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William Shakespeare

Born

in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England

March 14, 1564

Died

April 23, 1616

Website

https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/

Genre

Theatre, Classics, Poetry

Influences

Ovid, Homer, Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, R ...more

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William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is 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" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, W William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is 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" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. 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, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time". ...more

Combine Editions
William Shakespeare’s books

Average rating: 3.86 · 8,558,606 ratings · 230,519 reviews · 27,730 distinct works • Similar authors

	Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Paul Werstine (Editor), Barbara A. Mowat (Editor) 3.74 avg rating — 2,821,044 ratings — published 1590 — 9949 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hamlet 4.03 avg rating — 1,049,999 ratings — published 1601 — 8802 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Carmen Kahn (Contributor), Jack Armstrong (Contributor) 3.89 avg rating — 1,019,600 ratings — published 1623 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Midsummer Night’s Dream 3.94 avg rating — 578,213 ratings — published 1595 — 5450 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Othello 3.89 avg rating — 436,450 ratings — published 1603 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Much Ado About Nothing 4.06 avg rating — 258,436 ratings — published 1598 — 3243 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	King Lear 3.91 avg rating — 237,310 ratings — published 1605 — 4012 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Tempest 3.78 avg rating — 227,250 ratings — published 1611 — 3996 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Julius Caesar 3.71 avg rating — 219,260 ratings — published 1599 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Twelfth Night 3.96 avg rating — 194,501 ratings — published 1623 — 3127 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by William Shakespeare…

Series by William Shakespeare

The Signet Classic Shakespeare (1 book)
by

William Shakespeare,

Paul Werstine (Editor),

Gail Kern Paster (Contributor),

Henry Irving (Arrangement),

Barbara A. Mowat (Editor),

Henry Norman Hudson (Introduction & Notes),

Frederick S. Boas (Introduction & Notes),

F.H. Mares (Editor),

more…
4.06 avg rating — 258,436 ratings

The Signet Classic Shakespeare (1 book)
by

William Shakespeare,

Paul Werstine (Editor),

Gail Kern Paster (Contributor),

Henry Irving (Arrangement),

Barbara A. Mowat (Editor),

Henry Norman Hudson (Introduction & Notes),

Frederick S. Boas (Introduction & Notes),

F.H. Mares (Editor),

more…
4.06 avg rating — 258,436 ratings

The Signet Classic Shakespeare (1 book)
by

William Shakespeare,

Paul Werstine (Editor),

Gail Kern Paster (Contributor),

Henry Irving (Arrangement),

Barbara A. Mowat (Editor),

Henry Norman Hudson (Introduction & Notes),

Frederick S. Boas (Introduction & Notes),

F.H. Mares (Editor),

more…
4.06 avg rating — 258,436 ratings

The Signet Classic Shakespeare (1 book)
by

William Shakespeare,

Paul Werstine (Editor),

Gail Kern Paster (Contributor),

Henry Irving (Arrangement),

Barbara A. Mowat (Editor),

Henry Norman Hudson (Introduction & Notes),

Frederick S. Boas (Introduction & Notes),

F.H. Mares (Editor),

more…
4.06 avg rating — 258,436 ratings

The Signet Classic Shakespeare (1 book)
by

William Shakespeare,

Paul Werstine (Editor),

Gail Kern Paster (Contributor),

Henry Irving (Arrangement),

Barbara A. Mowat (Editor),

Henry Norman Hudson (Introduction & Notes),

Frederick S. Boas (Introduction & Notes),

F.H. Mares (Editor),

more…
4.06 avg rating — 258,436 ratings

More series by William Shakespeare…

Imagine a Shakespearean retelling of The Godfather set in a small Southern town, and you’ll have an idea about what to expect in Shawn Andre...

Polls

August 2015 Old School Classic Poll

1818, Persuasion by Jane Austen, 249 pages

34 votes, 25.4%

1899, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, 195 pages

22 votes, 16.4%

1759, Candide by Voltaire, 94 pages

22 votes, 16.4%

1867, The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 240 pages

11 votes, 8.2%

1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, 438 pages

11 votes, 8.2%

1603, Othello by William Shakespeare, 314 pages

11 votes, 8.2%

1897, Liza of Lambeth by W. Somerset Maugham, 128 pages

7 votes, 5.2%

1877, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, 245 pages

7 votes, 5.2%

1839, The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal, 532 pages

5 votes, 3.7%

1721, Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, 339 pages

4 votes, 3.0%

134 total votes

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