William Shakespeare is believed by many to have been greatest writer the English language has ever known. As a playwright, he wrote not only some of the most powerful tragedies, but also many of the funniest comedies ever to appear on an English stage. He also wrote 154 sonnets and several major poems, some of which are considered to be the most brilliant pieces of English literature ever written, because of Shakespeare's ability to rise beyond the narrative and describe the innermost and the most profound aspects of the human nature. For the most famous examples of this ability, see quotations.
William Shakespeare was born in in Stratford, England, in 1564, the son of a glove maker. He wrote most of his works between 1585-1610, although the exact chronology of the authorship of his plays is not accurately known. Some have denied that William Shakespeare was an author at all. See the article on Shakespeare Authorship.
After his marriage to Ann Hathaway in 1582, which seems to have been rushed by the brige's pregnancy, little is known of Shakespeare until he appears on the London literary scene. He was sufficiently known to be denounced in 1592 by Robert Greene as "an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers hart wrapt in a Players hyde, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you: and beeing an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his owne conceit the onely Shake-scene in a countrey".
Shakespeare became an actor, writer and ultimately part-owner of an acting company known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men - the company was named, like others of the period, for their aristocratic sponsor. It was sufficiently popular that after the death of Elizabeth I and the coronation of James I (1603), the new monarch adopted the company and it became known as The King's Men. Various documents recording legal affairs and business transactions show that Shakespeare grew increasingly affluent in his London years. He retired approximately 1611 and died in 1616, possibly from excessive enthusiasm in drinking to celebrate his birthday.
We can divide his dramatic work in this way:
His other literary works include:
See also his contemporaries Christopher Marlowe, and Queen Elizabeth I.