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

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is often praised as the world’s greatest playwright.

William Shakespeare was christened in the church at the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, England on 26 April 1564, when probably about three days old.  This was during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

He had three younger brothers and two younger sisters. His father, John was a glove maker who later became the major of Stratford. He may have had several business interests and certainly owned more than one house in the town.

When Shakespeare was 18, he married Anne Hathaway. Their first daughter Suzanna was born in 1583.

By 1592 Shakespeare was working as writer and actor in London. He joined a theater troupe and began to write plays.

In 1596, William Shakespeare helped his father obtain a coat of arms, allowing John to die a gentleman in 1601 when William inherited his remaining properties in Stratford.

Shakespeare wrote 37 plays in 20 years. He plays generally fall into three categories: tragedies, comedies and histories.

Shakespeare retired from the theater in about 1610. He returned to his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. He died there on April 23, 1616.

Four hundred years later, people still enjoy reading Shakespeare’s plays and seeing them onstage and in films.
William Shakespeare