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father's fortunes declined and it could be that the boy assisted him in the glove trade. The next certainty in William's life was his marriage at the age of 18 to Anne Hathaway in November 1582. She was 8 years his senior and the marriage was hastened so that their child would be born in wedlock; Susanna was baptized in May 1583. Was the marriage of William and Anne a happy one? This question has vexed scholars for a long time and there is no sure answer, only conjecture. William stayed in Stratford for the next 4 or 5 years, becoming the father of twins Hamnet and Judith, in 1585.

There is no way to know exactly when William left Stratford and his young family, to go to London. The melodramatic story of his poaching deer is popular but disputed; the deer park in question was not enclosed in William's youth. It is known that in 1587 the Queen's Players performed in Stratford and one of the young players, Will Kemp, would later be a fellow player with Shakespeare in London. It is tempting to conjecture that William left Stratford with the Queen's Players, promising Anne that he would send money. In London, he wasted little time in establishing himself in the world of the theater and by 1592 was already attracting attention as a dramatist.

It was as if the young William Shakespeare having escaped domestic bondage, spread his wings and took literary flight. In 1594 he joined the acting company of Richard Burbage and wrote for them as their chief playwright for the next 20 years, writing for a group of regular performers and acting with them too. In 1603 Queen Elizabeth died and James 1 gave royal patronage to Shakespeare's company which took the title, "The King's Men". These were the golden years that saw the creation of Shakespeare's 37 great works: comedies, histories and tragedies that are the flowering of England's greatest dramatist.

In 1597 Shakespeare could afford to renew his ties to his birthplace and he bought the 2nd largest house in Stratford, New Place. He became a shareholder in the highly successful Globe Theater in London and also bought land in and around Stratford. Anne lived at New Place with their daughters; their son Hamnet had died in 1596 at the age of 11 years. Susanna married well, becoming the wife of a reputable physician John Hall, in 1607. Their daughter Elizabeth was the only grandchild Shakespeare knew.

William Shakespeare retired to his native Warwickshire in 1611 and we like to suppose that he took pleasure in his home and delighted in his little granddaughter's company. He doubtless made visits to London but was surely glad to return to his boyhood home beside the Avon. He died there in 1616. In February, his younger daughter aged 30 made a poor marriage to a tavern-keeper which surely depressed her father. Was he already ill? We don't know but we have been told that he had a "merry meeting" with friends and shortly afterwards died of a fever on April 23, 1616 - just 52 years after his birth. Holy Trinity church stands by the river Avon; there William Shakespeare was baptized and there he is buried.

Reference; Shakspere: Professor Edward Dowden.

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