Shakespeare is the author of more than 36 plays and more than 150 poems. Only a modest education: Attended King’s New School for 7 years, obtained an excellent education in Latin and the Bible Not a university graduate

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon, in England on April 23, 1564 Also died the same day Shakespeare began his career as an actor before he became a writer Married Ann Hathaway at age 18 – she was 26 They had three children – two girls & a boy Left his family (?) to move to London to become a dramatist

In 1599, Shakespeare joined with a few other members of his company, called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, to finance a new theater—the famous Globe—on the South side of Thames.

 Wrote 154 sonnets altogether  Speaker is male  Chief subject is love  14 lines of iambic pentameter  Each line has 10 syllables  Follows a strict rhyme scheme:  abab – cdcd – efef - gg

 An “iamb” is a weak word or syllable followed by a strong word or syllable (da-DUM).  The weak/strong pair is called a foot.  Five feet make up a line. “Infected be the air whereon they ride: And damn’d be them that trust them! I did hear” --Macbeth