WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE WAS BORN into a world that was short of people and struggled to keep those it had. In 1564 England had a population of between three million and five million-much less than three hundred years earlier, when plague began to take a continuous, heavy
William Shakespeare entered a world that was facing significant population challenges. Born in 1564, England's population ranged from three to five million people, a stark contrast to the numbers seen three centuries prior. This decline was largely due to the recurring outbreaks of plague that had swept through the nation, severely impacting the population dynamics.
The environment of Shakespeare's time was marked by a struggle to maintain a stable populace amidst...
