William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer of the English language, known for both his plays and sonnets. Though much about his life remains open to debate because of incomplete evidence, the following biography consolidates the most widely-accepted facts of Shakespeare's life and career.

In the mid-sixteenth century, William Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, moved to the idyllic town of Stratford-upon-Avon. There, he became a successful landowner, moneylender, glove-maker, and dealer of wool and agricultural goods. In 1557, he married Mary Arden. During John Shakespeare's time, the British middle class was expanding in both size and wealth, allowing its members more freedoms and luxuries, as well as a stronger collective voice in local government. John took advantage of the changing times and became a member of the Stratford Council in 1557, which marked the beginning of his illustrious political career. By 1561, he was elected to be one of the town's fourteen burgesses, and subsequently served as Constable, then one of two Chamberlains, and later, Alderman. In all of these positions, the elder Shakespeare administered borough property and revenues. In 1567, he became bailiff the highest elected office in Stratford and the equivalent of a modern-day mayor. Town records indicate that William Shakespeare was John and Mary's third child. His birth is unregistered, but legend pins it on April 23, 1564, possibly because it is known that he died on April 23rd 52 years later. In any event, William's baptism was registered with the town of Stratford on April 26, 1564. Little is known about his childhood, although it is generally assumed that he attended the local grammar school, the King's New School. The school was staffed by Oxford-educated faculty who taught the students mathematics, natural sciences, logic, Christian ethics, and classical languages and literature. Shakespeare did not attend university, which was not at all unusual for the time. University education was reserved for wealthy sons of the elite, and even then, mostly just those who wanted to become clergymen. The numerous classical and literary references in Shakespeares plays are a testament, however, to the excellent education he received in grammar school, and speaks to his ability as an autodidact. His early plays, in particular, draw on the works of Seneca and Plautus. Even more impressive than Shakespeare's formal education is the wealth of general knowledge he exhibits in his work. His vocabulary exceeds that of any other English writer of his time by a wide margin.

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In 1582, at the age of eighteen, William Shakespeare married twenty-six-year-old Anne Hathaway. Their first daughter, Susanna, was not baptized until six months later a fact that has given rise to speculation over the circumstances surrounding the marriage. In 1585, Anne bore twins, baptized Hamnet and Judith Shakespeare. Hamnet died at the age of eleven, by which time William Shakespeare was already a successful playwright. Around 1589, Shakespeare wrote Henry VI, Part 1, which is considered to be his first play. Sometime between his marriage and writing this play, he moved to London, where he pursued a career as a playwright and actor. Although many records of Shakespeare's life as a citizen of Stratford have survived, including his marriage and birth certificates, very little information exists about his life as a young playwright. Legend characterizes Shakespeare as a roguish young man who was once forced to flee London under suspect circumstances, perhaps having to do with his love life, but the paltry amount of written information does not necessarily confirm this facet of his personality. In any case, young Will was not an immediate universal success. The earliest written record of Shakespeare's life in London comes from a statement by his rival playwright Robert Greene. In Groatsworth of Witte (1592), Greene calls Shakespeare an "upstart crow...[who] supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you." While this is hardly high praise, it does suggest that Shakespeare rattled London's theatrical hierarchy from the beginning of his career. In retrospect, it is possible to attribute Greene's complaint to jealousy of Shakespeare's ability, but there is little evidence one way or the other. With Richard III, Henry VI, The Comedy of Errors, and Titus Andronicus under his belt, Shakespeare was a popular playwright by 1590.* The year 1593, however, marked a major leap forward in his career when he secured a prominent patron: The Earl of Southampton. In addition, Venus and Adonis was published - it is one of the first of Shakespeare's known works to be printed, and it was a huge success. Next came The Rape of Lucrece. By this time, Shakespeare had also made his mark as a poet, as most scholars agree that he wrote the majority of his sonnets in the 1590s. In 1594, Shakespeare returned to the theater and became a charter member of the Lord Chamberlain's Mena group of actors who changed their name to the King's Men when James I ascended the throne. By 1598, Shakespeare had been appointed the "principal comedian" for the troupe; by 1603, he was "principal tragedian." He remained associated with the organization until his death. Although acting and playwriting were not considered noble professions at the time, successful and prosperous actors were relatively well respected. Shakespeares success left him with a fair amount of money, which he invested in Stratford real estate. In 1597, he purchased the second largest house in Stratford the New Placefor his

