WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
1564 - 1616

Shakespeare, greatest playwright of all times by far, was born and died in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Will also wrote poems.


WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S FAMILY
His father was John Shakespeare. His mother was Mary Arden.

In 1582, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. They had a daughter, Susanna, and twins, Hamnet and Judith.

William became a member of theater company the King's Men.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS
Henry VI
Richard III
The Comedy of Errors
Titus Andronicus
The Taming of the Shrew
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Love's Labour's Lost
Romeo and Juliet
Richard II
A Midsummer Night's Dream
King John
The Merchant of Venice
Henry IV
Much Ado About Nothing
Henry V
Julius Caesar
As You Like It
Hamlet
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Twelfth Night
Troilus and Cressida
All's Well That Ends Well
Measure for Measure
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Timon of Athens
Pericles
Cymbeline
The Winter's Tale
The Tempest
Henry VIII

You can read William Shakespeare's works online and for free, provided by the Gutenberg Project.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S WILL
Funkily enough, none of Shakespeare's manuscripts survived. But the British National Archive has Shakespeare's will, which is dated March 25, 1616.

The Archive comments:
He was clearly a man of some means by the time of his death. He left the bulk of his estate to his elder daughter, Susannah Hall. He left £300 to his younger daughter, Judith. He gave his wife, Anne Hathaway, his second-best bed. Beds and other pieces of household furniture were often the sole bequest to a wife. It was common practice for the best things to go to the children and the second best to the wife.

Shakespeare died a month after this will was written, having caught a fever at a 'merry party' thrown by fellow writer, Ben Jonson. He was buried in Stratford upon Avon church.

And here is the good piece as PDF document:

SHAKESPEARE'S WILL
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