William Shakespeare
After the England’s Royal family, Westminister Abbey, Big Ben, and red double-decker buses, William Shakespeare is one of the most 1) ................ \(identify\) icons of England. His plays are being performed all over the world stages for the past 400 years. His 2) .......... \(popular\) blossomed after the Romantic period and during the Victorian period. Let’s dig up some interesting facts about William Shakespeare:
There are more than 80 3) ......... \(vary\) recorded for the spelling of Shakespeare’s name. In the few original 4) .........\(sign\) that have survived, Shakespeare spelt his name “Willm Shaksp,” “William Shakespe,” “Wm Shakspe,” “William Shakspere,” ”Willm Shakspere,” and “William Shakspeare”. There are no records of him ever having spelt it “William Shakespeare”, as we know him today.
There was a period of time in Shakespeare’s 5) .......... \(event\) life between 1585 and 1592 of which nobody knows where he was or what he was doing. These are known as his “lost years.” Though records for any part of his life are meager, there is 6) ............... \(absolute\) no 7) .......................\(record\) of these 7 years.
No portraits of Shakespeare were painted during his lifetime, so all his 8) ...................\(exist\) portraits are at least partly guesswork.
It was 9) ................ \(legal\) for women and girls to take part in theatre 10) .................. \(perform\) in Shakespeare’s lifetime so all the female parts were written for boys.
Few people realize that apart from writing his numerous plays and sonnets, Shakespeare was also an 11) ...........\(act\) who performed many of his own plays as well as those of other playwrights. He performed before Queen Elizabeth I and, later, before James I who was an 12) .................. \(enthusiasm\) patron of his work.