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We actually know very little about Shakespeare's life, even though he’s considered the world’s greatest playwright.

We know about him through: church records, land titles written opinions of

others.

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Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford on Avon, England.

We also know that, at age eighteen, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, an older women who was twenty six at the time.

Shakespeare left Stratford for London to make his fortune roughly fours years later.

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Will went to London sometime in 1586, and by 1595, he was successful enough to be named as one of the senior members of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, an acting company that performed frequently before court (in front of the King or Queen and other big-wigs). He eventually became part-owner.

This was no small honor. This prominent theatre company later became the king’s own company called the King's Men, making Shakespeare an official playwright to the King of England.

Shakespeare became a ten percent owner of the new theatre in London, the famous Globe Theatre where so many of his plays would later be performed.

People from all walks of life crowded into his theatres: The Rose The Globe Blackfriars

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By 1611, Shakespeare retired, returning to Stratford and in 1616 Shakespeare died.

In his will, he left his second-best bed to his wife, a sign that his marriage may not have been happy.

The Shakespeare we read today comes from The First Folio , which was written by Shakespearean actors to preserve Shakespeare's legacy).

NO original manuscripts survive reflecting the fact that many of these manuscripts were written purely for performance and were not regarded as pieces of literary work.

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There is also no general agreement as to when all the plays were first performed.

Many of Willy's plays were hardly original, ‘borrowing’ plots and characters from earlier plays of other playwrights.

Also, with his history plays, Shakespeare compresses events and does not follow history too closely to add to the drama (Julius Caesar).

However borrowing plots and taking liberties with historical facts was common in Shakespeare's time.

What set him apart as the greatest playwright of all time was his skill for language, imagery, pun and his creative adaptation of myth and history.

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Generally, Shakespeare’s plays have two plots: a main plot and a subplot.

The subplot reflects the main plot and is often concerned with inferior characters.

Will used subplots to reinforce his points by having them deal with basically the same subject as the main plot.

Rhyme is mostly used to mark the close of a scene or an important action.

It also serves as a cue for the entrance of another actor or some off-stage business, to point to a change in mood or thought, or to illustrate excitement, passion, or sentimentality.

In simple terms, a comedy means that the play ends happily for the protagonists and no one dies.

Sometimes, the comedy depends on exaggerations of man’s eccentricities – we call this a comedy of humours,

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Sometimes, the comedy is romantic and far-fetched.

This is usually based on a mix-up of events or mistaken identity (like the plots of most sitcom television shows).

Much Ado About Nothing is a romantic comedy.

He studies humanity.

He criticizes; but he criticizes both sides (good and bad)

Remarkably, his themes are quite topical (still apply) and are still appropriate and relevant today.

Son of a glove-maker; Died at age 52; Many claim that Will

didn’t exist and that his plays were written by: Francis Bacon or Earl of Oxford

Wrote 37 plays; Wrote 154 sonnets;

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