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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) was the greatest [[playwright]] in history. Many of his plays are beloved throughout the world, and required reading in most English-speaking schools. Those taught most include ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', ''[[Macbeth]]'', ''[[King Lear]]'', ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', ''[[Hamlet]]'' and ''[[Othello]]''.  Because of a lack of [[copyright]] protection in his day, Shakespeare's work was performed rather than written and published as books while he was alive.

'''William Shakespeare''' (1564-1616) is considered one of the greatest [[playwrights]] in history. Many of his plays are beloved throughout the world, and required reading in most English-speaking schools. Those taught most include ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', ''[[Macbeth]]'', ''[[King Lear]]'', ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', ''[[Hamlet]]'' and ''[[Othello]]''.  Because of a lack of [[copyright]] protection in his day, Shakespeare's work was performed rather than written and published as books while he was alive.

Shakespeare was a devout [[Christian]], as proven by what 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 was a devout [[Christian]], as proven by what 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>