William Shakespeare

Poet, playwright and actor

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Personal photo

Skills

Comedy
Love
Theater
Tragedy
Poetry
Erotic
Sonnets
Plays
Writing
Directing
Literature
Influence
English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. Often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". My extant work is including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship.

Professional Experience

Likely early 17th century

Hamlet

Prince Hamlet is visited by his father's ghost and ordered to avenge his father's murder by killing King Claudius, his uncle. After struggling with several questions, including whether what the ghost said is true and whether it is right for him to take revenge, Hamlet, along with almost all the other major characters, is killed.

tragedy philosophy death

1600 – 1601

Twelfth Night

Viola finds herself shipwrecked in Illyria and, assuming that her brother Sebastian has died in the wreck, disguises herself as a man to gain a position in Duke Orsino's court. Orsino sends Viola (whom he knows as Cesario) to deliver a message to his love, Olivia. Olivia, however, dislikes the Duke. She falls in love with Viola, who she thinks is a man. Eventually, Viola's brother Sebastian, who in fact was unharmed in the wreck, reappears. At a critical moment, Viola's true identity is revealed when members of the court notice the similarities between her and Sebastian. Olivia quickly falls in love with Sebastian, and Viola confesses her love for the Duke.

comedy love

1595–1596, with a possible early draft written in 1591

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

In Verona, Italy, two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, are in the midst of a bloody feud. Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet, fall in love and struggle to maintain their relationship in the face of familial hatred. After Romeo kills Juliet's cousin Tybalt in a fit of passion, things fall apart. Both lovers eventually commit suicide within minutes of each other, and the feuding families make peace over their recent grief.

tragedy death love

Education

King Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford-upon-Avon [1571 - 1578]

Additional Experience

Performance

Thousands of performances of my plays have been staged since the end of the 16th century. Many of my greatest plays were performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men and King's Men acting companies at the Globe and Blackfriars Theatres.

theater play

Poetry

In 1593 and 1594, when the theatres were closed because of plague, I published two narrative poems on sexual themes, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. I dedicated them to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton.

poetry erotic