How Shakespeare Revolutionised the English Language

Shakespeare, a name that surely everyone knows. He was a playwright, poet and actor. He made very famous plays like ‘Romeo and Juliet’. People have separated his plays into three categories, Tragedies, Histories and Comedies. He wrote 10 tragedies, 10 Histories and 18 Comedies.

William Shakespeare was born on a date we do not know in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. We do know he was baptised on the 26th of April 1564, so we can guess he was born around that time. His mother, Mary Arden was a daughter of a farmer. His father, John Shakespeare, was a glove maker who made enough to send Shakespeare to local Grammar School. He grew up with 5 siblings who were mostly older than him. William was nowhere near an outstanding student; we were average in fact.

At the age of 18, he married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. They were officially proclaimed married on the 27th of November 1582 when they were given a marriage licence. Six months later, on the 26th May, Anne gave birth to Susanna in 1583. They had twins Hamnet and Judith two years later both baptised in the 2nd of February 1585. Hamnet died at the age of 11 for causes we do not know and was buried on the 11th of August 1596.

Shakespeare then moved to London to make his dream of being a playwright come true. He even helped to make the Globe theatre where he would preform his plays in front of a crowd. Sometimes, he would write plays for Queen Elizabeth and King James I.   

Let’s get to the question that was the spawn of this entire article. Shakespeare basically made the modern English during the 17th and 18th centuries. Some people believe Shakespeare made 1,700 words. Some of the words he invented was ‘Majesty’, ‘Elderflower’, ‘Ginger’ and ‘ping’.

Shakespeare died on the 23rd of April 1616 at the age of 52, at the same place he was born. His resting place was in the Church of Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon. On his resting stone it says in Old English ‘Blessed be the man that spares these stones, and cursed be he that moves my bones.