from a love interest to an alluring political culture in
order to morally condemn both its object and its effect.
At the same time, each sonnet in the sequence begins
with a pedantic repetition of the moralizing line end-
ing the last, until the lines of the fi nal sonnet conclude
that all haste is good, so long as “wisdome makes the
way” (l. 98)—a lesson his biography suggests Gas-
coigne was still too slowly learning when he wrote the
poem.
See also COURT CULTURE.
FURTHER READING
Cunliffe, J. W. The Complete Works of George Gascoigne. 2
vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1907.
Prouty, C. T. George Gascoigne, Courtier, Soldier, and Poet.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1942.
Robert E. Kibler
SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564–1616)
William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564. His
father, John Shakespeare, was a glove maker who
owned a leather shop. Shakespeare’s mother, Mary
Arden, was a farmer’s daughter related to minor gen-
try. At age seven, William Shakespeare entered gram-
mar school with other boys of his social class, studying
Latin among other things. In 1582, at age 18, he mar-
ried 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, with whom he had
three children, Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith.
There is little known about Shakespeare’s life during
two major spans of time, commonly referred to as the
“lost years”: 1578–82 and 1585–92. The fi rst covers
the time after Shakespeare left grammar school until
his marriage; the second covers the seven years of
Shakespeare’s life when he was probably perfecting his
dramatic skills.
Around 1592, Shakespeare traveled to London to
begin a writing career. Most critics conclude that he
spent time as both a writer and an actor with Lord
Pembroke’s Men before 1592. Some time after 1593, a
group of seven men, including Shakespeare, started a
theater company called Lord Chamberlain’s Men; later,
after 1603, they became the King’s Men under JAMES
VI/I. Shakespeare wrote most of the plays for the com-
pany, averaging two plays per year. Many of these were
produced during his lifetime.
Shakespeare’s career spanned the reigns of both ELIZ-
ABETH I (1558–1603) and James I (1603–25). He died
in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1616, at the age of
52 and was buried in the Church of the Holy Trinity.
Though he is best known as a playwright, Shake-
speare also wrote a variety of poems. In 1593, Henry
Wriothesley, earl of Southampton, became his patron;
Shakespeare’s VENUS AND ADONIS and The RAPE OF LUC-
RECE were dedicated to Southampton. SHAKESPEARE’S
SONNETS, written during the late 1590s but published
in 1609, were dedicated to a mysterious “W.H.” who
has never been defi nitively identifi ed. William Herbert,
earl of Pembroke, was another of Shakespeare’s patrons;
the First Folio (1623) was dedicated to him. This text,
edited by John Heminge and Henry Condell, was pub-
lished seven years after Shakespeare’s death and con-
tained 36 plays as well as the famous Droeshout portrait
of Shakespeare and various commendatory verses by
contemporaries.
In the 18th century, Shakespeare’s reputation
increased, and he became an iconic fi gure. Still, some
critics conclude from his simple education that his
plays were written by someone else—Francis Bacon
and the earl of Oxford are the two most popular candi-
dates—through support for these theories is minimal.
Shakespeare contributed a great deal to the develop-
ment of the English language. Many words and phrases
from his plays and poems have become a common part
of everyday speech. His ideas on subjects such as roman-
tic love, heroism, comedy, and tragedy have shaped the
attitudes of millions of people. As well, Shakespeare’s
portrayal of historical fi gures and events have infl uenced
the way people think about written history.
See also LOVER’S COMPLAINT, A.
FURTHER READING
Rosenblum, Joseph. The Greenwood Companion to Shake-
speare. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005.
Melissa A. HarrisSHAKESPEAREAN SONNET See ENGLISH
SONNET.SHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS (OVERVIEW)
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1599) Often given less atten-
tion than Shakespeare’s plays, his SONNETs and poemsSHAKESPEARE’S SONNETS 357