Bard, Rebel, Mystery

Evan Swensen
April 23, 2025

Celebrate Shakespeare Day with the Man, the Myth, and the Literary Legend

He was born and died on the same day of the month—April 23. He created more than 1,700 new English words. His plays have been performed in more than 100 languages, including Klingon. And yet, for all we know about William Shakespeare, the man remains a beautiful mystery.

Every April 23, literary lovers celebrate Shakespeare Day in honor of the Bard’s birth (and death) in 1564. But instead of the usual tributes, let’s have some fun. Here are three strange, delightful, and very real stories reminding us why Shakespeare still captures imaginations four centuries later.

Shakespeare Might Not Have Written… Shakespeare?

One of the longest-running literary conspiracies surrounds the question: Did Shakespeare really write all those plays?

The debate began as early as the 19th century, when some scholars questioned how a man with modest schooling and no university education could have produced works so rich in law, foreign languages, classical literature, and aristocratic etiquette.

This led to theories that Shakespeare was a pen name for someone else. Popular suspects?

Francis Bacon, philosopher and polymath.
Christopher Marlowe, a rival playwright, was allegedly assassinated in a bar brawl (some say he faked his death and kept writing).
Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.

The Oxfordian theory even inspired a 2011 movie, Anonymous. But most scholars remain unconvinced. Their reasoning? The simplest explanation is often the best: Shakespeare was precisely who he said he was—an unusually gifted writer with a flair for capturing the world’s complexities from a seat at life’s gritty table.

Whether or not he was a nobleman or a glove-maker’s son from Stratford-upon-Avon, the plays exist. And someone wrote them.

His Plays Were Illegal (And He Wrote Anyway)

During the Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods, theater was often threatened by authorities, the plague, or religious opposition.

London’s city fathers saw playhouses as morally questionable places that attracted disease, rebellion, and rowdy behavior. At one point, Shakespeare and his company were banned from performing within the city limits. His solution?

He floated the entire theater across the Thames.

In 1598, after their landlord refused to renew the lease on the original Theatre, Shakespeare’s business partners (known as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men) dismantled the building—wood, nails, and all—under cover of night. They rebuilt it on the other side of the river. They named the new space The Globe, which became the epicenter of his greatest performances.

Imagine taking apart your office, floating it across a river, and reassembling it by hand—all to keep telling stories.

That’s how much Shakespeare believed in the power of performance.

Shakespeare Put a Curse on His Own Grave

In Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon lies Shakespeare’s tomb. But unlike other gravestones, this one bears a warning:

Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.

This wasn’t poetic flair—it was a genuine attempt to stop 17th-century grave robbers and body snatchers, who often exhumed corpses for scientific study or to reinter elsewhere.

And the curse worked. To this day, Shakespeare’s grave has never been disturbed.

In 2016, archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar to study the grave without opening it. Their findings? The body appeared to be wrapped in a shroud without a coffin—and possibly without a skull.

Is the skull gone? Or did the radar misinterpret 400-year-old burial shifts?

The mystery remains. But his warning stands, just as powerful as his iambic pentameter.

Why Shakespeare Still Matters

Beyond the trivia, here’s what’s truly worth celebrating: Shakespeare showed us how language stretches, how identity can be questioned, how love confuses, power intoxicates, and grief doesn’t always rhyme.

He gave us Hamlet’s hesitation, Juliet’s impulsiveness, Lear’s madness, and Viola’s wit. He wasn’t writing for scholars—he was writing for everyone, from kings to commoners.

And maybe that’s the best reason to honor him each April 23. Because long before TED Talks and trending hashtags, Shakespeare reminded us how one voice can echo across generations, cultures, and oceans of change.

Want more fun trivia like this? Stick around—there’s always another literary oddity waiting to be discovered! Readers and Writers Book Club, where we dig into the fascinating lives of authors, swap trivia about literary legends, and explore hidden stories behind the books we love. If this bit of trivia intrigues you, wait until you hear what else is hiding in the pages of history. Come on in— I promise, there’s always room for another curious mind!

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