We spent a lovely afternoon in Stratford-Upon-Avon Saturday highlighted by another lively tour with our friend, David, who had guided us in Oxford. David is from Stratford originally and is a lover of the arts; he frequently broke into old English renditions of some of Shakespeare’s more famous writings. “To be or not to be…”
Stratford, a town of 26,000 welcomes about 4 million visitors every year, mostly to pay homage to William Shakespeare, who lived, died and is buried here. And this has been going on for centuries; famous American tourists to Stratford include Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses Grant and Mark Twain.
While Shakespeare attained both financial and literary success during his lifetime as an actor, writer and part owner of a ‘playing company’, it wasn’t until after his death that his works were widely distributed. In 1623, 7 years after his death, two of his friends, John Heminges and Henry Condell, published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognized as his. Lucky for us they did. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. According to David, over half of the world’s children study Shakespeare.
We saw the house where Shakespeare grew up, as well as the houses of his daughter and granddaughter. Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway, had 2 daughters, a son, and a few grandchildren, but none of the grandchildren had children, so there are no direct descendants of Shakespeare.
The Shakespeare Hotel in Stratford has rooms named after Shakespeare’s plays. If you fancy a bit of romance, you might choose the ‘Romeo and Juliet ‘ room… or perhaps ‘Much Ado About Nothing’?