The Author The Author William Shakespeare Between the record of his baptism on 26 April 1564 and the record of his burial on 25 April 1616, many other documents name William Shakespeare and his family because they were important members of the community in Stratford-upon-Avon. Mary Arden, the dramatist s mother, was the daughter of a substantial landowner; about 1557 she married John Shakespeare, who was a glove-maker and trader in various farm articles. Between 1557 and 1577 John Shakespeare held important town offices: alderman1 (entitling him to the appellation Mr. ) in 1565 and high bailiff (the town s highest political office, equivalent to mayor) in 1568. So, quite reasonably, William Shakespeare attended the local Grammar School, where Oxford graduates taught Latin, Logic, and Literature; Mathematics and the Natural Sciences were not on the curriculum. On 27 November 1582, a marriage licence was issued2 to William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior. The couple had a child in May 1583, twins (a boy and a girl) two years later. Not much is known about the following period nor about Shakespeare s departure from Stratford to London. It is said William Shakespeare was a schoolteacher for some time and that he was forced to leave Stratford after poaching3 deer and rabbits on a private estate, but no evidence supports these legends. In 1592, Robert Greene, a famous London playwright4 and pamphleteer, attacked Shakespeare defining him an upstart crow5, an actor who had presumed to turn playwright using other people s ideas and words. It is clear that by then Shakespeare had become prominent in the theatre and his success had created envy6 among his fellow dramatists. 1. alderman: member of the town Council. 2. issued: given. 3. poaching: killing without permission. 4. playwright: author of theatre plays. 5. upstart crow: raven (bird of prey) that has suddenly become famous. 6. envy: the feeling that you wish you had something that someone else has. 4