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parents. In 1596, Shakespeare applied for a coat of arms for his family, in effect making himself a gentleman. Consequently, his daughters made good matches, and married wealthy men. The same year that he joined the Lord Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, Love's Labour's Lost, The Taming of the Shrew, and several other plays. In 1600, he wrote two of his greatest tragedies, Hamlet and Julius Caesar. Historians and scholars consider Hamlet to be the first modern play because of its multi-faceted main character and unprecedented depiction of the human psyche. The first decade of the seventeenth century witnessed the debut performances of many of Shakespeares most celebrated works, including many of his so -called history plays: Othello in 1604 or 1605; Antony and Cleopatra in 1606 or 1607; and King Lear in 1608. The last of Shakespeare's plays to be performed during his lifetime was most likely King Henry VIII in either 1612 or 1613. William Shakespeare died in 1616. His wife Anna died in 1623, at the age of 67. Shakespeare was buried in the chancel of his church at Stratford. Shakespeare As a Dramatist The facts about Shakespeare are interesting in themselves, but they have little to do with his place in literature. Shakespeare wrote his plays to give pleasure. It is possible to spoil that pleasure by giving too much attention to his life, his times, and the problem of figuring out what he actually wrote. He can be enjoyed in book form, in the theater, or on television without our knowing any of these things. Some difficulties stand in the way of this enjoyment. Shakespeare wrote more than 350 years ago. The language he used is naturally somewhat different from the language of today. Besides, he wrote in verse. Verse permits a free use of words that may not be understood by some readers. His plays are often fanciful. This may not appeal to matter-of-fact people who are used to modern realism. For all these reasons, readers may find him difficult. The worst handicap to enjoyment is the notion that Shakespeare is a classic, a writer to be approached with awe. The way to escape this last difficulty is to remember that Shakespeare wrote his plays for everyday people and that many in the audience were uneducated. They looked upon him as a funny, exciting, and lovable entertainer, not as a great poet. People today should read him as the people in his day listened to him. The excitement and enjoyment of the plays will banish most of the difficulties. Theatre and stage setup for Shakespeare

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Archaeological excavations on the foundations of the Rose and the Globe in the late twentieth century[4] showed that all London English Renaissance theatres were built around similar general plans. Despite individual differences, the public theatres were three stories high, and built around an open space at the centre. Usually polygonal in plan to give an overall rounded effect, three levels of inward-facing galleries overlooked the open centre into which jutted the stageessentially a platform surrounded on three sides by the audience, only the rear being restricted for the entrances and exits of the actors and seating for the musicians. The upper level behind the stage could be used as a balcony, as in Romeo and Juliet, or as a position for a character to harangue a crowd, as in Julius Caesar.

Usually built of timber, lath and plaster and with thatched roofs, the early theatres were vulnerable to fire, and gradually were replaced (when necessary) with stronger structures. When the Globe burned down in June 1613, it was rebuilt with a tile roof.

A different model was developed with the Blackfriars Theatre, which came into regular use on a long term basis in 1599. The Blackfriars was small in comparison to the earlier theatres, and roofed rather than open to the sky; it resembled a modern theatre in ways that its predecessors did not.

Elizabethan Shakespeare

For Shakespeare as he began to write, both traditions were alive; they were, moreover, filtered through the recent success of the University Wits on the London stage. By the late 16th century, the popularity of morality and academic plays waned as the English Renaissance took hold, and playwrights like Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe revolutionised theatre. Their plays blended the old morality drama with classical theory to produce a new secular form.[5] The new drama combined the rhetorical complexity of the academic play with the bawdy energy of the moralities. However, it was more ambiguous and complex in its meanings, and less concerned with simple allegory. Inspired by this new style, Shakespeare continued these artistic strategies,[6] creating plays that not only resonated on an emotional level with audiences but also explored and debated the basic elements of what it means to be human. What Marlowe and Kyd did for tragedy, John Lyly and George Peele, among others, did for
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comedy: they offered models of witty dialogue, romantic action, and exotic, often pastoral location that formed the basis of Shakespeare's comedic mode throughout his career.[citation needed]

