William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre‑eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the “Bard of Avon”. His surviving works consist of 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship.
Early life
Shakespeare was born in Stratford‑upon‑Avon, Warwickshire, to John Shakespeare, a prosperous glover and leather‑worker, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer. He was baptised on 26 April 1564; his actual birthdate remains unknown but is traditionally observed on 23 April, St George's Day.
He attended the King's New School in Stratford, where he would have studied Latin grammar and classical literature. At age 18 he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. The period from 1585 to 1592 is often referred to as the “lost years” because little is known about his activities.
London and theatrical career
By 1592 Shakespeare had established himself in London as an actor and playwright. He was a sharer in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, a playing company that later became the King's Men under James I. The company built the Globe Theatre on the South Bank of the Thames in 1599, where many of his greatest plays were first performed.
Shakespeare's early works include the comedies The Comedy of Errors and A Midsummer Night's Dream, the histories Henry VI and Richard III, and the tragedy Romeo and Juliet. His middle period produced his most famous tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. In his later years he wrote tragicomedies, such as The Tempest and The Winter's Tale, often collaborating with other dramatists.
Later years and legacy
Shakespeare retired to Stratford around 1613, where he lived as a wealthy gentleman. He died on 23 April 1616 and was buried in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church. His gravestone bears a curse against anyone who moves his bones.
His influence on English literature, theatre, and the global cultural imagination is unparalleled. His plays have been translated into every major language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. The “Shakespearean” sonnet form and his linguistic innovations—coining or popularising thousands of words and phrases—continue to shape how we speak and write today.
Major themes
- Love and romance – explored in the sonnets and plays such as Romeo and Juliet.
- Power and ambition – central to Macbeth and Julius Caesar.
- Identity and madness – deeply examined in Hamlet and King Lear.
- Jealousy and deception – the driving forces in Othello and The Winter's Tale.