Shake·speare  (shāk'spîr)  English playwright and poet whose body of works is considered the greatest in English literature. His plays, many of which were performed at the Globe Theater in London, include historical works, such as Richard II, comedies, including Much Ado about Nothing and As You Like It, and tragedies, such as Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. He also composed 154 sonnets. The earliest collected edition of his plays, the First Folio, contained 36 plays and was published posthumously (1623). Shake·spear'e·an, Shake·spear'i·an adj. & n. |
An English playwright and poet of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, generally considered the greatest writer in English. His plays include Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, and Twelfth Night. Shakespeare also wrote more than 150 sonnets. Many familiar sayings and quotations come from his works.
Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon. He spent most of his career in London as an actor, playwright, and manager of the Globe Theater. His success enabled him to retire to Stratford, where he died.