Shakespeare's Elizabethan tragedies (including the history plays with tragic designs, such as Richard II) demonstrate his relative independence from classical models. He takes from Aristotle and Horace the notion of decorum; with few exceptions, he focuses on high-born characters and national affairs as the subject of tragedy. In most other respects, though, the early tragedies are far closer to the spirit and style of moralities. They are episodic, packed with character and incident; they are loosely unified by a theme or character.[7] In this respect, they reflect clearly the influence of Marlowe, particularly of Tamburlaine. Even in his early work, however, Shakespeare generally shows more restraint than Marlowe; he resorts to grandiloquent rhetoric less frequently, and his attitude towards his heroes is more nuanced, and sometimes more sceptical, than Marlowe's.[8] By the turn of the century, the bombast of Titus Andronicus had vanished, replaced by the subtlety of Hamlet.

In comedy, Shakespeare strayed even further from classical models. The Comedy of Errors, an adaptation of Menaechmi, follows the model of new comedy closely. Shakespeare's other Elizabethan comedies are more romantic. Like Lyly, he often makes romantic intrigue (a secondary feature in Latin new comedy) the main plot element;[9] even this romantic plot is sometimes given less attention than witty dialogue, deceit, and jests. The "reform of manners," which Horace considered the main function of comedy,[10] survives in such episodes as the gulling of Malvolio.

Jacobean Shakespeare

Shakespeare reached maturity as a dramatist at the end of Elizabeth's reign, and in the first years of the reign of James. In these years, he responded to a deep shift in popular tastes, both in subject matter and approach. At the turn of the decade, he responded to the vogue for dramatic satire initiated by the boy players at Blackfriars and St. Paul's. At the end of the decade, he seems to have attempted to capitalise on the new fashion for tragicomedy,[11] even collaborating with John Fletcher, the writer who had popularised the genre in England.

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The influence of younger dramatists such as John Marston and Ben Jonson is seen not only in the problem plays, which dramatise intractable human problems of greed and lust, but also in the darker tone of the Jacobean tragedies.[12] The Marlovian, heroic mode of the Elizabethan tragedies is gone, replaced by a darker vision of heroic natures caught in environments of pervasive corruption. As a sharer in both the Globe and in the King's Men, Shakespeare never wrote for the boys' companies; however, his early Jacobean work is markedly influenced by the techniques of the new, satiric dramatists. One play, Troilus and Cressida, may even have been inspired by the War of the Theatres.[13]

Shakespeare's final plays hearken back to his Elizabethan comedies in their use of romantic situation and incident.[14] In these plays, however, the sombre elements that are largely glossed over in the earlier plays are brought to the fore and often rendered dramatically vivid. This change is related to the success of tragicomedies such as Philaster, although the uncertainty of dates makes the nature and direction of the influence unclear. From the evidence of the title-page to The Two Noble Kinsmen and from textual analysis it is believed by some editors that Shakespeare ended his career in collaboration with Fletcher, who succeeded him as house playwright for the King's Men.[15] These last plays resemble Fletcher's tragicomedies in their attempt to find a comedic mode capable of dramatising more serious events than had his earlier comedie

Tragedy: Shakespeare is perhaps most famous for his tragedies indeed, many consider Hamlet to be the best play ever written. Other tragedies include Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and King Lear, all of which are immediately recognizable, regularly studied and frequently performed.

Common Features of the Shakespeare Tragedies

The Shakespeare tragedies share a number of common features, as outlined below:

The fatal flaw. Shakespeares tragic heroes are all fundamentally flawed. It is this weakness that ultimately leads to their downfall.
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The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The Shakespeare tragedies often focus on the fall of a nobleman. By presenting the audience with a man with excessive wealth or power, his eventual downfall fall is all the more tragic.

External pressures. Shakespeares tragic heroes often fall victim to external pressures. Fate, evil spirits and manipulative characters all play a hand in the heros downfall. All in all, Shakespeare wrote 10 tragedies. However, Shakespeare's plays often overlap in style and there is debate over which plays should be classified as tragedy, comedy and history. For example, Much Ado About Nothing is normally classified as a comedy, but follows many of the tragic conventions.

The 10 plays generally classified as tragedy are as follows:

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

Comedy:

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The Shakespeare comedy plays have stood the test of time. Today, Shakespeare comedy plays like The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing continue to enthrall and entertain audiences worldwide but these plays are not comedies in the modern sense of the word.

