1. 1510

1510
        Henry IV part’s 1-3 were Shakespeare’s first three plays that he wrote. The plays were written in 1590 but not preformed until four to six years later. Shakespeare was 26 when he wrote the plays, had a wife and three kids that He left in his home town of Stratford while He worked in London as an actor. Actors of that time period did not make much money, they were not trusted, they were Rogues, and Vagabonds. Shakespeare was so poor that He lived with friends and at a parish. Shakespeare couldn’t look to his parents for financial help because his parents were doing nearly as bad as He was. His father lost his government job as a result of persecution for his catholic faith and had to sell everything he owned except for his house on Henley Street just to live. Even though Shakespeare’s parents were not much better off, they were able to let Anne and His three kids live with them while He was away. From Shakespeare biographies, it appears that around 1590 were tumultuous times for Shakespeare and His family. (Bevington) (Schoenbaum) (Encyclopedia Britannica) But necessity is the mother of invention and at that time anyone could write a play and sell it to a theater. Theaters called the un-commissioned purchase of one play from a person a “one-off” (OED). These “one-off” plays were perfect for making extra money on the side. Naturally, an actor with talent in and experience with writing and acting such as Shakespeare began to look at how contemporary plays of His time were written and wrote plays to be sold to theaters. There are no primary documents from Shakespeare stating why He began writing but we do know where He worked and lived and where His family lived and how bad they were doing so the picture of what was going on with Shakespeare around the time Henry IV parts 1-3 is clear. Shakespeare’s family situation wasn’t great and He needed to make extra money for his family. Because Shakespeare was an actor He learned what people liked, He could use His natural talent and extensive education with English verse, previous experience with writing, education, and experience with acting to write a play that would entertain that He could sell and make extra money to support Himself and His family. In 1590, Shakespeare had not received the status of a world’s greatest poet and playwright yet. At this time Shakespeare’s status was that of an actor which hurt his chances of being recognized because the poor reputation of actors. Shakespeare relied on a popular genre, style, diction, and subjects to gain appeal for his plays from his audience. He was trying to piggy back on the popularity of rhetorical devices so people would look less at who wrote it and more on content. Many authors of that time used their already good reputation, wealth, or power to get noticed. Shakespeare had none of that so He had to rely on other conventions that were well liked for people to overlook the author and enjoy the work. By picking popular conventions Shakespeare was trying to appeal to as many as He could and give his plays the best opportunity for success. The genre Shakespeare selected for His first plays is also evidence that His goal was to make a buck and establish himself and not self-expression or for the beauty of it.