William Shakespeare
- 1564 - 1616
- 38 plays
- 154 sonnets
- several other poems
- born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon
- father: glove maker
- glove maker
- member of the town council
- 18 years: married Anne Hathaway
- 3 children
- 1583: Susanne
- 1585: twins; Hammet and Judith
- moved to London
- 1592: began his acting career
- 1594: a group of actors (including him) formed the Chamberlain's Men
- 1599: built the Globe their own theatre
- 1608: took over the Blackfriars indoor theatre
- wealthy
- 1603: his company got awarded with a royal patent by King James I
- and changed the name to the King's Men
- around 1613: went back to Stratford
- died 1616 (52)
- most of his popular work between 1589 and 1613
- early plays were comedies and histories
- until 1608: tragedies
- then romances
- our play: 1596 - 1598
- 1623: published First Folio, his dramatic works, all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's
- 1609: sonnets published