William Shakespeare - biography.

William Shakespeare - biography. English dramatist, poet, and actor Date April 26, 1564 Baptized Death April 23, 1616 Place of Stratford-upon-Avon Birth Known for Producing perhaps the most varied and powerful body of work any author has ever written Exploring elemental themes of power, justice, love, and death in his tragedies, comedies, histories, romances, and sonnets Creating realistic stage characters whose appeal comes in their truly human motives, actions, and flaws Achieving widespread and lasting recognition for his work, which continues to be taught and performed worldwide Adding innumerable phrases and quotations to the English language Milestones 1593 Published the poem Venus and Adonis 1594 Published the poem The Rape of Lucrece 1594 Joined the Chamberlain's Men theatrical company as an actor and playwright Early 1590s Shakespeare's early plays, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, Richard III, and Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III, were performed for the first time. Mid 1590s Shakespeare's plays Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Richard II were first performed. Late 1590s Shakespeare's comedic plays The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, and As You Like It were first performed. His tragic play Julius Caesar was performed about 1599. 1600-1606 Shakespeare's great tragedies Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth were first performed. 1606-1613 Shakespeare's later plays, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, and Henry VIII were first performed. 1609 Published Sonnets 1623 First Folio, a compilation of all of Shakespeare's plays, was posthumously published. Did You During a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII at London's Globe Theatre in 1613, a cannon set the roof on fire and the theater was Know destroyed. At 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. They had a daughter, Susanna, and twins, Hamnet and Judith. In the mid-19th century, some scholars believed that Shakespeare's plays were authored instead by Sir Francis Bacon. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.