Researchers still cannot say with certainty the date of his birth. Moreover, more and more scientists are inclined to think that in fact all these brilliant works were written by another person …
Merchant's son
It is believed that William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1564, where he was baptized three days later. However, other sources indicate other dates, and in many, April 26 appears as the date of birth. And it is already impossible to determine where the truth is, because practically no documents, letters, or even genuine Shakespeare's manuscripts have survived to this day.
William's father was a small artisan and merchant - he made gloves, sold timber, barley, wool, and not very successfully. In addition to the future playwright, the family had seven more children.
It is practically not known where Shakespeare studied, there is only information that in Stratford-upon-Avon there was an ordinary free school, where they gave a minimum of knowledge - most likely, he attended it.
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And then another mystery arises in Shakespeare's life - it is not clear how the simplest family and ordinary school gave the world a poet of such a high level with amazing knowledge in the widest areas of science and art? Indeed, at that time, there was practically no such fashionable now concept as "social lift" - the ability to easily get from one social stratum to another thanks to a very good education.
In England in the 16th century, most of the children of artisans became artisans, and only children from very rich and noble families could receive a serious education and join the best examples of culture and art.
A thousand words
Meanwhile, Shakespeare, the son of an ordinary artisan, judging by his works, possessed truly encyclopedic knowledge - his vocabulary was about 20 thousand words, while an ordinary person of that time could hardly exceed 2 thousand. Shakespeare's contemporary Francis Bacon had a vocabulary of 9-10 thousand words, and the vocabulary of a modern educated Englishman was no more than 4 thousand words. Moreover, Shakespeare himself expanded the English language - he introduced 3200 new words into it.
In addition, the playwright knew foreign languages - Italian, French, Latin, Greek, and he read classical Greek and Roman works in the original - Homer, Plautus, Ovid, Seneca, Plutarch, perfectly knew Greco-Roman mythology. Researchers have established from quotes from Shakespeare that he read Montaigne, Ronsard, Ariosto, Boccaccio and many other famous authors of the past.
He easily talks about the political realities of the past and the present, showing awareness of the life of kings and courtiers - he talks about this with such knowledge of the matter, as if he himself is one of the most powerful of this world … German Chancellor Otto Bismarck once wrote about Shakespeare that “the poet was involved in government affairs and behind-the-scenes political life."
Analysis of Shakespeare's dramas, chronicles, sonnets shows that he was versed in jurisprudence, world history, music and even botany - in his works there are the names of 63 plants. In addition, he knew medicine and anatomy well.
The playwright was well versed in military affairs, including the naval one - the most complex and rich in special terms. Shakespeare skillfully described the life of aristocrats and the rules of etiquette, hunting scenes and much more.
Judging by the works of Shakespeare, he visited many countries, traveled all over Italy, perfectly knew all the details of the area that are difficult to describe, never seeing them.
As Shakespeare scholar John Mitchell put it, Shakespeare was 'a writer who knew everything.'
Meanwhile, the biography of the "real" Shakespeare says that he never left England. At 18, he married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, with whom he later had three children. At the same time, it is known that the young couple lived rather modestly at first. This is followed by a failure of several years in the biography of the "official" Shakespeare, after which he suddenly finds himself in the London Globe Theater, where his plays are constantly staged. In 1599, Shakespeare - co-owner of the "Globe" and quite a wealthy man, he even received the right to the family coat of arms and the title of nobility. In 1612 he left London and returned to his hometown. On March 25, 1616, the playwright drew up a will and died on April 23, 1616, on his supposed birthday (another mystery!).
As the French literary critic and historian Hippolyte Taine wrote in the 19th century: “Our knowledge of Shakespeare is limited to information about birth, marriage, and moving to London. We are only sure that he remade other people's plays, made a will and died."
By the way, the will is also full of riddles: firstly, it was written by a notary from the words of Shakespeare, and secondly, his literary works do not appear in it, but all the things from his house are listed, including the old tin pepper shaker. Moreover, according to the inventory, there is not a single book in his house!
And modern graphologists, having studied Shakespeare's uncertain signature under the will, concluded that he … was not used to holding a pen in his hand.
Strange portrait
It is interesting that almost all the works of the playwright are known to us only from printed editions; not a single manuscript or draft has survived. The first collection of his plays and historical chronicles was published after his death. It is known among Shakespearean scholars as the First Folio. In 1623, John Heming and Henry Condel, who worked in the Shakespeare troupe, published it under the title: “Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedy, Chronicle and Tragedy. Printed from accurate and authentic texts."
In the same edition there is a portrait of Shakespeare, which for many years was considered almost the only "real" image of a playwright. However, this portrait is full of mysteries! At the beginning of the 20th century, employees of an English fashion magazine said that Shakespeare's camisole looked very strange - half of the front and half of the back.
Researchers began to study this topic, and it turned out that both hands and the person in the portrait … are right.
Some Shakespearean scholars argue that the person in the portrait is wearing a mask, the head is too large, and the neck is too long. And the most mysterious thing is that another camisole is visible under the camisole. The upper button is the button of the "lower" camisole.
Who is he?
Naturally, the question arises - who was hiding under the name of Shakespeare, a simple and almost illiterate person? And why did he have to hide under a false name, hiding his own face?
Many researchers believe that it was the philosopher Francis Bacon, who received an excellent education and had an excellent literary style. However, as we have already mentioned, Bacon's vocabulary was half that of Shakespeare's, and his own works "do not reach" the level of Shakespeare's.
There are versions that this is the English poet Christopher Marlowe - but his own literary works are far from the genius of Shakespeare.
There are many more versions about the "real Shakespeare". However, it is possible that the great poet and playwright was … Queen Elizabeth the First, the last of the Tudor dynasty. Let's turn to a few facts.
First, it is known that she encouraged and patronized the Globe Theater in every possible way, in which Shakespeare's plays were staged.
The second - Elizabeth was considered a child prodigy, already in early childhood she showed great ability for languages, knew ancient Greek, Italian, French and other languages. In Latin, she read the works of ancient historians and wrote letters to the holy people of Europe. She was brought up by the best teachers from Cambridge. Naturally, being a queen, she was versed in international and domestic politics, knew palace etiquette and customs, and much more that is not available to people of non-royal blood.
Besides, there is one little piquant moment. Some researchers have argued that Shakespeare had a non-traditional sexual orientation. They draw these conclusions based on the fact that some of his sonnets are dedicated to men. If you imagine what their lady wrote, everything immediately falls into place.
Naturally, a person of royal blood, the ruler of Britain, could not admit to such a strange and base passion as literary creation and composition of plays for the theater. In those days, actors and authors of plays were considered third-class people, actors, jesters. But at the same time, brilliant works were torn out, since a real poet cannot remain silent. Therefore, it is possible that this is how the greatest literary hoax was created, whose name is William Shakespeare …
Author: Megomozg