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William Shakespeare He was not of an age, but for all time. William Shakespeare (baptised洗礼 26 April 1564 – died 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright剧作家, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds preeminent adj. 卓越的；超群的dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet. His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. All the worlds a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts...“ As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7, 139–42. Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest examples in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances. In 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare’s. Scholars have often noted four periods in Shakespeares writing career. Until the mid-1590s, he wrote mainly comedies influenced by Roman and Italian models and history plays in the popular chronicle tradition. His second period began in about 1595 with the tragedy Romeo and Juliet and ended with the tragedy of Julius Caesar in 1599. During this time, he wrote what are considered his greatest comedies and histories. From about 1600 to about 1608, his tragic period, Shakespeare wrote mostly tragedies. From about 1608 to 1613, mainly tragicomedies, also called romances. comedies: Much Ado about Nothing, AMidsummer Night’s Dream, All