Scholars know little about Shakespeare the Man, but significant evidence exists to suggest that Shakespeare the Writer/Producer/Actor/Director achieved success as an entrepreneur, and that he possessed an acute sense of what makes good theater and good entertainment. The very prosperous middle class that spawned him allowed William Shakespeare to parlay his sensitive understanding of entertainment into a financial success.
Shakespeare's father, a landowner who raised sheep, was a well-respected guild member in Stratford-Upon-Avon, a major midlands trade center at the heart of England. He attained public office before reaching his twentieth birthday and rose to the position of High Lord Mayor before his son William left for London in 1592. The prestige and respect that the elder Mr. Shakespeare earned in his lifetime afforded him and his descendants a coat of arms in 1596 — a veritable promotion from commoner to peer of the realm, gentry status. William Shakespeare was born to entitlement.
Born in 1564, William was the eldest son of John and Mary Shakespeare. Though no records corroborate, Shakespeare undoubtedly attended Edward VI grammar school, established in 1543 for the sons of the landed gentry of the community. The curriculum would have versed the young Shakespeare in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, and some German; he would have read the Classics and been well familiarized with the writings of Aristotle, Plautus, Cicero, and others, and he would have been schooled in Italian poetry and art.