Indeed, the comedy of Shakespeares time was very different to our modern comedy. The st yle and key characteristics of a Shakespeare comedy are not as distinct as the other Shakespearian genres and classification of the Shakespeare comedy plays is therefore difficult.

Common Features of a Shakespeare Comedy

What makes a Shakespeare comedy identifiable if the genre is not distinct from the Shakespeare tragedies and histories? This is an ongoing area of debate, but many believe that the comedies share certain characteristics, as described below:

Comedy through language: Shakespeare communicated his comedy through language and his comedy plays are peppered with clever word play, metaphors and insults.

Love: The theme of love is prevalent in every Shakespeare comedy. Often, we are presented with sets of lovers who, through the course of the play, overcome the obstacles in their relationship and unite.

Complex plots: The plotline of a Shakespeare comedy contains more twists and turns than his tragedies and histories. Although the plots are convoluted, they do follow similar patterns. For example, the climax of the play always occurs in the third act and the final scene has a celebratory feel when the lovers finally declare their love for each other.

Mistaken identities: The plot is often driven by mistaken identity. Sometimes this is an intentional part of a villains plot, as in Much Ado About Nothing when Don John tricks Claudio into believing that his fiance has been unfaithful through mistaken identity. Characters also play
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scenes in disguise and it is not uncommon for female characters to disguise themselves as male characters. Shakespeares 17 comedies are the most difficult to classify because they overlap in style with other genres. Critics often describe some plays as tragi-comedies because they mix equal measures of tragedy and comedy. For example, Much Ado About Nothing starts as a Shakespeare comedy, but takes on the characteristics of a tragedy when Hero is disgraced and fakes her own death. At this point, the play has more in common with Romeo and Juliet, one of Shakespeares key tragedies.

The 18 plays generally classified as comedy are as follows:

All's Well That Ends Well As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Cymbeline Love's Labours Lost Measure for Measure The Merry Wives of Windsor The Merchant of Venice A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado About Nothing Pericles, Prince of Tyre The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Troilus and Cressida Twelfth Night

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Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Noble Kinsmen The Winter's Tale History plays: Many of Shakespeares plays are historical, but only certain plays are categorized as such. Plays like Macbeth and Hamlet are historical in setting but are more correctly classified as Shakespeare tragedies. The same is true for the Roman plays (Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus) which are all based on based on historical sources.

So which plays are classified as Shakespeare histories and what are their common features?

Common Features of the Shakespeare Histories:

The Shakespeare histories share a number of common features, as outlined below:

Set against Medieval English history. The Shakespeare histories dramatize the Hundred Years War with France and therefore comprises the Henry Tetralogy, Richard II, Richard III and King John many of which feature the same characters at different ages.

Not historically accurate. In writing the history plays, Shakespeare was not attempting to render a historically accurate picture of the past. Rather, he was writing for the entertainment of his theater audience and therefore molded historical events to suit their prejudices.

Provides social commentary. Following on from the previous point, the history plays say more about Shakespeares time than the Medieval society in which they are set. For example, Shakespeare cast King Henry V as an everyman hero to exploit the growing sense of patriotism in England. His depiction of this character is not necessarily historically accurate.

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Explores the social structure of the time.Shakespeares history plays offer a view of society that cuts right across the class system. These plays present us with all kinds of characters from lowly-beggars to the monarchy. In fact, it is not uncommon for characters from both ends of the social strata to play scenes together. Most memorable is Henry V and Falstaff who turn up in a number of the history plays. All in all, Shakespeare wrote 10 histories. These plays are distinct in subject matter only not in style. The histories provide an equal measure of tragedy and comedy.

The 10 plays classified as history are as follows:

Henry IV, Part I Henry IV, Part II Henry V Henry VI, Part I Henry VI, Part II Henry VI, Part III Henry VIII King John Richard II Richard III

Shakespeares sonThe sonnets are traditionally divided into two major groups: the fair lord sonnets (1-126) and the dark lady sonnets (127-154). The fair lord sonnets explore the narrator's consuming infatuation with a young and beautiful man, while the dark lady sonnets engage his lustful desire for a woman who is not his wife. The narrator is tormented as he struggles to reconcile the uncontrollable urges of his heart with his mind's better judgment, all the while in a desperate race against time.

