Shakespeare, William(1564-1616), English playwright and poet, recognized much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists. Hundreds of ed itions of his plays have been published, including translations in all major languages. Scholars have written thousands of books and articles about his plots, characters, themes, and language. He is the most widely quoted author in history, and his plays have probably been performed more times than those of any other dramatist Will iam Shakespeare(1564-1616) was born in Stratford, a small but important market town, during the week of april 23, 1564. he was the third of a family of eight children. His father, John Shakespeare, was a well-to-do merchant and lead ing citizen in the town who had repeatedly served as a member of the town council and had held almost all the important town offices at one time or another Developed by The Learning Company, Inc. Copyright(c)1997 TLC Properties Inc. All rights reserved Michael Maslan Historic Photographs corbis Developed by The Learning Company, Inc. Copynight(c)1997 TLC Properties Inc. All rights reserved Richard Nowitz corbis7 Shakespeare, William (1564-1616), English playwright and poet, recognized in much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists. Hundreds of editions of his plays have been published, including translations in all major languages. Scholars have written thousands of books and articles about his plots, characters, themes, and language. He is the most widely quoted author in history, and his plays have probably been performed more times than those of any other dramatist. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born in Stratford, a small but important market town, during the week of April 23, 1564. He was the third of a family of eight children. His father, John Shakespeare, was a well-to-do merchant and leading citizen in the town who had repeatedly served as a member of the town council and had held almost all the important town offices at one time or another