Who was Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights (For the above infromation I used Google and Wikipedia). How did Shakespeare die? Are Shakespeare's works written in Old English? Was Shakespeare gay? These questions have all been raised an have yet to be answered. (Again I used Google to find these questions, Shakespeare Questions). Shakespeare is one of the authors that students quiver at with just the mention of his name. His style and diction is very difficult to understand and to most students it looks like gibberish and that is why they give up so easily when they are told that they are going to have to read one of his plays. Shakespeare has become more manageable over time because I have been exposed to his works multiple time. I wouldn't say it has become easier but, it is more familiar and understandable. Overall, I have developed a new found pleasure in Shakespeare at times but, their are always moments of me wanting to stab myself when reading bland and numbing parts of his works.