Macbeth: William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (most likely April 23,1564 to April 23, 1616) was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. His father, John Shakespeare, was a leather merchant, and his mother, Mary Arden, a local landed heiress. William had two older sisters, Joan and Judith, and three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard and Edmund. Before William's birth, his father was a successful merchant and held official positions as alderman and bailiff, an office resembling a mayor. However, records indicate John's fortunes declined sometime in the late 1570s.

Anne Hathaway

Not much is known about William Shakespeare’s early life, but we do know that he married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582. William was 18 and Anne was 26, and, as it turns out, pregnant. Their first child, a daughter they named Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. Two years later, on February 2, 1585, twins Hamnet and Judith were born. Hamnet later died of unknown causes at age 11.

Shakespeare moved up to London by the early 1590s, and documents show that he was a managing partner in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, an acting company in London with which he was connected for most of his career. Considered the most important troupe of its time, the company changed its name to the King's Men following the crowning of King James I, in 1603. Early in his career, Shakespeare was able to attract the attention of Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated his first- and second-published poems: "Venus and Adonis" (1593) and "The Rape of Lucrece" (1594). By 1597, Shakespeare had already written and published 15 plays. Records show that at this time he purchased the second largest house in Stratford, called New House, for his family. By 1599, Shakespeare and his business partners built their own theater on the south bank of the Thames River, which they called the Globe Theater. All told we now believe that William Shakespeare wrote a total of 37 plays and 154 sonnets in his lifetime.

King James I

The exact cause of William Shakespeare's death is unknown, though many believe he died following a brief illness. Tradition holds that Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday, April 23, 1616, but some scholars believe this is a myth. Church records show he was interred at Trinity Church on April 25, 1616. In his will, he left the bulk of his possessions to his eldest daughter, Susanna. Though entitled to a third of his estate, little seems to have gone to his wife, Anne, whom he bequeathed his "second-best bed. After his death, two of Shakespeare's friends at the King's Men, John Heminge and Henry Condell, collected his plays and bought them to a publisher. This collection was officially published in 1623 and today is known as the First Folio. 233 copies of this First Folio still survive today.

 Macbeth was written in 1606 for England’s new Scottish King James I. Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest and bloodiest tragedy and deals with some popular themes current to James’ new reign. The meditation of witches and what makes a good king are direct nods to policies and thought pieces being created by James. What’s made Macbeth endure, however, is its gripping examination of the effects of power on leaders and its study of the characters of the men and women in the story.