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Includes Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, King Lear, Merchant Of Venice, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, and A Midsummer Night\'s Dream.
William Shakespeare[a](c.23 April 1564[b]– 23 April 1616)[c]was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world\'s pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England\'snational poetand the \"BardofAvon\" or simply \"the Bard\". His extant works, includingcollaborations, consist of some39 plays,154 sonnets, three longnarrative poemsand a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His playshave been translatedinto every majorliving languageand are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised inStratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he marriedAnne Hathaway, with whom he had three children:Susanna, and twinsHamnetandJudith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, andpart-owner(\"sharer\") of aplaying companycalled theLord Chamberlain\'s Men, later known as theKing\'s Menafter the ascension ofKing James VI of Scotlandto the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613) he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare\'s private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters ashis physical appearance,his sexuality,his religious beliefsand even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him werewritten by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarilycomediesandhistoriesand are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainlytragediesuntil 1608, among themHamlet,Othello,King LearandMacbeth, which are considered to be among the finest works in English. In the last phase of his career, he wrotetragicomedies(also known asromances), such asThe Winter\'s TaleandThe Tempest, and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare\'s plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623John HemingesandHenry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare\'s, published a more definitive text known as theFirst Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare\'s dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its preface includes a prescient poem byBen Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, who hailed Shakespeare with the now-famous epithet: \"not of an age, but for all time\".
