’s Men) was formed. Shakespeare would become part owner of the company, which in 1599 built the Globe, an iconic theater on the southern bank of the Thames River. The theater closed in 1642, though a modern reconstruction has been in place since 1997.

 

1603

The year Queen Elizabeth I died. Born in 1533, Good Queen Bess ruled for much of Shakespeare’s life. Her relatively peaceful reign and love of the arts are sometimes credited with paving the way for a vibrant theater scene. As she never married, her death marked the end of the Tudor Dynasty. Her cousin, King James VI of Scotland, doubled as King James I of England upon her passing (and requested the aforementioned name change of Shakespeare’s theater company).

 

38

One commonly accepted figure regarding the number of plays that Shakespeare wrote. He also wrote 154 sonnets and a variety of other poems. There are theories that some works attributed to Shakespeare were actually written by more formally educated writers, though no such hypotheses have gained general acceptance.

 

10

The number of tragedies—per one classification—in Shakespeare’s portfolio of plays. These include classics like Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. His other plays are typically classified as comedies and histories, with various fourth categories showing up on some lists.

 

1,700

An estimate of the number of words in the English language attributed to Shakespeare. This number does not imply invention but rather indicates the first known written record (and subsequent popularization) of such words.

 

1616

The year Shakespeare—back in Stratford-upon-Avon—died. At the time of his passing at age 52, he was a wealthy man and had lived longer than any of his seven siblings.

 

This somewhat abridged William Shakespeare biography, coupled with a few tidbits about classical music, will make you come across as rather refined. No one needs to know that you spend your weekends eating chicken wings and watching football.