ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 at Holy Trinity in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Traditionally his birthday is celebrated three days earlier, on 23 April, St George’s Day.

Detailed explanation-2: -William Shakespeare’s birth date was never officially recorded as it was not the norm in that era. However, people from all over the world have considered April 23 as his date of birth. Also, the Bard of Avon passed away on the same date he was born, i.e., April 23, 1616.

Detailed explanation-3: -Baptisms typically took place within three days of a new arrival, and parents were instructed by the Prayer Book to ensure that their children were baptised no later than the first Sunday after birth. This means that it’s unlikely that Shakespeare was born any earlier than the previous Sunday, 23 April.

Detailed explanation-4: -His death occurred on or near his birthday (the exact date of his birth remains unknown), which may have been the source of a later legend that he fell ill and died after a night of heavy drinking with two other writers, Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton.

Detailed explanation-5: -It was said that he fled to London in order to escape punishment. John Aubrey wrote in 1681 that William Shakespeare ‘had been in his younger years a schoolmaster in the country’ (which might well refer to Stratford, since Aubrey was writing from a London perspective).