The author William Shakespeare William Shakespeare, born in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1564, is considered the greatest English poet and playwright1 of all times. We know very little about him: he probably attends2 the local grammar school3, marries at 18 and has three children. Ten years later he is already famous in London as an actor and a dramatist. In 1595 he is one of the owners4 of the company of actors called The Chamberlain s5 Men and in 1599 he is a co-partner of the Globe Theatre. He returns to Stratford in 1610 and here he dies in 1616. Shakespeare lives during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in which all the arts flower6 under the influence of the Renaissance7. London, capital of the kingdom8, is the centre of the cultural revival. Poets celebrate the Queen and dramatic companies frequently act in front of the Court. Playwrights and actors look for the protection of important people (King, Queen, Lord Chamberlain) because the City authorities consider them vagabonds and thieves9. Many public theatres open outside the London walls, on the banks10 of the river Thames, and the Globe is the most famous. Shakespeare produces 36 plays. Some are tragedies (for example, Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth), some are comedies (for example, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Love s Labour Lost). In the last period of his life, apart from a tragedy (Henry VIII), Shakespeare writes only romances, or fantasies dominated by the central theme of love (for example, A Midsummer s Night s Dream, The Tempest). 1. playwright: author of plays (comedies, tragedies, etc.). 2. attends: goes to. 3. grammar school: school where students learn also Latin and Greek. 4. owner: possessor. 5. Chamberlain: high officer responsible for the King s money. 6. flower: develop. 7. Renaissance: period of the revival of literature and art in the 16th century. 8. kingdom: land of a king. 9. thieves (pl. of thief): people that take away things dishonestly. 10. bank: side. 4