William Shakespeare was baptized in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He wrote many famous plays and is considered the greatest English writer of all time. Details of his early life are unknown, though he married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and had three children. By the 1590s, Shakespeare had begun a successful career as an actor and playwright in London. He established his own theater company around 1599 and wrote some of his most renowned works, including tragedies like Hamlet, King Lear, and Othello. Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of 52, leaving most of his possessions to his daughter Susanna. Some later questioned his authorship of the plays,

2. GENERAL INFORMATION
William Shakespeare was
baptized in 1564
in Stratford, England.
He wrote many plays
known all over the world.
Today, he is still
considered the best
English writer ever.

3. MYSTERIOUS ORIGINS
The personal story of
William Shakespeare is a
mystery. There are two
primary sources: one is
his work (plays, poems
and sonnets) and the
other is official
documentation.
However, they are not
enough.

4. EARLY LIFE
William’s parents
were John
Shakespeare and
Mary Arden. His
father was a
leather merchant.
William had two
older sisters and
three younger
brothers.
Shakespeare's birthplace

5. MARRIED LIFE
William Shakespeare married Anne
Hathaway in 1582 in Worcester
because she was pregnant.
They had three children: a
daughter, Susanna and twins
Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet later
died of unknown causes.
Anne Hathaway

6. THEATRICAL BEGINNINGS
By 1592, William Shakespeare
worked as an actor and a playwright
in London. He could find a patron,
the Earl of Southampton.
Shakespeare dedicated him his first
and second published poems: Venus
and Adonis in 1593 and The Rape of
Lucrece in 1594.
the Earl of Southampton

7. ESTABLISHING HIMSELF
By 1597, 15 of his plays were published.
At this time, he bought one of the
biggest houses in Stratford for his
family. Shakespeare was in London
writing and acting and came home
once a year during the Lent period,
when the theaters were closed.
By 1599, William Shakespeare and his
business partners built their own
theater on the south bank of the River
Thames, which they called The Globe.
The reconstructed Globe
Theatre, London

8. WRITING STYLE
At first, he wrote in the
conventional style, with
elaborate metaphors and
rhetorical phrases. However,
Shakespeare was very
innovative. He used the blank
verse and simple prose to
compose his plays.
Title page of the First Folio, 1623.

9. EARLY WORKS: Histories and Comedies
With the exception of Romeo and Juliet,
Shakespeare’s first plays were HISTORICAL:
Richard II, Henry VI and Henry V.
He also wrote several comedies: A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant
of Venice and Much Ado about Nothing.

10. LATER WORKS: Tragedies and Tragicomedies
After 1600, William wrote the tragedies:
Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth. The
characters of his plays give great impressions
of human condition: good and evil, betrayal,
madness, guilt, love, ambition, loyalty and
many more essential topics.
Procession of Characters from Shakespeare's Plays

11. DEATH
It seems that William
Shakespeare died on his
birthday on April 23,
1616.
In his will, he left most of
his possessions to his
eldest daughter,
Susanna.
Shakespeare's funerary monument

12. CONTROVERSY AND LITERARY
LEGACY
After his death, some people
questioned the authorship of
William Shakespeare’s plays,
because they thought that he
had neither the education nor
the literary training to write
those plays. However, the vast
majority of scholars admit that
William Shakespeare wrote all
his plays.