8-4Parents&Siblings

Who were Shakespeare’s parents and siblings? What was Shakespeare’s relationship with them like? //Answer Prepared by Kyler W.// Shakespeare was the first-surviving son of John and Mary Shakespeare, his parents. John was a glove maker, and ran for many public offices, states William-shakespeare.info. When John wanted to apply to be called a “sir” the court rejected it, and he eventually removed himself from politics. Shakespeare was the third in the family but the two siblings before him died as infants. There were four other siblings that Shakespeare had, two brothers and two sisters. Large families like Shakespeare’s were not uncommon in this time period. Seeing as how child mortality rates were very high, parents had lots of children to account for the fact that they might lose a child.

Shakespeare’s name appeared in a dispensation document because he was marrying a 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. She was three months pregnant hence the need for a dispensation document.

In the book by Stephan Greenblatt, it says that, “After they had grown and Shakespeare had married they had all lived in the house that their father had boughten on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon.” This shows that they must have gotten along well to live together for all those years, but then again it is said in the book, “the house was very spacious and roomy.” Then there was a period that we do not know what happened to Shakespeare. This time period is called the “Lost Years.”

Works Cited Best, Micheal. "Shakespeare's Life and Times." Shakespeare's family Feb 1998 Web.16 Apr 2009. .

Greenblatt, Stephen. Will in the World, "How Shakespeare became Shakespeare". 1st. Wells Street, London: W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2004. Print.

William Shakespeare Info, "William Shakespeare Biography." The Parents of William Shakespeare (2005) Web.16 Apr 2009. .