William Shakespeare

English, 1564–1616

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was an English playwright and poet widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. His plays — including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream — span comedy, tragedy, and history with unmatched depth of character and poetic brilliance. Shakespeare invented over 1,700 words that we still use today and his works continue to be performed and studied worldwide.