This is a very good question indeed; who is William Shakespeare? \u00a0Some historians do not believe the writer we know of as Shakespeare truly wrote all of the works that are attributed to him or that he lived the life we ascribe* to him, but since some of these facts are still debated I will present to you the story and information that is most widely agreed upon.<\/p>\n
William Shakespeare was born in England in 1564 and died in 1616. \u00a0He was an English poet and playwright**, who is considered by many to be the greatest writer in the English language<\/em>. His written works include 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and a number of poems. Shakespeare wrote most of his plays and poems between 1589 and 1613.\u00a0 His early plays were often comedies and historical in nature. \u00a0He later wrote more tragedies, which are often considered to be his better plays. \u00a0His plays have been translated into every major language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. \u00a0His sonnets, poems, and plays are taught in schools all over the English speaking world. \u00a0(I remember having to memorize a Shakespearean sonnet in one of my high school English classes, sadly I have long since forgotten what I memorized.) Performing Shakespeare plays in parks during the summertime is a common tradition in the United States and most major cities have a \u201cShakespeare in the Park\u201d series that is often free for people to attend.<\/p>\n Here are some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays:<\/p>\n Comedies: Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, <\/em>and The Two Gentlemen of Verona<\/em> Even though Shakespeare\u2019s plays and poems are famous, often quoted, and well read, they are not always easy to read! \u00a0For one, Shakespeare wrote in the English of his day, the 1500s and 1600s, which is very different from the English of today. \u00a0Also, he had some very interesting writing techniques, which one has to learn to better understand his writing. \u00a0Tomorrow, I will go over a few tricks to better understanding Shakespeare and present a few passages from his works so you can have a better idea of the writing of this very important English writer. \u00a0For today though, here is an except from the 1999 movie version of Shakespeare\u2019s A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em>, so you can have an idea of what his writing sounds like in spoken English and for what is it is worth, below is the transcription of what is said in this video.\u00a0 You may want to try to understand the general meaning of what is said and not focus on trying to understand every word that is spoken.<\/p>\n
\nTragedies: Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Anthony and Cleopatra, <\/em>and King Lear<\/em><\/p>\n