more photos (4)

William Shakespeare’s Followers (44,005)

Add New
Videos

Add a comment

Ophelia, Gertrude, and Regicide - Hamlet II: Crash Course Literature 204

Add a comment

William Shakespeare

Born

in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England

April 03, 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 ...more

edit data

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 · 7,962,161 ratings · 193,044 reviews · 22,131 distinct works • Similar authors

	Romeo and Juliet 3.74 avg rating — 2,636,129 ratings — published 1597 — 9935 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 4.02 avg rating — 968,805 ratings — published 1601 — 8627 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: Moment by Moment by William Shakespeare, Carmen Kahn (Contributor), Jack Armstrong (Contributor) 3.89 avg rating — 914,976 ratings — published 1606 — 7608 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 3.95 avg rating — 546,522 ratings — published 1595 — 5503 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 — 397,170 ratings — published 1603 — 2717 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 — 246,699 ratings — published 1598 — 19 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 — 221,862 ratings — published 1605 — 3833 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 3.79 avg rating — 212,532 ratings — published 1611 — 3852 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 3.70 avg rating — 206,539 ratings — published 1599 — 4168 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 3.97 avg rating — 184,359 ratings — published 1601 — 2898 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

Wars of the Roses (8 books)
by

William Shakespeare,

Eric Rasmussen (Goodreads Author) (Editor),

John D. Cox (Editor)

3.81 avg rating — 204,981 ratings

Shakespeare's Minor Tetralogy (4 books)
by

William Shakespeare,

John Jowett (Editor)

3.82 avg rating — 78,361 ratings

Shakespeare Made Easy (11 books)
by

William Shakespeare,

Alan Durband (Adapter)

3.85 avg rating — 51,882 ratings

Henry IV (2 books)
by

William Shakespeare,

David Bevington (Editor),

David Scott Kastan (Editor)

3.79 avg rating — 50,977 ratings

Henry VI (3 books)
by

William Shakespeare,

Eric Rasmussen (Goodreads Author) (Editor),

John D. Cox (Editor)

3.61 avg rating — 23,849 ratings

More series by William Shakespeare…

Good news, romance readers: We’ve gathered below the month’s hottest and most popular new love stories. Or lust stories, at...

Polls

If you could meet with one author, who would it be?

J.K. Rowling (write-in)

16 votes 25.8%

John Green

13 votes 21.0%

Cassandra Clare (write-in)

8 votes 12.9%

Edgar Allan Poe

6 votes 9.7%

Shakespeare

6 votes 9.7%

Rainbow Rowell

2 votes 3.2%

Stephen King (write-in)

2 votes 3.2%

Oscar Wilde, C. S. Lewis, James A. Owen, Edgar Allan Poe

2 votes 3.2%

Suzanne Collins

1 vote 1.6%

James Patterson

1 vote 1.6%

orwell, george

1 vote 1.6%

Daniel Kahneman (write-in)

1 vote 1.6%

Chris Colfer (write-in)

1 vote 1.6%

The Bronte sisters (write-in)

1 vote 1.6%

David Baldacci (write-in)

1 vote 1.6%

Donna Tartt

0 votes 0.0%

62 total votes

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
European Royalty: Dec. 1 - Jan. 1 - Nomination	12	93	Nov 15, 2008 07:32PM
YA Book Council: The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry	49	262	Nov 19, 2008 01:09AM
European Royalty: Dec. 1 - Jan. 1 - Voting	10	101	Nov 21, 2008 07:09AM
Romance and Paran...: Victoria Alexander	1	52	Nov 25, 2008 08:21AM
Romance and Paran...: Julia London	1	18	Dec 07, 2008 05:39PM
The Book Challenge: Samantha's 2008 Book Challenge	35	321	Dec 30, 2008 11:29PM

More…