William Shakespeare is still a significant poet and playwright, even hundreds of years after his death. Shakespeare was a Renaissance writer that wrote unique plays, poems, and was also an actor himself. He was born and raised in the United Kingdom, and applied his skills to becoming a well known playwrite, arguibly the best in his era. The development of the Renaissance changed the way that society viewed things during the 1500's and 1600's. The movement of the Renaissance expanded gradually as poetry, music, and theater became overwhelmingly popular. William Shakespeare was the first person to use the Italian sonnet form in English language. Shakespeare wrote hundreds of sonnets and plays and was highly admired by his peers and audiences.