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Apr 26, 1564
Early life
William Shakespeare 26 April 1564 (baptised). -
Apr 26, 1564
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon.
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Jan 1, 1582
Marriage and children
At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. -
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Career
between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. -
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Plays
His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. -
Retirement
He retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, -
Later years and death
He died in 1619. -
Style
Shakespeare's first plays were written in the conventional style of the day. He wrote them in a stylised language that does not always spring naturally from the needs of the characters or the drama.The poetry depends on extended, sometimes elaborate metaphors and conceits, and the language is often rhetorical—written for actors to declaim rather than speak.
