Shakespeare

William Shakespeare, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.  His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century.  His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language.