William Shakespeare.

* William Shakespeare was born at Stanford upon Avon in April, 1564. His parents were, John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. He was the third child and the eldest son. In 1582 in the month of December, Shakespeare married Ann Hathaway. Their first child, Susanna was baptized on May 6, 1583, and twins, Hamnet and Judith on February 22, 1585. 

Little is known of Shakespeare's early life; but it is unlikely that a writer who dramatized such an incomparable range and variety of human kinds and experiences should have spent his early manhood entirely in placid pursuits in a country town. By the summer of 1598, for the poet and playwright, Shakespeare is generally considered the greatest ever  and is also one of the least known of all literary figures and his works were indeed created for the popular entertainment of his day with little thought to their immortality. 

Shakespeare did not take any steps to preserve his writings past their immediate use. With all the academic study of Shakespeare and the trappings of fine culture that have been wrapped around productions of his dramas over the centuries, we often forget what an amazing, unique and entertaining spectacle his plays presented to their original audience — and still can to a modern audience, in the right hands. When Shakespeare died on the 23rd of April 1616 at the age of fifty- two (52), fourteen of his plays had been separately published n Quarto booklets.

Plays written by Shakespeare

* History themed plays:

1. King Henry IV part 1
2. King Henry IV part 2
3. King Henry V
4. King Henry VI part 1
5. King Henry VI part 2
6. King Henry VI part 3
7. King Henry VIII
8. King John
9. Richard II
10. Richard III

* Tragedy themed plays:

1. Antony and Cleopatra
2. Coriolanus
3. Hamlet
4. Julius Caesar
5. King Lear
6. Macbeth
7. Othello
8. Romeo and Juliet
9. Timon of Athens
10. Titus Andrornicus

*Comedy themed plays:

1. Alls Well That End Well
2. As You Like It
3. Comedy of Errors
4. Cymbeline
5. Love's Labor's Lost
6. Measure for Measure
7. Merchant of Venice
8. Merry Wives of Windsor
9. Midsummer Nights Dream
10. Much Ado About Nothing
11. Pericles, Prince of Tyre
12. Taming of the Shrew
13. The Temptest
14. Troilus and Cressida
15. Twelfth Night
16. Two Gentlemen of Verona
17. Winter's Tale

*Elizabethan Theatre History and Timeline.

The history of the theater is fascinating. How plays were first produced in the yards of inns - the Inn-yards. The very first theater and the development of the amphitheatre! The Elizabethan Entrepreneurs (the men with the ideas and the money!). The building, design and construction of a London Elizabethan Theatre. The plays, the playwrights, the politics and the propaganda all play an important part in the history of the Elizabethan Theatre. The Elizabethan Theater was a booming business. People loved the Theatre! The Elizabethan plays and theatres were as popular as the movies and cinemas of the early 20th century. Vast amounts of money could be made! The inn-keepers increased their profits by allowing plays to be shown on temporary stages erected in the yards of their inns (inn-yards). Soon purpose-built playhouses and great open theatres were being constructed.

The Elizabethan Era!
The English Elizabethan Era is one of the most fascinating periods in the History of England. The Elizabethan Era is named after the greatest Queens of England - Queen Elizabeth I. The Elizabethan Era is not only famous for the Virgin Queen but also for the era itself - Great Explorers, such as Sir Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh. The era of the very first Theatres in England - William Shakespeare, the globe Theatre and Christopher Marlowe! The people of the era - the Famous Figures who featured in the history of this era such as the Queen's love Robert Dudley, the sinister Dr. John Dee, the intrigues of the spy-master Sir Francis Walsingham and the Queen's chief advisor Sir William Cecil (Lord Burghley). Religion - Politics - Executions - Crime and Punishment all played their part in the Elizabethan era! And so did the commoners!