| Author Info | - William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright, is often considered the greatest writer in world literature. Although the when exactly were Shakespeare’s plays written and performed is uncertain, his earliest plays seem to date from the late 1580s to the mid-1590s and include the comedies Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; history plays based on the lives of the English kings, including Henry VI (in three parts), Richard III, and Richard II; and the tragedy Romeo and Juliet. It was between 1596 and 1600, that he wrote mostly comedies, including The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, and As You Like It. Between 1600 and 1607, Shakespeare wrote the great tragedies like Hamlet Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear, which, many critics say, mark the summit of his art. All of Shakespeare’s plays are marked by extraordinary poetry, vivid and complex characterizations and a highly inventive use of English.
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