Who was Shakespeare?

        Okay...my search to discover who Shakespeare really was began by going to Google and typing in the question, "Who was William Shakespeare?" I didn't actually have to type all of that, but you know what I mean. I got tons of hits, and of course, the first hit was from Wikipedia. I figured most people would choose Wiki, so I clicked on the next one on the list, http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/biography/shakespeare_biography.htm. The site says that all the information they have came from documents such as wills, church and court records, and marriage certificates. It turns out that not a whole lot is really known about him, and there are even twenty years of his life where he was in London, away from his family, and it can only be assumed that he was pursuing his career as a poet and playwright. William Shakespeare was the third born out of a total of seven siblings, but only five of them lived to adulthood. At age 18, he married a 26-year-old, and pregnant woman named Anne Hathaway. He had a daughter named Susanna, and twins Judith and Hamnet. He died on April 23, 1616, and is buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. His line of direct descendants ended with the death of Susanna's daughter Elizabeth in 1670. His tombstone reads:
             

Good friend, for Jesus´ sake forbeare
To digg the dust enclosed here!
Blest be ye man that spares thes stones
And curst be he that moues my bones.

         The name "Shakespeare" tends to strike fear into the hearts of high school students everywhere. -.-' We just get so intimidated, and I think we automatically doubt our ability to read and understand his work before we even get the the first page of one of his plays. It's the language. First, I don't even know what some words mean to begin with. Second, the language is so flowery that it's hard to understand what's really being said sometimes. Then, he throws in some slang words from his time that go right over my head. For instance, did you know that the word "nothing" was slang for "vagina" when Shakespeare was alive? I didn't until I decided to look it up online. All I can really say about my understanding now is that my vocabulary and understanding of figurative language have definitely increased in the last two years, and that definitely helps. Some things that went over my head two years ago seem a little obvious now. I'm better at analyzing what I read after Mrs. Johnson's English 3 last year. Still, what I struggle with is A)the language and B)not really caring to study Shakespeare in the first place. I can't make myself get excited about reading Shakespeare. To me, it's more like getting a tooth pulled. -.-'