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[[Image:Foliou.jpg|right|thumb|[[portraits|Engraving]] of William Shakespeare on the cover of the First Folio (1623), the first collected edition of his plays]]

[[Image:Foliou.jpg|right|thumb|[[portraits|Engraving]] of William Shakespeare on the cover of the First Folio (1623), the first collected edition of his plays]]

'''William Shakespeare''' (1564-1616) is generally regarded as the greatest English language playwright--indeed, the greatest English language writer''--of all time. Many of his plays are required reading in school curricula throughout the English-speaking world and beyond; those taught in schools often include ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', ''[[Macbeth]]'', ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' and ''[[Hamlet]]''.

'''William Shakespeare''' (1564-1616) is generally regarded as the greatest English language [[playwright]]  -- indeed, the greatest English language writer''-- of all time. Many of his plays are required reading in school curricula throughout the English-speaking world and beyond; those taught in schools often include ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', ''[[Macbeth]]'', ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'' and ''[[Hamlet]]''.

Evidently he was a devout [[Christian]], because he wrote in his Will: "I commend my soul into the hands of God, my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting."<ref>[http://www.bardweb.net/will.html Shakespeare's Last and Testament]</ref>  Yet his work is also loved by people who are not religious, who consider it "the secular [[canon]], or even the secular [[scripture]]."<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981571-2,00.html#ixzz13lnUzy40 Hurrah for Dead White Males! - TIME]</ref>

Like nearly every Englishman of his time, evidently he was a devout [[Christian]], because he wrote in his Will: "I commend my soul into the hands of God, my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, to be made partaker of life everlasting."<ref>[http://www.bardweb.net/will.html Shakespeare's Last and Testament]</ref>  Yet his work is also loved by people who are not religious, who consider it "the secular [[canon]], or even the secular [[scripture]]."<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981571-2,00.html#ixzz13lnUzy40 Hurrah for Dead White Males! - TIME]</ref>

Shakespeare wrote 17 comedies, 10 tragedies, 10 historical plays, 154 love [[sonnet]]s, and several other works of non-dramatic poetry. All his plays are freely available on the internet.<ref>[http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/ Shakespeare]</ref>

Shakespeare wrote 17 comedies, 10 tragedies, 10 historical plays, 154 love [[sonnet]]s, and several other works of non-dramatic poetry. All his plays are freely available on the internet.<ref>[http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/ Shakespeare]</ref>

[[Category:Playwrights|Shakespeare, William]]

[[Category:Playwrights|Shakespeare, William]]

[[category:poets|Shakespeare, William]]

[[category:Poets]]

[[Category:Authors]]

[[Category:Playwrights]]

[[Category:British History]]

[[Category:English History]]

[[Category:Renaissance]]

[[Category:Renaissance]]

[[Category:Theater]]

[[Category:Theater]]