William Shakespeare (1564-1616), `The Bard of Avon', English poet and playwright wrote the famous 154 Sonnets

and numerous
highly successful oft quoted dramatic works .While Shakespeare caused much controversy, he also earned lavish praise and has
profoundly impacted the world over in areas of literature, culture, art, theatre, and film and is considered one of the best
English language writers ever. From the Preface of the First Folio (1623) "To the memory of my beloved, The Author, Mr. William
Shakespeare: and what he hath left us"--Ben Jonson;

"Thou art a Moniment, without a tombe

And art alive still, while thy Booke doth live,
And we have wits to read, and praise to give."

England's celebration of their patron Saint George is on 23 April. He lived with his fairly well-to-do parents on Henley Street, the
first of the four sons born to John Shakespeare (c1530-1601) and Mary Arden (c1540-1608), who also had four daughters. Early
on Shakespeare likely attended the Elizabethan theatrical productions of travelling theatre troups, come to Stratford to
entertain the local official townsmen, including the Queen's Men, Worcester's Men, Leicester's Men, and Lord Strange's Men.
There is also the time when Queen Elizabeth herself visited nearby Kenilworth Castle and Shakespeare, said to have been duly
impressed by the procession, recreated it in some of his later plays.

in the first few years after his marriage, but he did go to London and worked at The Globe theatre, possibly as one of the
Queen's MenThe poet was throughout his life greatly indebted to the patronage and support of royal and noble personages; his
royal patrons were Queen Elizabeth and King James I, both of whom greatly loved the drama. The virgin queen devoted herself
to the study of the ancient classical period; she also delighted in our own theatrical entertainments, and used her influence in
the progress of the English drama, and fostered the inimitable genius of Shakespeare. In regard to her taste for the ancient
stage, Sir Roger Naunton tells us "That the great Queen translated one of the tragedies of Euripides from the original Greek for
her amusement." Shakespeare was ardently attracted to Elizabeth and her Court, and proved a faithful servant to his royal
mistress. The first evidence of this is in his fine eulogy of the virgin queen in that most sweetly poetical early drama, A
Midsummer-Night's Dream, as "a fair vestal throned by the west"; the play was probably produced for a special Court
performance. The passage in which these words occur is a gem of poetical beauty and is the most exquisite compliment she ever
received from any poet of her day.

The following verse from the Threnos, written by Shakespeare and appended to his poem, The Phoenix and the Turtle, appear
allusively to refer to the death of Elizabeth

Beauty, truth, and rarity,

Grace in all simplicity,
Here enclos'd in cinders lie.

Truth may seem, but cannot be;

Beauty brag, but 'tis not she;
Truth and beauty buried be

By 1593 the plague was haunting London and many who were able fled the teeming city for the cleansing airs of open country.
While it was a time for many upstart theatres, the popular public entertainment of the day, they were often shut down and
forbidden to open for stretches of time. Shakespeare probably spent these dark days travelling between London, Stratford, and
the provinces, which gave him time to pen many more plays and sonnets. Among the first of his known printed works is the
comedic and erotically charged Ovidian narrative poem Venus and Adonis (1593). It was wildly popular, dedicated with great
esteem to his patron Henry Wriothesly, third earl of Southampton, the young man that some say Shakespeare may have had
more than platonic affection for. It was followed by the much darker The Rape of Lucrece in 1594, The Passionate Pilgrim in 1599
and the allegorical The Phoenix and the Turtle (1601). Midsummer Night's Dream ,Much Ado About Nothing , As You Like It
,Merry Wives of Windsor , Twelfth Night ,All's Well That Ends Well are world famous comedies by Shakespeare.

At this time of prolific writing, Shakespeare began his association until his death with The Lord Chamberlain's Men. With the
accession of James I they became the King's Men, who bought and performed most of Shakespeare's plays. The troupe included
his friend and actor Richard Burbage. They performed frequently at court, and in the theatres that Shakespeare was co-owner of
including the Blackfriars, The Theatre, and The Globe in London until it burnt down during a performance of King Henry VIII. It is
said that Shakespeare himself acted in a number of roles including the ghost in Hamlet and Old Adam in As You Like It. In the late
1590s he bought `New Place' on Chapel Street in Stratford, one of his many real estate investments.

