---
node: shakespeare
type: person
slug: william_shakespeare
title: "William Shakespeare"
lead: "William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was an English playwright and poet, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. His plays are performed and studied around the world."
published: 2026-07-11
updated: 2026-07-11
---

## Who they were

Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare worked in London as actor, playwright, and shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, who played at the Globe. He wrote some 38 plays — tragedies such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear, comedies, histories — and 154 sonnets, published together in the First Folio of 1623, seven years after his death.

## What they did

He expanded the expressive range of English drama and coined or popularized hundreds of words and phrases still in use.

## Legacy

Shakespeare's works have never left the stage and have been translated into every major language. He is the central figure of the English literary canon and a global cultural reference.