William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616)[a] was an English poet and playwright who is now regarded as the greatest writer of the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.[1] His surviving works include 38 plays,[b] two long narrative poems,154 sonnets,and a few other poems.He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard").His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.[2]
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon.At the age of 18,he married Anne Hathaway,with whom he had three children:Susanna,and twins Hamnet and Judith.Sometime between 1585 and 1592,Shakespeare moved to London,where he found success as an actor,writer,and part-owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later known as the King's Men).He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613,where he died three years later.Few records survive concerning Shakespeare's private life,and considerable speculation has been poured into this void,[3] including questions about his sexuality,religious beliefs,and whether the works attributed to him were actually written by others.[4]
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613.He at first wrote mainly comedies and histories,genres that he raised to a peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century.He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608,producing what are considered some of the greatest in the language,including Hamlet,King Lear,and Macbeth.In the last phase of his career,Shakespeare turned to tragicomedies and collaborated with other playwrights.Many of Shakespeare's plays were published during his lifetime in editions of variable quality and accuracy; and in 1623,two of his former acting colleagues published the First Folio,a collected edition of his works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.
Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day; but it was not until the eighteenth century that his reputation began its rise to the heights it enjoys today.The Romantics,in particular,acclaimed Shakespeare's genius; and in the nineteenth century,the Victorians hero-worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry".[5] In the twentieth century,Shakespeare's work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance.His plays remain highly popular today; constantly performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.