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

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

All told, Shakespeare wrote 17 comedies, 10 tragedies, 10 historical plays, and many love [[sonnets]].  All his plays are freely available on the internet.<ref>

All told, Shakespeare wrote 17 comedies, 10 tragedies, 10 historical plays, and many love [[sonnet]]s.  All his plays are freely available on the internet.<ref>

http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/</ref>

http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/</ref>

The 'tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide' is a reference to one of Shakespeare's plays, ''[[Henry the Sixth, part III]]'', <ref> [[Great Books, Shakespeare: I]], Edited by Mortimer J. Adler, 1952.  </ref>  while 'shake-scene' is a pun or play on words on Shakespeare's name.

The 'tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide' is a reference to one of Shakespeare's plays, ''[[Henry the Sixth, part III]]'', <ref> [[Great Books, Shakespeare: I]], Edited by Mortimer J. Adler, 1952.  </ref>  while 'shake-scene' is a pun or play on words on Shakespeare's name.

His plays seem to show so much education and erudition that there are even theories that they must have been written by someone else, famous candidates being the Earl of Oxford and Sir Francis Bacon. Like Kennedy assassination theories, most scholars do not believe them, but there are enough questions that new books promoting new theories of Shakespearian authorship continue to keep coming out over the years.

His plays seem to show so much education and erudition that there are even theories that they must have been written by someone else, famous candidates being the Earl of Oxford and Sir Francis Bacon. Like Kennedy assassination theories, most scholars do not believe them, but there are enough questions that new books promoting new theories of Shakespearean authorship continue to keep coming out over the years.

A longstanding theatrical superstition holds that it is bad luck to refer to ''Macbeth'' directly by its name, and accordingly, actors traditionally refer to it obliquely as "the Scottish play."

A longstanding theatrical superstition holds that it is bad luck to refer to ''Macbeth'' directly by its name, and accordingly, actors traditionally refer to it obliquely as "the Scottish play."

The reverence in which Shakespeare is held, and the language of his plays (which come from the same era as the King James translation of the Bible) should not obscure the fact that his plays were (and still are) fabulously successful commercial entertainment.  

The reverence in which Shakespeare is held, and the language of his plays (which come from the same era as the King James translation of the Bible) should not obscure the fact that his plays were (and still are) fabulously successful commercial entertainment.  

He is also famous for his one hundred and fifty-four [[sonnets]], short poems written in a very strict rhyme scheme. The sonnets fall into series or sequences. Most of them are usually read as expressions of romantic or platonic love; some appear to be written to a married woman known in the sonnets as the "Dark Lady," some to a young man known as the "Fair Lord."

He is also famous for his one hundred and fifty-four sonnets, short poems written in a very strict rhyme scheme. The sonnets fall into series or sequences. Most of them are usually read as expressions of romantic or platonic love; some appear to be written to a married woman known in the sonnets as the "Dark Lady," some to a young man known as the "Fair Lord."

In his will, Shakespeare wrote, "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.amerisearch.net/index.php?date=2004-04-23&view=View</ref>  

In his will, Shakespeare wrote, "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.amerisearch.net/index.php?date=2004-04-23&view=View</ref>