My favourite English writers Plan

Shakespeare’s Marriage and Children : Parish records show that when Shakespeare was 18 years old he married Anne Hatheway, a 26 or 27 year old wealthy farmer’s daughter, in Canterbury Province, Worcester.
Anne was three months pregnant when they married , with their first daughter, Susana, born on the 26^th May 1583. William and Anne went on to have twins Hamnet (a boy) and Judith (a girl), born on the 2^nd February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at 11 years old, but Willliam’s daughters and wife outlived him. Judith went on to marry Thomas Quinney in 1616 and had three sons: Shakespeare, Richard and Thomas. Shakespeare died in infancy and Richard and Thomas both died bachelors in 1639 leaving behind no legitimate descendants sister Joan who married William Hart some time before 1600.
Shakespeare’s Lost Years: The seven year period after the birth of Hamnet and Judith is known as Shakespeare’s ‘lost years’ as there are no recordings about him visiting London in 1616 to see his son-in-low, John Hall.
Speculation about this time is rife. One prominent speculative theory is that Shakespeare fled from Stratford to avoid prosecution as a poacher. This theory could explain why he left his wife and children in Stratford reappeared 90 miles away in London. Other theories are that Shakespeare toured with an acting trouped possibly in Italy. This latter theory is given weight as 14 plus of his plays include Italian setting, and a 16^th Century guest book in Rome signed by pilgrims includes three cryptic signings that some attribute to Shakespeare. This is not a watertight argument though because Italian literature would have been widely read at the time. In addition, there is speculation that Shakespeare met John Florio, an apostle of Italian culture in England and tutor to Shakespeare’s patron; Henry Writhesley, the Earl of Southampton. The possibility that Shakespeare was a soldier has also been debated widely but there is no proof to support this claim. The truth is though that no one actually knows where Shakespeare lived or worked. What historians are certain of is that during this time Shakespeare left behind the image of a country youth and re- emerged as a playwright and businessman, so at some point during this time he learned his trade as a writer in London.
Shakespeare in London: The late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century is referred to as the golden age of English drama, due to the popularity of theatre, and volume of plays produced at that time. There was fierce competition among the twenty or theatres in London, keeping scores of writers busy churning out new plays. Shakespeare became one of those writers, though we are not sure exactly how this occurred.
It seems that Shakespeare did not maintain a London household, but lived in several lodgings with landlords and other lodgers during his London years. He was always within walking distance of the theatre zone, so we can imagine him walking to work every day.
By the early 1590s court record show Shakespeare was living some where in Bishopsgate , London. By then he had written Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love’s Labours Lost and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II and The Merchant of Venice. He seems to

have been interested in writing poems: in addition to his day job of writing plays – he also wrote his two long poems , Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrese. Not only that, but this is the period when he started work on his sonnets.

In 1595 documents show that Shakespeare was a shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, along with William Kempe and Burbage . Shakespeare was involved with this company of actors in London for most of his career, as actor, producer, theatre owner and, of course a very popular playwright.