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Shakespeare, and the Madness of King Lear Exposed In this paper, I will give a biography on Shakespeare’s life, a plot summary of King Lear, and critical analysis of various aspects of the play. William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, and probably born three days earlier, on April 23. He was the third of eight children to John and Mary Shakespeare. John Shakespeare was a substantial citizen of a busy market town named Stratford-Upon-Avon. John Shakespeare was an alderman of Stratford and was entitled to send his son to the grammar school free. Not much is known of Shakespeare’s childhood, probably because no one expected that he would be a great writer in the centuries to come. What we do know about his childhood is that he probably received an education in the grammar school of Stratford. These schools provided the basic education in Latin learning and literature. The most important record we have of Shakespeare’s early years is a marriage license issued by the Bishop of Worcester on November 28, 1582, permitting William Shakespeare to marry Anne Hathaway. The christening of Susanna, daughter of William and Anne was on May 26, 1583, in Stratford. On February 2, 1585, the records show the birth of twins Hamnet and Judith. By 1594, Shakespeare was a member of Lord Chamberlain’s Men. This company came to be known as the King’s Men after King James I came to power in 1603 (Wright xxi). Shakespeare was both an actor and a shareholder in the company. In 1596, Shakespeare was given the name of gentleman. He had seen to it that the College of Heralds grant his father a coat of arms. In one step, he became a second-generation gentleman. On May 4, 1597, he bought New Place, next to the largest dwelling in Stratford. As Shakespeare called it, a “pretty house of brick and timber,” (Wright xxiii). Shakespeare’s first play may have been The Comedy of Errors, acted in 1591. The three parts of Henry IV were acted out sometime between 1590 and 1592. Richard III was probably written in 1593. Shakespeare now had three sources of income: from the sale of his plays to his companies, from his wages as an actor, and his share of the profits of the theatrical company (Wright xxiv). In May 1602, Shakespeare used his newfound wealth to purchase one hundred and seven acres of fertile farmland near Stratford, and a few months later bought a cottage and a garden across the alley from New Place. His wife and children lived there while he busied himself in the London theatres. The summer before he bought New Place, Shakespeare’s only son, Hamnet, died at ages eleven. In 1611, Shakespeare returned permanently to Stratford. He wrote 22 plays in rapid succession including: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear, and nine others before retiring around 1613. Most of his best comedies, his great historic plays, and some of his finest tragedies were behind him. Only Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Pericles, Cymbeline, Winter’s Tale, The Tempest, and Henry VIII were yet to be written. On March 25, 1616, Shakespeare made his will. Giving his property to Susanna, 300 pounds to Judith, certain sums to other relatives, and his second-best bed to his wife, Anne. On April 23, 1616, on his birthday, Shakespeare died. He was buried on April 25 at Trinity Church as an honored citizen.
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