William Shakespeare

**William Shakespeare** ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English dramatist, poet, and theatre actor. He wrote 40 known plays (with about half of them considered comedies) and two long poems in his lifetime. He lived in Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, England. His plays are still performed today. He is often quoted in modern writing.

Shakespeare wrote his works between approximately 1592 and 1613. His plays are among the best known in English literature and are studied in schools around the world. Along with writing, Shakespeare also acted in The Chamberlain's Men acting company, starting in 1594.

Shakespeare wrote plays of different kinds, or genres. There are histories, tragedies and comedies. His four major tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and King Lear. There is a popular myth that Shakespeare was the first person to write a tragicomedy. Tragicomedies were being written well before Shakespeare's birth and baptism.

Shakespeare's plays are written in poetic language. Many of the plays are set in strange, distant places and times. The stories are often exciting, romantic and happy (in the comedies), or very sad (in the tragedies). These stories make people want to know what will happen to the characters. The plays talk about things that are still important today, like love, sadness, hope, pride, hatred, jealousy, and foolishness.

Shakespeare added new words and phrases to the English language. He made over 1,700 English words. He also made some words more popular.

## Life

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. Though the exact date is unknown, historians accept 23 April 1564 as Shakespeare's birthday. He was probably the third of eight children. Shakespeare was probably educated at the King's New School in Stratford. Latin was popular in grammar schools during the Elizabethan era, so Shakespeare learned Latin very intensively.

When Shakespeare was 18, he married Anne Hathaway, a 26-year-old woman. Their wedding was rushed because Anne was already pregnant. They had three children: Susanna (who married John Hall); Hamnet (who died at the age of 11 from unknown causes); and Judith (who married Thomas Quiney). By 1592, Shakespeare had become an actor and was becoming well known as a writer of plays.

At the time of his death in 1616, only some of Shakespeare’s plays had been published in single editions. His plays were collected and published in 1623, seven years after he died. There is proof that people in Shakespeare's time thought highly of him. After his death, even his rival Ben Jonson said:

- "Triumph, my Britain, thou hast one to show,
- To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe.
- He was not of an age, but for all time!"

Shakespeare was involved in the building of the Globe Theatre in 1599. (It burned down a few years later.). His plays are still performed at a new Globe Theatre, built in 1997 near the original.

## Marriage and sexuality

Although Shakespeare was married to a woman and fathered three children, people have questioned his sexuality. Some people, such as Peter Holland of the Shakespeare Institute at Birmingham University, have pointed out that Shakespeare directed some of his sonnets towards young men. They say this is evidence that he may have been bisexual.

## Who wrote "Shakespeare"?

About 150 years after his death, some scholars suggested that Shakespeare did not actually write all of the works that are called his. They had various reasons for saying this. For example, the person who wrote "Shakespeare’s works" knew a lot about other countries (especially Italy and France), but there is not enough evidence to suggest that Shakespeare ever left England. Some scholars think he might have traveled to Scotland, because of his great and vast knowledge of Scotland in Macbeth, where the play was set in. Several other writers of "Shakespeare" have been suggested, such as Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. However, most scholars believe that William Shakespeare did write the works that bear his name.

### Shakespeare's tragedies

- _Romeo and Juliet_
- _Macbeth_
- _King Lear_
- _Hamlet_
- _Othello_
- _Titus Andronicus_
- _Julius Caesar _
- _Antony and Cleopatra_
- _Coriolanus_
- _Troilus and Cressida_
- _Timon of Athens_

### Shakespeare's comedies

- _The Comedy of Errors_
- _All's Well That Ends Well_
- _As You Like It_
- _A Midsummer Night's Dream_
- _Much Ado About Nothing_
- _Measure for Measure_
- _The Tempest_
- _Taming of the Shrew_
- _Twelfth Night or What You Will_
- _The Merchant of Venice_
- _The Merry Wives of Windsor_
- _Love's Labour's Lost_
- _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_
- _Pericles Prince of Tyre_
- _Cymbeline_
- _The Winter's Tale_

### Shakespeare's histories

- _King John (play)_
- _Richard II_
- _Richard III_
- _Henry IV, part 1_
- _Henry IV, part 2_
- _Henry V_
- _Henry VI, part 1_
- _Henry VI, part 2_
- _Henry VI, part 3_
- _Henry VIII_
- _Julius Caesar_

### Other plays

- _Love's Labour's Won_
- _Cardenio_

### Shakespeare's tragicomedies

- Twelfth Night
- The Merchant of Venice
- As You Like It
- A Midsummer Night's Dream

## Other websites

- Shakespeare  Open Literature
- Open Source Shakespeare
- Modern English Shakespeare Resources: Facts, Plays, Sonnets
- Shakespeare - SparkNotes
- William Shakespeare

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: William Shakespeare
- **image**: Shakespeare.jpg
- **caption**: The Chandos portrait (held by the National Portrait Gallery, London, National Portrait Gallery, London)
- **birth date**: between
 24 April 1563 and
 23 April 1564
- **death date**: 23 April 1616
(aged 52)
- **death place**: Stratford-upon-Avon, England
- **resting place**: Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon
- **movement**: English Renaissance
- **known for**: A dramatist who wrote 38 known dramas
- **yearsactive**: 15921613
- **father**: John Shakespeare
- **mother**: Mary Shakespeare, Mary Arden
- **signature**: William Shakespeare Signature.svg