From Amanda Mabillard,
Your Guide to Shakespeare.
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Here are our most frequently asked questions about Shakespeare:

1) How did Shakespeare die?
Although the answer remains a mystery, there are some fascinating and highly plausible theories surrounding Shakespeare's demise.

2) What happened to Shakespeare’s children?
William and his wife, Anne, had three children, and we know many interesting details about the lives of two of them.

3) What did Shakespeare look like?
There are several portraits and miniatures of Shakespeare, but are any considered accurate representations of the Bard?

4) Are Shakespeare’s works written in Old English?
Even with modernized spelling, some of Shakespeare's passages leave people scratching their heads. Is Shakespeare hard to understand because he was writing in Old English?

5) Was Shakespeare anti-Semitic?
The character of Shylock, the Jewish money-lender who requests a pound of flesh as collateral in The Merchant of Venice, prompts many to wonder about the perception of Jews in Elizabethan England.

6) Was Shakespeare gay?
Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, apparently not intended for publication. Many of these sonnets address the poet's love for a young man. But is it romantic love? And if so, are the sonnets autobiographical?

7) How many plays did Shakespeare write?
We are sure that Shakespeare wrote at least thirty-seven plays over a period of about twenty years, but many believe several more plays should be included in the body of his work. So why can't scholars agree?

8) Did Shakespeare perform in any of his own plays?
Shakespeare, a wealthy man in his later years, earned his living acting, not writing, so we assume that he starred in many of the popular dramas of the day. But did Shakespeare ever play his own King Henry or Hamlet?

9) Where is Shakespeare buried?
People are constantly curious to know what is written on Shakespeare’s gravestone, and they are always surprised to learn it is a curse.

10) Did Shakespeare really write the works attributed to him?
Many people have been named in the search to find the 'true' author of Shakespeare's plays – from Christopher Marlowe to Queen Elizabeth I herself.