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The sonnets begin with the narrator's petition to the fair lord, exhorting him to preserve his beauty for future generations by passing it on to a child. This theme is developed until sonnet 18, where the narrator abandons it in favor of an alternative plan to eternalize the fair lord's beauty in his verse. But it is not long before the narrator's mellifluous depictions of the fair lord's beauty are replaced with the haunting lament of unrequited love. The narrator grows increasingly enamored with the fair lord, eventually becoming emotionally dependent upon him and plagued by the inability to win his heart. The narrator is further distressed by the incessant passing of time, and he fears the detriment time inevitably will bring to the fair lord's youthful beauty. The narrator's emotions fluctuate between love and anger, envy and greed. We find poignant examples of the narrator's jealousy in the rival poet sonnets (79-86), where the fair lord's attention has been caught by another. The narrator's fragile psyche collapses in bouts of selfdeprecation as he agonizes over the thought of forever losing the object of his affection. In sonnet 87, the narrator bids the fair lord farewell - but his heartache long persists. The remainder of the fair lord sonnets are characterized by the vicissitudes of the narrator's emotional well-being. After his parting with the fair lord in sonnet 87, the narrator grows introspective, waxing philosophical as he begins to probe the very fabric of love. Throughout these developments we are made privy to the narrator's mounting apprehension that his time is running short. Finally, in sonnet 126, his love matured and yet still beautiful, the narrator points out that the fair lord too will one day meet his doom. The following sonnet begins the dark lady sequence, the group of sonnets dealing with the narrator's irresistible attraction to a dark and beautiful woman. Here the allure is not of love but of lust, and the narrator is torn between his hunger for the woman and his disgust at the sinfulness of carnal desire. The dark lady is described as freely promiscuous, the epitome of lustful endeavor. Drawn by and at the same time repelled by her darkness, the narrator once again reverts to meditative mind-wandering to cope with his situation. In the end, the narrator's lust is expressed as an incurable disease, a burning sensation that can only be quenched, if temporarily, by the eyes of the dark lady. The Importance of Shakespeare

In a world where the quality of the art form called "writing" is so often said to be rapidly diminishing, it is important for scholars of English literature to retain some studies of the true classics, such as Shakespeare. A well-rounded education logically must have a strong
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foundation in both modern and classical literature, the latter of which an in-depth study of Shakespearean works would more than satisfy. Not only was Shakespeare so well accomplished in his writing skills that he has become an undeniably significant point in the history of literature, but a majority of his works were written on such basic human themes that they will endure for all time and must not be allowed to slip into the tragic oblivion of old age. William Shakespeare has become an important landmark in English literature. To see why this is so crucial for students to study, let us consider an analogy. One must be familiar with the conditions and circumstances of colonial America and pre-Revolutionary times if s/he is to understand the rationale behind many of the provisions of the Constitution, a two-hundredyear-old document still alive and highly significant today. In much the same way, one must be familiar with the early days of English literature in order to comprehend the foundation beneath much of more modern literatures basis. Shakespeares modern influence is still seen clearly in many ways. For example, the success of Shakespeares works helped to set the precedent for the evolution of modern dramas and plays. He is also credited with being one of the first writers to use any modern prose in his writings; in fact, the growth of the popularity of prose in Shakespeares time is clearly shown as he used prose progressively more throughout his career.

Furthermore, there can be no doubt that Shakespeare was a master of the artistry of the English language. He wrote with such fluidity of thought, word, rhythm, and sound that the work is presented in a complex manner, but is not unintelligible, even for the inexperienced reader. Often a single line would have several different meanings, each providing us with insight into a character or plot. For example, five lines from a scene from Richard III present much more than at first observed:

Rivers. Have patience, madam; theres no doubt his Majesty Will soon recover his accustomed health. Grey. In that you brook it ill, it makes him worse. Therefore for Gods sake entertain good comfort And cheer his Grace with quick and merry eyes. Queen Elizabeth. If [the King] were dead, what would betide on me? Grey. No other harm but loss of such a lord.
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Queen Elizabeth. The loss of such a lord includes all

harms.2 (1.3.1-8) At a first glance, these characters seem only to be concerned about the poor health of their King. Yet each line reveals something about each character. Lord Rivers cares nothing for the Kings well being, and desires only to comfort the Queen, so that he might be well in her favor and possibly gain some higher position. Lord Grey knows nothing of the Kings true condition, and honestly foolishly believes he will recover. The Queen is far more concerned with what will become of her once the King is dead, than she is concerned about the death of her husband. The fact that all this might be gathered from so few words is a sign of a very skilled and crafty author, one which certainly must be studied and learned from.

