William Shakespeare

Playwright and poet, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, on April 23, 1564 where he was presumably was educated at the local grammar school.

 At 18 he married Anne Hathaway, from the same town, who bore him three children a daughter Susanna and the twins Judith and Hamnet.

 A couple of years later he began to attain success as a playwright in London, where he became a member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Company, London’s leading theater group.

Shakespeare wrote 37 plays in 20 years. His plays generally fall into three categories: tragedies, comedies and histories. Tragedies are plays that describe the downfall of the main character.

During Shakespeare’s lifetime, only about half or eighteen, of his plays and his several poems were published.

Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies include Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth. Comedies are humorous plays that end happily. Shakespeare’s comedies include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, and The Taming of the Shrew.

Shakespeare’s histories are dramas about some of England’s powerful kings, including Henry IV and Richard II.

History plays in five acts performed in 1598-99 and published in 1600 in quarto edition. It continues the action of the two-part Henry IV.

Shakespeare died in Stafford-upon-Avon on April 23, 1616 and was buried in the parish church.
William Shakespeare