To thine own self be true.
William Shakespeare (baptized April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor who wrote 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and two long narrative poems that redefined the possibilities of language, character, and theater. His works—performed continuously for over 400 years—have been translated into every major language and shaped global literature, psychology, law, and popular culture. From Hamlet’s introspection to Romeo and Juliet’s doomed passion, his dramas explore ambition, love, power, and mortality with unmatched “tongue that can speak anything.” The First Folio (1623) preserved his canon; today, 4 billion+ words of his dialogue circulate annually on stage, screen, and meme.
Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, to John Shakespeare (glovemaker, alderman) and Mary Arden (landed gentry), William was the third of eight children. Likely educated at the King’s New School (Latin, rhetoric, Ovid), he left formal schooling around age 15 when his father’s finances collapsed.
At 18, he married Anne Hathaway (26), who was three months pregnant. Their daughter Susanna was baptized May 26, 1583; twins Hamnet and Judith followed in 1585. Between 1585 and 1592—the “lost years”—Shakespeare vanished from records, possibly teaching, soldiering, or traveling with acting troupes.
By 1592, he was a playwright-actor in London, mocked by rival Robert Greene as an “upstart crow.” Member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later King’s Men under James I), he performed at The Theatre, The Curtain, and co-owned the Globe (1599) and Blackfriars (1608).
| Period | Output & Milestones |
|---|---|
| 1590–96 | Early histories (Henry VI trilogy), comedies (Taming of the Shrew), tragedies (Titus Andronicus) |
| 1594–99 | Peak comedies (Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night); Romeo and Juliet |
| 1599–1608 | Great tragedies (Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth) |
| 1608–13 | Romances (The Tempest, Winter’s Tale) |
Wrote ~2 plays/year; acted roles like Ghost in Hamlet, Adam in As You Like It. Earned £200–300/year—equivalent to a modern multimillionaire—buying New Place (Stratford’s second-largest house) in 1597.
| Play | Year | Innovation |
|---|---|---|
| Richard III | 1593 | Villain as charismatic anti-hero |
| Hamlet | 1601 | 4,000-line psychological interiority; “To be or not to be” |
| Othello | 1604 | Racial outsider; Iago’s motiveless malignity |
| King Lear | 1606 | Double plot; nihilism → redemption |
| The Tempest | 1611 | Metatheatrical farewell; Prospero’s “rough magic” |
Sonnets (1609): 126 to “Fair Youth,” 28 to “Dark Lady”; erotic, philosophical, timeless.
c. 1613, returned to Stratford. Died April 23, 1616 (age 52)—cause unknown (possibly typhoid). Buried in Holy Trinity Church; epitaph curses grave-disturbers.
“Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear, / To dig the dust enclosed here. / Blest be the man that spares these stones, / And cursed be he that moves my bones.”
Ben Jonson eulogized:
“He was not of an age, but for all time!”
Shakespeare didn’t just write plays—he invented the human as we imagine it: conflicted, articulate, infinitely quotable. Four centuries later, every heartbreak still whispers “Romeo, Romeo”, every betrayal hisses “Et tu?”, and every mirror reflects “To thine own self be true.”