William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor who flourished during the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras. Known as the 'Bard of Avon,' he wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and three longer narrative poems. His plays, often written in blank verse and composed in iambic pentameter, were incredibly popular in their day and continue to be performed around the world; they include comedies such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night, tragedies like Hamlet and Macbeth, histories such as Henry V, and tragicomedies like The Tempest. Arguably the most influential dramatist of all time, Shakespeare's legacy has only grown throughout the centuries. In the words of fellow playwright Ben Jonson, Shakespeare was "not of an age, but for all time."
More about: William ShakespeareDefinition
Timeline
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1564 - 1616Life of William Shakespeare.
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23 Apr 1564Birthdate of William Shakespeare, regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, at Stratford-upon-Avon, England, the son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden.
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c. 1589William Shakespeare writes his first play, 'Henry VI Part I'.
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c. 1593William Shakespeare writes his play 'Romeo and Juliet'.
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1594William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus is first perfomed.
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c. 1594William Shakespeare writes 'The Tragedy of Richard III'.
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29 Jan 1595Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is believed to have premiered, most likely at The Theater of London. The play is among the most popular of Shakespeare's works and the one most often performed today by regional and community theater companies.
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c. 1596The first performance of William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'.
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1597Romeo and Juliet is first published in print; it has already been performed publicly 'with great applause' .
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1599Opening of the Globe Theatre in London.
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1599The first performance of William Shakespeare's 'Henry V'.
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1599William Shakespeare writes his pastoral romantic comedy 'As You Like It', probably the first play performed at the newly built Globe Theatre.
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c. 1601The first performance of William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'.
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2 Feb 1602Shakespeare's romantic comedy 'Twelfth Night' is performed for the first time at the Middle Temple in London.
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2 Feb 1602Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night" premieres at the Middle Temple Hall in London to entertain people toward the close of the Christmas season. The event was recorded by a student, John Manningham, in his journal, who noted the play was similar to Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.
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1606The first performance of William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'.
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20 May 1609Shakespeare's sonnets are first published by the publisher Thomas Thorpe who recorded the event in the Stationers' Register. The collection of 154 sonnets was dedicated to one Mr. W.H. by Thorpe and may have been published without Shakespeare's consent.
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20 Apr 1611The first documented performance of Shakespeare's *Macbeth* at the Globe Theatre as recorded in the diary of the doctor Simon Forman who was in attendance.
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2 Nov 1611Shakespeare's tragicomedy The Tempest is performed for the first time for the court of King James I of England at Whitehall.
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29 Jun 1613Shakespeare's Globe Theater burns to the ground in under an hour when a cannon used during a performance of *Henry VIII* misfires, catching the thatched roof and wooden beams on fire. No one was killed or injured, and the theater was rebuilt on the same site in 1614.
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1623The First Folio is printed, a collection of 36 of William Shakespeare’s plays.
