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William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English dramatist and poet. Born in Stratford-on-Avon. He is considered
the greatest playwright who ever lived. In 1582 Shakespeare married Anne
Hathaway, eight years his senior and pregnant at the time of the
marriage. Soon after this union, he moved to London, and there is no record of him returning until his retirement. This has added to rumors that he was a homosexual. For all that, he had three children: Susan, and twins-Hamnet and Judith.
He emerged as a playwright in London in 1592, and was known for modeling
his work after the Roman comedy. In 1594 he became a professional actor
and playwright. By the end of his London career Shakespeare was not a
wealthy man but was prosperous enough to buy New Place in Stratford,
which later became his home in his retirement years (1613). The
chronology of his plays is uncertain. His early plays include: Henry VI,
Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, The Taming of the
Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love's Labor's Lost, and Romeo and
Juliet. His later plays include: Richard II, A Midsummer Night's Dream,
King John, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Much Ado About Nothing,
Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night, Hamlet,
Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra. He mixed comedy and
tragedy and failed to observe the unities of time and place prescribed
by the classical rules of drama. He was accused of corrupting the
English language. Shakespeare's view, was that man knows nothing of
life, yet must still behave well and combat evil. This vision may
explain the persistent appeal of Shakespeare's plays.
Little is known of his life, not because he was a secretive man, but because few records were kept of actors at that time.
By: Billy McAleese
With excerpts from an unknown contributer