Plague & Playhouse

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Shakespeare
Hello Mr. Smith. This is William Shakespeare the action figure, and I would be most remiss if I did not continue my narrative regarding my education in Stratford. You see, like many boys of my station, I probably attended the King’s New School in Stratford. It has been so long that I must admit I am a bit foggy. The curriculum would have been heavy on Latin, rhetoric, and the classics. Day after day, I was been drilled in the works of Ovid, Seneca, and Plautus. Later, echoes of those schoolroom authors would resurface in my plays — such as Pyramus and Thisbe in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as the Roman senators in Julius Caesar.

Night watchmen
So when did you start using the alphabet and language so masterfully?

Shakespeare
I certainly intend to address that, but for now be patient, my fellow toys, be patient. You see, by 1582, when I was only eighteen, I married a lady by the name of Anne Hathaway, Some scholars Believe that my wive's name was actually Agnes. In any case, our first daughter, Susanna, was born the following year. Twins, Hamnet and Judith, followed in 1585. Unfortunately my dear son Hamnet later died as a result of the plague.

And then comes the mystery: the so-called “lost years.” Between 1585 and 1592, I completely disappear from the historical record. No plays, no mentions, no documents, but what we do know is that by 1592, I was in the city of London and making a name for myself. A rival playwright, Robert Greene, derided me in print as an “upstart crow.” For all its venom, the insult is proof that I had arrived — I was already challenging the university-trained writers and beginning my rise to the very top of the Elizabethan stage.

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