William Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice The name William Shakespeare will be remembered for as long as one can imagine. People from all around the world constantly read Shakespeare’s plays, as they are known to be some of the best plays in history because of their unique and profound qualities that helped Shakespeare earn his title of “the greatest dramatist of all time.” Unfortunately, because Shakespeare lived long before modern-day playwrights and poets, the worlds literary society knows much less about him and his background than they do about his plays. Although there is very little evidence that proves Shakespeare’s existence, he did once live during the 16th century. Historians have made assumptions about Shakespeare’s life and the events that he experienced in order to piece together a timeline of the mysterious poet’s life. There are not any actual birth records that exist, but scholars have found church records, which state that a William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Educated assumptions are all that scholars have in terms of sources relating to the early life of Shakespeare. However, information about his adulthood has been gathered and allows for people to get to know the poet a little more personally. Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582, in Worcester, in Canterbury Province. Shakespeare was only 18 when he and Anne got married. His young age did not stop him from becoming a father shortly after his marriage in 1583, when Anne became pregnant with twins. Hamnet and Judith were the names of their children, however, young Hamnet died of unknown causes at age 11. After the birth of Hamnet and Judith, there are seven years of Shakespeare’s life where no records exist. After these seven “lost years” of his life, in 1592, evidence shows that Shakespeare had earned a living as an actor and a