Shakespeare's plays can be divided into three main categories: the comedies, the histories, and the tragedies. His tragedies are
widely thought to be some of the greatest writing ever published, and as such are hugely popular among scholars and lay-
readers alike.
William Shakespeare! The epitome of English literature is great, not only because of his writing skills, but also because of his art
of borrowing, combining, and recreating something new with a twist. Shakespearean tragedies are highly influenced by Greek
drama and Aristotle's notion of tragedy. It was Aristotle who had first described the genre in his 'Poetics' which is followed even
today to analyze modern drama. Take a look at the following characteristics shared by most Shakespearean plays.
Most of the tragedies written by Shakespeare are revenge and ambition tragedies. For instance, Othello, Hamlet, King Lear, and
Macbeth are dark tragedies showing revenge and ambition. However, there is an exception to this in the form of a romantic
tragedy, which is Romeo and Juliet. Unlike the revenge/ambition tragedy, there are two tragic characters in Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo becomes impulsive and acts without thinking about consequences, there are some noticeable features which are typical
of a Shakespearean play. almost every hero/heroine of a Shakespearean tragedy possesses a tragic flaw. Use of super-natural
elements is a common characteristic of Elizabethan drama, to which Shakespeare's plays are no exception. Supernatural powers
contribute to the fate of the protagonist. However, they are not solely responsible for the downfall of the hero; it still lies in the
deeds/actions of the hero. Usually, these actions are the outcome of the protagonist's over-ambitious nature (as in Macbeth
where he wants to become the king) or the feeling of revenge. in Hamlet, revenge is the theme built cleverly right from the
beginning of the play and making it the driving force behind the character of Hamlet. Any piece of literature, or any art form for
that matter, is successful when it evokes catharsis, where the audience feels sympathy for the character and empathize with
his/her sufferings. Shakespearean plays has the capacity to move the audience by its plot, people who are reading the play or
watching it in the theater can identify with the characters and feel that they have similar experiences in their life. Titus
Andronicus ,Romeo and Juliet ,Hamlet ,Julius Caesar ,Othello Antony and Cleopatra ,King Lear 1606 ,Macbeth are his most
famous tragedies ever written

It is generally agreed that most of the Shakespearean Sonnets were written in the 1590s, some printed at this time as well.
Others were written or revised right before being printed. 154 sonnets and "A Lover's Complaint" were published by Thomas
Thorpe as Shake-speares Sonnets in 1609. The order, dates, and authorship of the Sonnets have been much debated with no
conclusive findings. Many have claimed autobiographical details from them, including sonnet number 145 in reference to Anne.
The dedication to "Mr. W.H." is said to possibly represent the initials of the third earl of Pembroke William Herbert, or perhaps
being a reversal of Henry Wriothesly's initials. Regardless, there have been some unfortunate projections and interpretations of
modern concepts onto centuries old works that, while a grasp of contextual historical information can certainly lend to their
depth and meaning, can also be enjoyed as valuable poetical works that have transcended time and been surpassed by no
other.Evoking Petrarch's style and lyrically writing of beauty, mortality, and love with its moral anguish and worshipful adoration
of a usually unattainable love, the first 126 sonnets are addressed to a young man, sonnets 127-152 to a dark lady. Ever the
dramatist Shakespeare created a profound intrigue to scholars and novices alike as to the identities of these people.

Shakespeare's series of historical dramas, based on the English Kings from John to Henry VIII were a tremendous undertaking to
dramatise the lives and rule of kings and the changing political events of his time. No other playwright had attempted such an
ambitious body of work. Some were printed on their own or in the First Folio .King Henry VI ,King John ,Richard II and III
and King Henry VIII are well known.

William Shakespeare was the most remarkable storyteller that the world has ever known.
Homer told of adventure and men at war, Sophocles and Tolstoy told of tragedies and of people in trouble. Terence and Mark
Twain told cosmic stories, Dickens told melodramaticones, Plutarch told histories and Hand Christian Andersen told fairy tales.
ButShakespeare told every kind of story comedy, tragedy, history, melodrama, adventure,love stories and fairy tales and
each of them so well that they have become immortal. Inall the world of storytelling he has become the greatest name.
His tombstone is inscribed with the following epitaph;

Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare

To digg the dust encloasedheare
Blessed by y man y spares hes stones
And curst be he y moves my bones