Introduction

Abstract

Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616. His earliest and his final years were spent in Stratford-upon-Avon, but during his middle years he was in London, though he may occasionally have lived elsewhere (Honigmann 1985). During his early years in Stratford he attended the grammar school until he was about 15, and not long afterwards in 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. The details of his career in London, where he must have arrived in the late 1580s or early 1590s, remain uncertain, but he was writing plays and poetry from an early age; however, it was the latter which was published early, not long after his arrival in London.