LostYears3

. WHAT ARE “THE LOST YEARS” OF SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE? WHAT ARE THE THEORIES BEHIND WHERE SHAKESPEARE WAS AND WHAT HE WAS DOING IN HIS LOST YEARS? WHY ARE THESE YEARS SO IMPORTANT? AND WHY ARE THEY SUCH A MYSTERY?

In Shakespeare’s life there were two times where he went missing from society and there are no records documenting where he was. For year’s historians have been trying to determine what he was doing during those lost years through his writings but still there is not one major widely excepted explanation of his whereabouts. Historians debated many theories in hopes of explaining his disappearance.

One of those theories was that he was illegally hunting deer in Sir Thomas’s estate and was caught but eluded the police. It is then believed that he went into hiding from the police until they would have dismissed the case so he could go back to normal living. This theory is not widely accepted because it originates of the folklore from where Shakespeare had lived and could just be a made up explanation by someone a long time ago.

Another not widely accepted explanation for Shakespeare’s first lost years is that he was working with his father at his wool factory. During this time he did not have time to write plays or get into trouble so he went undetected for a while. It would be common for a son to follow the family business and only do that for his whole life but this would not make sense in Shakespeare’s life because he went on to become a famous playwright not a wool maker.

Another of the theories is that he became an actor for moving plays into deferent towns and just never stayed in one town long enough to get well known or to want to stay there. During the first lost years the Shakespeare family was going through rough times, especially John Shakespeare who is Shakespeare’s dad. Also during this time Shakespeare brothers were taken out of school to help with the family business because their dad was losing a lot of power and money and he needed his kids to help so it is possible that Shakespeare could have done anything to help his family and was just never seen so he was not part of the theater community.

An explanation for the second lost years is that he decided to travel to Italy and because the traveling back then was harder he decided to stay there for a while and maybe got a job there. One of the most widely spread explanations is that he went and fought in the war between England and Spain. This theory is less accepted because there was no record of his enlistment so it made no sense. There are less theories on what Shakespeare was doing thought the second lost years because people have mostly focused of the first because they were longer.

Shakespeare lost years are a mystery that is still being solved today and the possibility of what he was doing is endless but these are the most widely accepted explanations for what he was doing.

http://www.william-shakespeare.org.uk/william-shakespeare-lost-years.htm this link is a web site that is on the lost years of shakespeare

Bibliography

Kindersly, Dorling. the lost years. 1. 1. new york: eye witness, 2005. print.

"the lost years." the lost years 1. 1. (2005): n. pag. Web. 5 Apr 2010.

Gray, terry. "the lost years." the lost years 1. 1. (1998): n. pag Web. 5. Apr 2010.