William Shakespeare
1564 – 1616 English playwright, poet
The greatest playwright in the English language.
- Religion
- Officially Anglican; some scholars suspect private Catholic sympathies, but the evidence is inconclusive. He lived before organized Freemasonry existed, so any Masonic claim is anachronistic.
- Affiliations
- Actor and shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain's Men. No secret society.
Shakespeare wrote around thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets that shaped the English language and stage forever. Works from Hamlet to King Lear probe the full range of human experience with unmatched depth. He remains the most performed and studied writer in the world.
Connections
- influenced Christopher Marlowe — His blank verse and tragic scale shaped the young Shakespeare.