Another sign of a truly paramount writer is one who finds even the entire existing vocabulary of his language limiting to his creative consciousness; Shakespeare often did, and so on occasion created his own form of grammar and vocabulary, much of which has since become common use. (A few examples of these would be the words "amazement", "dislocate", "premeditated", "dexterously", "windle","lackluster," using the masculine singular pronoun"his" for "its" now used for poetic effect, and using some nouns as verbs, such as "he childed as I fathered.")3. Few modern writers have such skill as to create new words which "stick" in our language, or to write in such a way that their words become common usage centuries later.

By using just the right combination of words, or by conjuring just the right image, Shakespeare authored countless passages and entire plays so powerful, poignant, comedic, tragic, and romantic that many are still being routinely memorized and performed today, nearly four centuries later. Yet the beauty of Shakespeares talent lies not so much in the basic themes of his works as in the ingenuity with which he painted these portraits of love, power, greed, discrimination, hatred, and despair. Queen Elizabeth in the movie Shakespeare in Love (1999) decreed that William Shakespeare was the first author to successfully put the very essence and truth of love into words; although only a movie, the decree is nonetheless accurate. It was this truth that he wrote which allowed his plays to attract both courtiers and peasants to the theatres, for the truths of humanity are not specific according to wealth or status. Everyone dreams of having love like Romeo and Juliet; it is for this reason that one of the most famous
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Shakespearean scenes is the balcony scene. Wrote Ben Jonson, Shakespeare is "not of an age, but for all time."

There can therefore be no doubt that substantial knowledge of the works of William Shakespeare is necessary for any education of English literature to be considered complete and well rounded. The extraordinary writing skills with which Shakespeare created his accurate portrayals of human truth have not been rivalled or replicated since his death, nearly four hundred years ago. To simply "skim over" such an integral part of literary history would be to take the innards out of a living, breathing creature. A creature cannot survive incomplete, and literature cannot survive without William Shakespeare.

Shakespeares influence on 21st century society

It is harder to imagine a more universal writer than William Shakespeare. Rarely if ever is one of his many plays not being performed somewhere in the world and similarly rare is the tertiary English student who has not examined his work at length. His plays, sonnets and poems are common fodder for high school English departments across the globe.

Shakespeare has perhaps contributed the most to the English language of any writer known to man literally. Over 1000 words and phrases that he coined as part of his plays and prose are now in common use across the globe. He changed nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, added on previously unheard-of prefixes and suffixes and in some cases made words out of nothing.

Shakespeares influence continues even in the world of film, not invented until several hundreds of years after his death in 1616. As well as the inevitable BBC remakes of most of his plays, newer adaptation such as Kenneth Branaghs Much Ado About Nothing (starring Keanu Reeves and Denzel Washington) and Baz Luhrmanns Romeo and Juliet (featuring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio) have met critical acclaim and can be credited with bringing Shakespeare to a new generation not inclined to visiting theatres. The very-loosely-biographical Shakespeare in Love picked up several Academy Awards after its release in 1999 and was a
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worldwide hit. Shakespeare has even infiltrated the teen movie genre with the film Get Over It (starring Kirsten Dunst) loosely based on A Midsummer Nights Dream.

Shakespeare remains a theatre favourite with hundreds of companies all over the world putting on performances of his most popular plays and few of the lesser-known ones as well. Even in New Zealand a highlight of the Auckland University calendar is the annual Summer Shakespeare outdoor performances on campus. Several drama festivals such as the Sheila Winn Shakespeare Festival are run in his honour with high school students performing excerpts form his works and writing essays.

Shakespeares influence has even extended to tourism. Stratford -upon-Avon in England is the site of annual pilgrimages from thousand of people from across the world, flocking to see where Shakespeare was born, where he went to school and where he is buried.

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