William Shakespeare was born on April 23,1564 in Stratfordon-Avon,Warwickshire.
Probably in 1585,Shakespeare left Stratford for London.Shakespeare's career as a dramatist can be divided into four periods.The first period,roughly from 1588 to 1594,includes his works of apprenticeship/The secomd period,from 1595 to 1600,includes most of his history plays and comedies and a few early tragedies .of his history plays ,the better known are Henry IV and Henry V.The chief comedies of this period include The Merchant of Venice,Much Ado About Nothing,As You Like It and Twelfth Night,Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar are two of his better known early tragedies.The third period of Shakespeare's dramatic career,dating from 1601 to 1608,includes chiefly his great tragedies Hamlet Othehlo ,King Lear,Macheth,Antony and Cleopatra,Coriolanus and Timon of Athens ,The last period ,estending from 1609 to 1612-13,includes chiefly his three tragi-comedies:Cymbeline ,The Winter's Tale and The Tempest .
The complete works of Shakespeare consist of 2 long narrative poems ,154 sonnets and 37 plays.
