The Author William Shakespeare Shakespeare was born on April 23rd 1564 in Stratford- upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, where he also died in 1616. His family paid for William s education, but historians are not sure he went to university. At the age of 18 he married the 26year-old Anne Hathaway and the couple had three children. Between 1585 and 1592, Shakespeare began a successful career in London as an actor and writer. He also owned1 part of an acting company called the Lord Chamberlain2 s Men , and part of theatre he helped to found3, The Globe. Shakespeare wrote and acted for Queen Elizabeth I and King James I during the period called the English Renaissance . His early plays were mainly comedies (Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night s Dream ) or histories (Henry V ); later, he wrote tragedies (Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth ) or romances , with a touch of supernatural (The Tempest ). Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet around 1595. He didn t invent the story, but, as was usual at the time, he used existing stories by other authors and probably inspired by some real events, and transformed them into a masterpiece4 thanks to his unique style. Many plays by Shakespeare are still very popular today: even after more than 400 years, people still love to go to the theatre to see his works because his themes of love, revenge, death and power are still very modern. 1. owned: had, possessed. 2. chamberlain: person who lived at a queen s or a king s court. 3. found: to start building. 4. masterpiece: an excellent work of art. 4