At first glance, Playwright William Shakespeare was not the first person you would guess for greatness. Surprisingly, he was not born to a family of nobility or wealth. He did not continue his education at a university after school, nor did he get taught by a senior and experienced artist. Furthermore, he did not marry into prestige or wealth. In summary, Shakespeare was a genuinely talented actor and playwright, who got fame without having the starring roles in plays.
William Shakespeare was probably born on April 23, 1564, in a town called Stratford-on-Avon. Being the third child out of eight children, the young William grew up in this small town 100 miles away from the city of London and very far from the cultural and courtly center of
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When Shakespeare was given a chance to display his work to the world due to the theaters closing because of the great bubonic plague of London in 1593, he wrote two narrative poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, marking the beginning of his superlative sonnets. 154 of his sonnets have survived, verifying his reputation as a phenomenal poet and playwright. As time passed, he also wrote The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Love's Labor's Lost. Because he established himself as an actor and playwright, Shakespeare became a business partner in the Lord Chamberlain's Men in 1594 which was one of the most popular acting companies in London. Owing to this, he frequently performed in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. However, Shakespeare entered one of his most prestigious periods around 1595, when he wrote Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Merchant of Venice. With his newfound success and wealth, Shakespeare bought the second largest home in Stratford in 1597, despite continuing to live in London. Joining others from the Lord Chamberlain's Men two years later, he established the polygonal Globe Theatre on the outskirts of