William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, the son of a glove maker and town official. His exact birth date is unknown. He was baptized on 26 April 1564. He probably went to the town grammar school, where boys learned Latin and the classical authors. At eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, and they had three children.

By 1592 he was working in London as an actor and playwright. He was a part owner of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later the King's Men, and of the Globe Theatre. Over about 25 years he wrote or co-wrote some 39 plays and 154 sonnets.

Hamlet (about 1600) follows a prince who must avenge his father's murder but cannot stop thinking long enough to act. Macbeth (about 1606) shows a soldier whose ambition, once he lets it loose, destroys him and his country. Both plays show how the mind turns on itself under pressure.

He retired to Stratford and died there in 1616. Few personal records survive, and this feeds fringe claims that someone else wrote his works. Scholars reject those claims.