William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright born in 1564 who wrote 38 plays including famous works like Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. He married Anne Hathaway and had three children. Shakespeare lived during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and was influenced by writers of the English Renaissance, focusing on creating complex human characters in his plays that explored social hierarchies and drew from Greek and Roman classics. His works had a significant influence on literature and expanded the English language.