William Shakespeare has been admired in every age and in every country for the beauty and excellence of his literary creations. It is not only English literature  but also world literature that is incomplete without Shakespeare. His works have passed through many variations of taste and changes of manners, but their interest and their appeal have not diminished or declined with the passage of time. So Shakespeare has acquired the dignity of an author who claims the honour of established fame and he is recognized as one of the greatest dramatists.

William Shakespeare was born on 23rd April 1564, at Stratford-on-Avon in England. His mother was Mary Arden and his father John Shakespeare was a small trader. Shakespeare was educated at Stratford’s Grammar School. In 1582, at the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway who was eight years older than him. He had three children. Shakespeare went to London in 1587 and became an actor in Drama and later a playwright. By the year 1594, Shakespeare was working successfully as an actor and playwright. In 1611, Shakespeare bade farewell to the stage and returned to Stratford Where he died in April 1616.

The first written piece of work of Shakespeare was a long poem ‘Venus and Adonis”, published in 1593. In his dramatic career of 24 years, he wrote more than thirty plays which include some of the world’s most famous tragedies - Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear and the ‘Merchant of Venice’. His best comedies are ‘As you like it’, ‘Twelfth Night’, ‘Mid summer’s Night Dream’.

The writings of  Shakespeare teach us about the value of  friendship, love and also of life. According to him the  world is a stage and all humans  are actors.