All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts

- William Shakespeare

We read his poems in secondary school. His prose was part of our literature curriculum: From the wistful romance of Romeo and Juliet, to the betrayal in Hamlet; to the heartbreak of the dark Othello.

We did not always understand them but we knew that his writings were nothing short of literature genius. So genius we had to explain them in our exams (at least).

There are a few things about William that we don’t often talk about. I've compiled a list:

- Did Shakespeare actually write his own poems/plays?

Now, much ado has been made over the authorship of William’s plays. People who hold those view are called Anti-stratfordians. Their arguments hinge on the fact that William’s level of education would not have produced the sort of excellence of writing we read today. Williams came from a very modest family and his father pulled him out of school at the age of 15 to help with the Family business—glove making. We can see their point. It is like saying that someone who barely finished JSS2 is the author of a best-selling book. Some Anti-stratfordians are of the opinion that “Shakespeare” might have been a pseudonym. We cannot know for sure but in my humble opinion, He’s dead. That’s it.

- William Shakespeare could not spell.

Much of William’s school life was centered around Latin; spelling was unfortunately not part of the lessons. In actual fact, William signed off his name in more than 5 different ways including: Willm Shakp, William Shaksper, Wm Shakspe, William Shakspere and Willm Shakspere. This worked out for him in any way because English at that time was not very standardised and he could be understood in his plays. Unfortunately, you cannot use that excuse when you misspell something in an official email.

- William married an older woman.

William got married at the young age of 18 to Anne who was 26 at the time. He then had 3 children within 3 years of marriage. This isn’t as much as controversy as it cenges the normativity of acceptable marriage. We still raise eyebrows today. We can at least take comfort in the fact that eyebrows have been raised since the 18th century.