William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

Born – 23rd April 1564 – Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire – exact date unknown, this is the date most associated with his birth

Died – 23rd April 1616 – Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

 

Today marks 400 years since the English poet, playwright, and actor William Shakespeare died. William is often referred to as ‘Bard of Avon’ and is regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. The consensus is that over the course of his life, William wrote 39 plays and 154 sonnets, and two long narrative poems.

His plays can be split into three categories:-

Comedies

All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure for Measure, Merchant of Venice, Merry Wives of Windsor, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew, Tempest, Twelfth Night, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Winter’s Tale.

Histories

Henry IV parts 1 and 2, Henry V, Henry VI parts 1, 2 and 3, Henry VIII, King John, Pericles, Richard II, Richard III

Tragedies

Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Timon of Athens, Titus Andronicus, Troilus and Cressida

 

Many of his plays have been adapted for the ‘big screen’ over the years, including Gangster films, Comedies, Romances, Sci Fi and even Westerns.

Some of the more well-known versions include:-