Wherever we go today, we just can't seem to get away from him. He's in movies, in books, even in the Saturday morning cartoons. Whether modernized or set in the Elizabethan era, his influence is everywhere in all forms of entertainment. He almost seems immortal in our eyes. Who was William Shakespeare? Who was this man we still place on a pedestal, almost four thousand years after his existence? Was he really the man that Hollywood glamorized? Shakespeare's life, work, and controversies come together to form our beliefs of who this great writer really was.
             William Shakespeare was a great English playwright, dramatist and poet who lived during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest playwright of all time. No other writer's plays have been produced so many times or read so widely in as many countries as his.
             William Shakespeare was born in Stratford, Warwickshire, England in 1564. Although his exact birth date is not known, there is a record of his baptism on April 26, 1954. His date of birth would have fallen shortly before that day.
             William was born to John Shakespeare, a middle class glove maker who owned a leather shop, and his wife, Mary Arden. His father held several important local governmental positions. His mother was the daughter of a local farmer and related to a family of considerable wealth and social standing. He was one of the eight children they had, and the oldest of the four sons.
             The Shakespeare's were a well-respected, prominent family. When William Shakespeare was about seven years old, he began attending the Stratford Grammar School with other boys of his social class. Students went to school year round, attending school for nine hours a day. The teachers were strict disciplinarians.
             Shakespeare spent long hours at school, but he led an active life. Stratford was a lively town and during holidays, it was known to...