William Shakespeare is one of the best writers of all time. Him and his work have influenced and impacted literature today with his writing, plays and his life.

Writer

Quote 1-¨Shakespeare, William (1564-1616), was an English playwright, poet, and actor. Many people regard him as the world’s greatest dramatist and the finest poet England has ever produced.Shakespeare wrote at least 38 plays, two major narrative poems, a sequence of sonnets, and several short poems.William Shakespeare was a pioneer in literature¨.(Lander 1) Commentary-He wrote many pieces of work in his time and everyone enjoyed his work. He wrote my pieces of literature such as plays,novels, and poems.

Quote 2-¨He is the most famous writer in the world, but he left us no journals or letters-he left us only poems and his plays.Year after year he provided it with plays, almost on demand. Shakespeare was the ultimate professional writer.¨(Anderson 1).Commentary-He is the most famous writer in the world, but he left us no journals or letters-he left us only poems and his plays.Year after year he provided it with plays, almost on demand. Shakespeare was the ultimate professional writer.

Quote 3-¨For about 150 years after his death no one seemed to doubt that Shakespeare wrote the works attributed to him. However, in the latter part of the 18th cent. questions began to arise as to whether or not the historical William Shakespeare was indeed the author.¨(William 22).Commentary-William was not known as an author back then, he was known as a playwriter and poet. Know one would have considered him as an author. But William is now considered the best author of all time.

Personal Life

Quote 1-¨His father, John Shakespeare, was successful in the leather business during Shakespeare's early childhood but later met with financial difficulties. During his prosperous years his father was also involved in municipal affairs, holding the offices of alderman and bailiff during the 1560s. While little is known of Shakespeare's boyhood, he probably attended the grammar school in Stratford, where he would have been educated in the classics, particularly Latin grammar and literature.¨(William 1).Commentary-We do not know all information about his childhood and what kind of education he had got. But we do know he got some type of education for Latin grammar and literature.

Quote 2-¨Beginning at about the age of 7, William probably attended the Stratford grammar school with other boys of his social class. The school’s highly qualified teachers were graduates of Oxford University.¨(Lander 17).Commentary- William was very intelligent when he was young. William went to grammar school and study Latin

Quote 3-¨The name Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakespeare is recorded in the baptismal records in the parish register of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, on April 26, 1564. Tradition assigns the date of Shakespeare's actual birth as April 23, 1564.¨(Baker 2).Commentary-William was the third out of eight children. He was born in Startford , United Kingdom.

Quote 4 -¨At the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaways, who was eight years older than he was.¨(Anderson 3).Commentary-William and Anne had 3 children and the second and third were twins. After they were born, William moved to London. He left his family in Stratford.

Playwriter

Quote-¨The strength of Shakespeare's plays lies in the absorbing stories they tell, in their wealth of complex characters, and in the eloquent speech—vivid, forceful, and at the same time lyric—that the playwright puts on his characters' lips. It has often been noted that Shakespeare's characters are neither wholly good nor wholly evil, and that it is their flawed, inconsistent nature that makes them memorable.¨(William 11).Commentary-William plays tell a different story every time. They also teach us different lessons. William plays were not the same as any other play. His plays stood out a way no other plays could.

Quote 2-¨The chronology of Shakespeare's plays is uncertain, but a reasonable approximation of their order can be inferred from dates of publication, references in contemporary writings, allusions in the plays to contemporary events, thematic relationships, and metrical and stylistic comparisons. His first plays are believed to be the three parts of Henry VI; it is uncertain whether Part I was written before or after Parts II and III. Richard III is related to these plays and is usually grouped with them as the final part of a first tetralogy of historical play.¨(William 4)Commentary-Shakespeare did not leave any information about how,or when he wrote his plays. But there are ways we can figure it out.

Quote 3-¨Among Shakespeare's most important sources, Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587) is significant for the English history plays, although Shakespeare did not hesitate to transform a character when it suited his dramatic purposes.¨(William 13).William always knew how to entertain his audience with new and creative characters. He would always be able to come up with new and interesting characters to make the play or poem more dramatic.