Not much is known for sure about William Shakespeare , and a lot of the facts that we know about him come from clerical and court records. We know that the names of his parents are John and Mary Arden. He adopted Shakespeare as a stage name, because he became an actor as he got older.

   

    He was also a playwright who wrote on a lot of topics and was very talented. His comedies were very funny, while at the same time, his tragedies were extremely depressing, and almost all of the characters died. He used his plays like other playwrights of the time, to express his own opinions on matters such as politics and religion. He had the ability to turn a very important matter into something humorous, and something that would seem very easy could develop into a very complicated plot.

    As a playwright, he wrote over 38 plays, and had countless other works that also included poetry: Here is a list of all the plays written by William Shakespeare.

1592 March 3, Henry VI Part I is produced. First printed 1594 1592-93 Henry VI, Part II first performed. First print 1594 1592-93 Henry VI, Part III first performed. First printed 1623 1594 January 24 Titus Andronicus first performance. First print 1594 1594 December 28, Confirmed performance of The Comedy of Errors. First printed 1623 1593-94 Taming of the Shrew first performed. First print 1623 1594-95 Two Gentlemen of Verona first performance. First printed 1623 1594-95 Love's Labour's Lost first performed. First print 1598 1594-95 Romeo and Juliet first performance. First printed 1597 1595-96 A Midsummer Night's Dream first performed. First print 1600 1596-97 The Merchant of Venice first performed. First printed 1600 1597-98 Henry IV, Part I first performed. First print 1598 1597-98 Henry IV, Part II first performance. First printed 1600 1598-99 Much Ado About Nothing first performed. First print 1600 1598-99 Henry V first performed. First printed 1600 1599-00 As You Like It first performed. First print 1623 1600-01 Julius Caesar first performance. First printed 1623 1601 February 7 First Recorded production of Richard II. First printed 1597 1600-01 Richard III first Recorded performance. First print 1597 1600-01 Hamlet first performed. First printed 1603 1600-01 The Merry Wives of Windsor first performance. First print 1602 1602 February 2 First Recorded production of Twelfth Night. First printed 1623 1602-03 All's Well That Ends Well first performed. First print 1623 1604 February 7 First Recorded production of Troilus and Cressida. First printed 1609  1604 December 26 First performance of Measure for Measure. First print 1623 1604-05 Othello first performed. First printed 1622 1606 December 26 First recorded performance of King Lear. First print 1608 1605-06 Macbeth first performance. First printed 1623 1606-07 Antony and Cleopatra first performed. First print 1623 1607-08 Coriolanus first performed. First printed 1623 1607-08 Timon of Athens first performance. First print 1623 1608-09 Pericles first performed. First printed 1609 1611 November 1 First Recorded production of The Tempest. First print 1623 1611-12 Macbeth First recorded performance. First printed 1623 1611-12 Cymbeline First recorded performance. First print 1623 1611-12 The Winter's Tale First recorded performance. First printed 1623 1612-13 Henry VIII first performance. First print 1623 1612-13 The Two Noble Kinsmen. First printed 1634

    "The cause of Shakespeare's death is a mystery, but an entry in the diary of John Ward, the vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford (where Shakespeare is buried), tells us that "Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted." Ward, a self-proclaimed Shakespeare fan, wrote his diary fifty years after Shakespeare died and most historians agree it appears to be a baseless anecdote. It should be noted though that a serious outbreak of typhus, known as the "new fever", in 1616 (the year Shakespeare died), lends credibility to Ward's story." From: How did Shakespeare die?

 

One of the last portraits of William Shakespeare before he died.