William Shakespeare; poet, dramatist, and man . he was overtaken by adversity. In 1578, when thepoet was fourteen years old, John Shakespearemortgaged his wifes property at Wilmcote for thesum of forty pounds, or about two hundred dollars— the equivalent of more than a thousand dollarsin present values. In the following year anotherpiece of property at Snitterfield was disposed of forthe same amount. Unsatisfied or dissatisfied credi-tors began to bring suits; taxes went unpaid; otherproperties were sold without arresting the down-ward movement; in 1586, when the poet went upto London to seek
William Shakespeare; poet, dramatist, and man . he was overtaken by adversity. In 1578, when thepoet was fourteen years old, John Shakespearemortgaged his wifes property at Wilmcote for thesum of forty pounds, or about two hundred dollars— the equivalent of more than a thousand dollarsin present values. In the following year anotherpiece of property at Snitterfield was disposed of forthe same amount. Unsatisfied or dissatisfied credi-tors began to bring suits; taxes went unpaid; otherproperties were sold without arresting the down-ward movement; in 1586, when the poet went upto London to seek his fortune, John Shakespearehad ceased to attend the meetings at Guild Hall, 50 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE and lost his right to wear the Aldermans gown inconsequence; later his goods were seized by legalprocess and warrants for his arrest as an insolventdebtor were issued. There is a story of a consider-able loss through the generous act of standing assurety for a brother; and it is known that there C Ttc lowi-i- « .D AdJS Til*. CfUr. , •. guys CLIFK AND THE an old print. was, during these years, great distress in severalbranches of trade in Warwickshire. If it cost nothing to send a boy to the GrammarSchool, it cost something to keep him there; andby the withdrawal of his son when losses began topress heavily upon him John Shakespeare may notonly have cut off one source of his expense, but BIRTH AND BREEDING 51 ofained some small addition to his income from theindustry of another wage-earner in the leaving school the son may have assisted hisfather, as Aubrey reports, or he may have enteredthe ofifice of a lawyer, as a contemporary allusionseems to affirm; nothing definite is known abouthis occupations between his fourteenth and eigh-teenth years. There is no reason why anythingshould have been remembered or recorded; he wasan obscure boy living in an inland village, beforethe age of newspapers, and out of relation withpeople of fashion or culture.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectshakesp, bookyear1901
