Shakespeare Day 2019: 5 lesser-known facts about the iconic playwright
Many fans and enthusiasts across the world celebrate Shakespeare Day on April 23 every year to honour the literary genius, Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare is hailed as one of the most iconic writers in the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist. He is popularly called as the “Bard of Avon” since he was born and raised in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire. Shakespeare birth date is highly debatable. He is said to have been baptised on April 26, 1564 and born on April 23 which also coincides with his death date. Many fans and enthusiasts across the world celebrate Shakespeare Day on April 23 every year to honour the literary genius, Shakespeare.
Here are 5 lesser-known facts about Bard of Avon:
- Shakespeare introduced almost 3000 words to the English language: Estimations of his vocabulary range from 17,000 to 29,000 words. He has been credited by Oxford dictionary for introducing 3000 words to the English language.
- Shakespeare’s grave is penned with a curse: Shakespeare’s epitaph reads a curse, daring anyone to move his body. It says:
Good friend for Jesus’ sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here:
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.
- Suicide occurs 13 times in Shakespeare’s plays out of approximately 39 plays written by him: 13 which is considered an unlucky number, is the number of characters who died by suicide in Shakespeare’s play, most famous ones being Romeo and Juliet.
- Shakespeare’s shortest play is The Comedy of Errors and longest is Hamlet: The Comedy of Errors is 1787 lines and 14,369 words while Hamlet has 4,042 lines and 29,551 words.
- Nobody has an account of Shakespeare’s life between the years 1585 and 1592: No records exist of Shakespeare’s life for nearly 7 years. Some assume he worked as a school teacher while others believe he studied law, travelled across the globe or joined an acting troupe.
