Who Was Shakespeare?

     I go on to Google and type the words in: Shakespeare biography. After panning through the thousands of results given, I end up here: http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/shakespeare-biography. The site starts off with the basics like the year he was born and the year he died (1564-1616). They talk about his personal life, discussing his schooling at Stratford, his wife (Anne Hathaway), and their three kids. They go on to talk about his 25 year devotion to being an actor and a playwright. He wrote his many famous sonnets throughout this time and while bearing the tragedy of his son's passing, became a partner in the Globe Theater. The later period in his life was when he relaxed and enjoy his wealth he had accumulated after the success of his works. Although the information from this site is all cut and dry, they claim that no fact is truly set in stone and that their data may be a little sketchy. This leaves me to wonder if they really know when all of his plays and sonnets were written or if they even have proof/substantial evidence of these works.
     From experience, the natural reaction to that of Shakespeare is: "Ugh," or "Ick." Although he is a literary genius, he is also hard to comprehend due to the old English iambic pentameter thing he's got going on. His stories are classic; titles such as Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet are household names. Even though he may have the fame, Shakespeare doesn't necessarily have the popularity of the new, modern crowd. They only see him as desperate, hopeless romantic or as a complete and utter fool. The first time I really experienced Shakespeare was freshman honors English with Romeo and Juliet. I was thrilled to read such a famous love story, but also a little intimidated on how hard it would be to fully understand what was truly going on. By the first scene, I was hooked; the rhythm of the lines was way easier to process and their elegant way of speaking wasn't too bad to read. I was enamored with this tale and still think Shakespeare is easier to tackle than some other random novel. Because it comes so natural to me, the only times I have questions are on the words that have become extinct in today's English. (Since when did bodkin mean dagger?) Shakespeare may be many students' worst nightmare, but to me, his work will always be second nature.