William Shakespeare

Life and legacy

William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, a prosperous market town in Warwickshire. His father, John Shakespeare, was a successful glove-maker and town official; his mother, Mary Arden, came from a family of minor gentry. Shakespeare likely attended the local grammar school, where he would have received a thorough grounding in Latin literature, rhetoric, and classical authors - education that left deep marks on his work. In 1582, at eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, and they had three children: Susanna, and the twins Hamnet and Judith.

The years between 1585 and 1592 - the so-called "lost years" - are undocumented, but by 1592 Shakespeare had established himself in London as an actor and playwright. He became a shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men), the most successful acting company in England, and performed at the Globe Theatre, which was built in 1599 on the south bank of the Thames. His early plays included the history cycle of Henry VI and Richard III, the comedies "The Taming of the Shrew" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and the tragedy "Romeo and Juliet."

Shakespeare's greatest works were written in a sustained burst of creativity between roughly 1599 and 1608. "Hamlet" (c. 1600), "Othello" (c. 1603), "King Lear" (c. 1605), and "Macbeth" (c. 1606) - the four great tragedies - explore ambition, jealousy, madness, guilt, and the collapse of order with a depth of psychological insight that no dramatist has equaled. In the same period, he produced the "problem comedies" and the Roman tragedies "Julius Caesar," "Antony and Cleopatra," and "Coriolanus." His late romances - "The Winter's Tale" and "The Tempest" - combine tragedy and comedy in a vision of reconciliation and renewal.

Shakespeare's command of language is without parallel. He invented or popularized an estimated 1,700 words - including "eyeball," "assassination," "lonely," "generous," and "obscene" - and his phrases ("to be or not to be," "all that glitters is not gold," "the milk of human kindness") have become part of the fabric of the English language. His 154 sonnets, published in 1609, are among the finest lyric poems ever written, exploring themes of love, beauty, mortality, and the immortalizing power of poetry.

Shakespeare retired to Stratford-upon-Avon around 1613, having accumulated considerable wealth from his theatrical career. He died on April 23, 1616, at the age of fifty-two, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church. The First Folio of his collected plays, published in 1623 by his colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell, preserved thirty-six plays that might otherwise have been lost. Shakespeare's influence on English literature, the English language, and world culture is immeasurable - his works have been translated into every major language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Key accomplishments

• Wrote approximately 39 plays, including "Hamlet," "Macbeth," "Othello," and "King Lear"
• Composed 154 sonnets and several longer poems of enduring literary significance
• Invented or popularized approximately 1,700 English words and countless phrases
• Co-owned the Globe Theatre, one of the most famous theaters in history
• Created the most psychologically complex characters in dramatic literature

Quotes

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.

William Shakespeare, "As You Like It," Act II, Scene VII

To be, or not to be, that is the question.

William Shakespeare, "Hamlet," Act III, Scene I

Related figures