William Shakespeare

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
-Shakespeare, As you like it.

   William Shakespeare was born  on April 23(or 22-there's some dispute on the date),1564, in Stradford upon Avon, England. He would become one of the greatest playwrights ever known. Historians speculate he was born on the 23 of April, St. George's day. St. George was the patron saint of England.
  
  Shakespeare's father was an alderman and a glove maker. His mother was a Lady of the Gentry. They lived comfortably, although John Shakespeare(Willie's father) got into a bit of trouble for selling wool on the black market. William attended grammar school at the King Edward School. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. He was18, she was 26. They had three children- Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet. Judith and Hamnet were twins.


 Very little is known about William from 1582 to 1592. They are known as his "lost years." In 1594 he started a group known as the Lord Chamberlain's Men, as Lord Chamberlain funded them. Later they were funded by King James 1 and called themselves "the King's men." The group acted plays Shakespeare wrote.

His plays are put into 3 main genres-Tragedy, Comedy, and History.Below is a list of his plays.

They've been translated into every language. He also wrote 154 sonnets about beauty,love poetry,etc. He wrote 38 known plays, which the subjects of are still relevant today. Shakespeare died on his fifty-second birthday in 1616.

COMEDIES All's Well That Ends WellAs You Like ItComedy of ErrorsLove's Labour's LostMeasure for MeasureMerchant of VeniceMerry Wives of WindsorMidsummer Night's DreamMuch Ado about NothingTaming of the ShrewTempestTwelfth NightTwo Gentlemen of VeronaWinter's Tale

HISTORIES CymbelineHenry IV, Part IHenry IV, Part IIHenry VHenry VI, Part IHenry VI, Part IIHenry VI, Part IIIHenry VIIIKing JohnPericlesRichard IIRichard III

TRAGEDIES Antony and CleopatraCoriolanusHamletJulius CaesarKing LearMacbethOthelloRomeo and JulietTimon of AthensTitus AndronicusTroilus and Cressida

list from:

http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/plays.php