The Life of William Shakespeare William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays in his lifetime. These plays includedcomedies, histories, and tragedies. The plays contain vivid characters of all types andfrom many walks of life (World Book I). Shakespeare’s works contain kings,pickpockets, drunkards, generals, hired killers, shepherds, and philosophers. Shakespeare’s plays have been divided into four different periods of which he wrote plays. The first period lasted from 1590 to 1594. In this period he wrote Comedy of Errors,Henry VI, Richard III, The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus, The Two Gentlemenof Verona, and King John. The second period lasted from 1595 to 1600 and contained AMidsummer Night’s Dream, Richard II, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet, TheMerchant of Venice, Henry IV, As You Like It, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Much Ado AboutNothing, Twelfth Night , and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida,All’s Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Timon ofAthens, Pericles, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus were written in the third period,from 1601 to 1608. The fourth period, 1609 to 1613, had the plays Cymbeline, TheWinter’s Tale, The Tempest, and Henry VIII written. No other writer’s plays have beenproduced so many times or so widely in so many countries (World Book I).Shakespeare was born into a middle class family in the town ofStratford-upon-Avon in 1564. Shakespeare’s father was John Shakespeare, a local shopowner who held many positions in the local government. William Shakespeare’s motherwas Mary Arden Shakespeare. She was married to John in 1557. Mary was the daughterof a local farmer, but had wealthy relatives. William was the third of eight children. Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564.At age seven, William began attending the Stratford grammar school with otherboys of his age and social class. ...
