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William Shakespeare

Playwright

BirthdayApril 23

Death Date

Apr 23, 1616(age 52)

Birthplace

Stratford-upon-Avon England

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About

Elizabethan era playwright and poet who is regarded as the most influential writer in English literature. The author of 38 plays and 154 sonnets, he is particularly famous for Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Othello (tragedies) and for A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Taming of the Shrew (comedies).

Before Fame

During his youth, he likely attended the King's New School in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. His London theatrical career began around the year 1592.

Trivia

His influence on the English language far exceeds that of any other literary figure. Some of his original phrases include "dead as a doornail," "a sorry sight," "foul play," "hot-blooded," and "in a pickle."

Family Life

He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. He married Anne Hathaway when he was eighteen and she was twenty-six. His eldest daughter, Susanna, was born in 1583, and his twins, Judith and Hamnet, were born two years later.

Associated With

Shakespeare's work profoundly influenced the literary development of numerous other authors, including James Joyce (an early twentieth-century Irish author known for a brilliantly complex novel entitled Ulysses).

Quotes

"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."

William Shakespeare

"Love all, trust a few,Do wrong to none: be able for thine enemyRather in power than use; and keep thy friendUnder thy own life's key: be check'd for silence,But never tax'd for speech."

William Shakespeare

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind. Nor hath love's mind of any judgment taste; Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste: And therefore is love said to be a child, Because in choice he is so oft beguil'd."

William Shakespeare