William Shakespeare, the World's Most Influential Writer

William Shakespeare was a playwright and actor that lived in England in the latter part of the 1500's. His plays contain themes that resonate with audiences the world over because they deal with issues that are truly universal. Many would even go so far as to say that a writer's education is not complete without exposure to the works of Shakespeare.

No record survives that lists the birth of Shakespeare, but he was baptized on April 26, 1564 at Holy Trinity Church in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon in southern England. It's reasonable to assume that he was born in 1864 and was baptized quickly afterwards. He married a woman named Anne Hathaway at age 18. She was 26 at the time, and pregnant. Six months after their marriage a daughter, Susanna, was born. Two years later, fraternal twins were born to Shakespeare and his wife. From that point until 1592, not much is known about events in Shakespeare's life.

When he was around the age of 25, Shakespeare is believed to have written Henry VI, Part One, which was his first play. From that point until his death in 1616, he is believed to have written an average of around one and a half plays per year. By 1594, Shakespeare was a member (and part-owner) of a theater company called "Lord Chamberlain's Men." This performing group was one of London's finest, and had exclusive right to perform plays that Shakespeare had written. When James I became the troupe's patron in 1603, its name was changed to "King's Men."

Shakespeare's involvement in the theater company apparently earned a very nice income for him; records indicate that he made many real estate purchases. Shakespeare differed from many influential artists throughout history in that he found financial success in his lifetime. He performed his work before Queen Elizabeth as well as her successor, James I.

Shakespeare's output was prolific; he is known to have written 37 plays and 154 sonnets. Among his better-known plays are such classics as A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, and of course Romeo and Juliet. In addition to his writing duties, Shakespeare performed as an actor in some plays, though not always for plays he had written. One rumor suggests that he played the ghost of Hamlet's father in Hamlet, though no evidence exists to support this claim.

One reason that Shakespeare is considered to be such an influential author is because he helped to shape the English language into what it is today. Shakespeare routinely used new words in his plays and introduced turns of phrase that endure to this day. Among neologisms that Shakespeare is given credit for are such words as auspicious, bloody, bump, castigate, dwindle, frugal, gloomy, monumental, obscene, and submerge. Phrases that he is credited for include catch a cold, foregone conclusion, it's Greek to me, method in his madness, strange bedfellows, and too much of a good thing.

In addition to introducing new terms, Shakespeare helped to give the English language formal structure by inventing new rules for grammar. At the time, French and Latin were used for English legal documents because English was not considered precise enough to express certain ideals. The plays that Shakespeare wrote also changed the way that actors performed. He introduced new ways for actors to pronounce their lines and expanded on the idea that a character's dialog in a play should stem from that character's internal motivation. Anyone attempting to write anything in our day knows that this should be the driving factor in a story, but for the time Shakespeare's use of this technique was revolutionary.

William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. In his will, he left most of his possessions to his daughter, Susanna. To his wife he left their marital bed. To the rest of humanity he left a rich legacy that persists to this day. He's been called the greatest author of all time, and with good reason. He transcended the limitations of the written word to create something that changed its conventions forever. No other person, living or dead, has had such influence on the English language.