Expert: Arlene Schulman - 3/16/2006

Question
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Followup To
Question -
1. Did Shakespeare ever have any good friends during his days in school, a best friend or someone that he cared about?
2.Did Shakespeare ever see his extended family, like cousins, aunts, uncles, or grandparents, or did they live in another country?  If so, what are the names of the family members he had, and their relationship with them?
3.Was Shakespeare ever known to break the rules in school, where in those days, physical abuse was used?  I understand that the schooling was harsh and did his behavior ever cause him to undergo the abuse?
4.Did Shakespeare have a dress-code for the school where he went?  What did he look like to the average man today?  Describe
5. In what church was William Shakespeare baptized and in what city?  Was it a big celebration?  Did he attend church and have a formal religious background?  Explain.

Thanks for your time sir or mam,
         Evan C. Spivey  7th grade
Answer -
Hi Evan,

I know it's hard to believe, but we really know very little about Shakespeare's personal life.  There are no records, documents, letters, diaries or other personal writings or reports that can tell us what he was like as a person and what his own personal growing up was really like.  We know some things about Elizabethan England, and there are some documents and records of specific things in his life, like his baptism, his wedding, his father's business and things like that.  But no personal details.  So anything that people write about what is childhood and growing up was like is simply speculation based on general knowledge and the few recordes that we have.  Because of that, alot of your questions simply can't be answered, but I'll try to give you whatever background I have.

1. Did Shakespeare ever have any good friends during his days in school, a best friend or someone that he cared about?

There is simply no way to know.  It would seem likely that he did have friends or a best friend in school, but there are simply no personal or school records or family writings that might tell us that.

2.Did Shakespeare ever see his extended family, like cousins, aunts, uncles, or grandparents, or did they live in another country? If so, what are the names of the family members he had, and their relationship with them?

Shakespeare was one of eight children, three of who died as babies or young children.  So he certainly had brothers and sisters.  His mother's (Mary Arden) family lived nearby and it was likely that he did see some of them, although we have no records to show who or when.  Although his father, John Shakespeare, had a brother, Henry, he had no children.  John's father, Richard, (Will's grandfather) died before Will was born, as did his grandparents on his mother's side.

3.Was Shakespeare ever known to break the rules in school, where in those days, physical abuse was used? I understand that the schooling was harsh and did his behavior ever cause him to undergo the abuse?

Another question that we can't answer.  There are no records of the school in Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare grew up.  The school building is still there, but there are no papers or any other record of any of the students or teachers that learned and taught there.  Schooling was hard in those days, with long days and alot of work, and physical punishment was certainly used (although they wouldn't have thought of caning or or the like as abuse, but rather as discipline to teach the children what they needed to learn).  It is likely that Shakespeare, like most boys, did get into trouble once in a while, and I'd be surprised if he didn't get punished now and then.

4.Did Shakespeare have a dress-code for the school where he went? What did he look like to the average man today? Describe

I don't know if there was a dress code for school in Shakespeare's day, but I'm sure there was a certain level of respect and decorum that was expected.  Stratford was not a big or rich town in those days, but the boys would be expected to dress neatly and cleanly.  You might want to check out this website - http://renaissance.dm.net/compendium/index.html - and look for information on children, schooling, and the like.

5. In what church was William Shakespeare baptized and in what city? Was it a big celebration? Did he attend church and have a formal religious background? Explain.

William Shakespeare was baptized in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England.  We have nothing to tell us whether it was a big celebration or not, just the church record of the baptism.  He did attend church, according to the evidence, but his religious background is a bit more complicated.  Elizabethan England was a time of religious conflict between the Protestants supported by Queen Elizabeth and the Old Catholic religion supported by her predecessor, Queen Mary.  The Old religion was out of favor in Shakespeare's time, and at times the Catholics were prosecuted.  While Shakespeare was brought up as a Protestant, there is some evidence that his family was originally Catholic and maintained and taught their children Catholicism in secret.  We may never know for sure exactly what Shakespeare truly believed, because his plays have evidence of both Catholic and Protestant teaching in them and there are no personal papers to tell us what his beliefs were.

Hope this helps, Evan.  If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them for you.

Best,
Arlene (MsDirector)


Thanks a lot for replying so quickly.  I have a few more questions and was wondering if you could help.  Thanks again.


1.   Was Shakespeare's mother a stay at home mother, taking care of her family or did she have a job or even a part-time job outside the home?  If so, was her job title or what were her responsibilities?

2.   When and where did William Shakespeare meet his beloved wife before they got married?

3.   Do you think the William, as a young boy, wanted to grow up to be a play writer or did he want to do something else?  If so, name them.

4.   When William's mother was an Arden (maiden name) was her family poor or wealthy, and to what point?  

5.   Was Shakespeare known as a trouble maker, mischievous, out-going or a shy  young boy?  Describe his personality as best as you can?


         Thanks again,
         Evan C. Spivey


Answer
Hi again Evan,

1. Was Shakespeare's mother a stay at home mother, taking care of her family or did she have a job or even a part-time job outside the home? If so, was her job title or what were her responsibilities?

As far as I know, Shakespeare's mother was a stay at home mom (as most women were in those days).

2. When and where did William Shakespeare meet his beloved wife before they got married?
There are no records that indicate exactly where Shakespeare met Anne Hathaway.  She was about 8 years older than he was and there is some evidence that their marriage might have been something of a hasty affair (their first child was born about 6 months after the marriage, if that's a good hint for you).  Check out this website - http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-biography-marriage-wife- - for some additional information.

3. Do you think the William, as a young boy, wanted to grow up to be a play writer or did he want to do something else? If so, name them.
The answer is in the question - DO YOU THINK?  There is no "correct" answer to this question.  We don't know what Shakespeare thought or wanted.  We do believe that before he went to London to write and act in plays that he was a lawyer's clerk and perhaps a teacher as well.  Whether he just did these to earn money until he could afford to write and act for a living, or whether these were original ambitions before he realized that he was meant to be in theatre, is anyone's guess.

4. When William's mother was an Arden (maiden name) was her family poor or wealthy, and to what point?
Mary Arden was born in 1540 as a member of the noble Catholic family of the Ardens of Park Hall whose family forebears had been given land by William the Conqueror. The Ardens were one of Warwickshire's most prominent families, tracing its ancestry back beyond the Norman Conquest to the Doomsday Book. Mary was the favourite of eight daughters of the widowed Robert Arden. His second marriage in April 1548 to Agnes Hill, a widow of another prosperous farmer, added four stepchildren to his own family. The family home was called Glebe Farm a two-storey Wilmecote farmstead. Mary was sixteen when her father died and she was named as one of the Executers of her father's will in which he left her some money and some land in Wilmecote.  Mary's father, Robert Arden of Wilmecote, was a wealthy farmer, and John Shakespeare's father, Richard, (William Shakespeare's grandfather) was a tenant farmer on his land, which is likely how Mary and John met.

5. Was Shakespeare known as a trouble maker, mischievous, out-going or a shy young boy? Describe his personality as best as you can?
There is no way to describe his personality at all.  We have absolutely no documentary evidence of what young William Shakespeare was like.  There are no letters, diaries, documents or letters that tell us anything about what he was like as a boy.

Best,
Arlene (MsDirector)