William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) is considered as the greatest dramatist of English literature of all time. He was called “The Bard of Avon” for his remarkable works. From 1589-1613 Shakespeare wrote most of his works. His works include 154 sonnets, 39 plays, 2 long narrative poems.  At the early stage, Shakespeare wrote only histories and comedies. After 1608, he also wrote tragedies. 

Shakespeare follows the conventional style for his plays. He adapted the metrical pattern consists of lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter, which is called blank verse. He wrote his 154 sonnets in iambic pentameter. Later Shakespeare adapted the traditional styles to his writings. The opening soliloquy of Richard III follows the trend of medieval drama. In his mature plays, he adapted different soliloquy. One of Shakespeare’s famous quote is: 

                                        All that glitters is not gold 

                                        (The Merchant of Venice Act 2, Scene 7)

Among Shakespeare’s many tragedies, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth are considered to the finest works of all time. Some of his famous comedies are – All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare wrote 2 narrative poems from 1593-1594. These were Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, and A Lovers Complaint. All these 3 poems were written on a sexual context. The sonnets published in 1609 are considered to be the last of Shakespeare’s non-dramatic works to be printed. One of his famous sonnets is: 

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate …” 

                                                            (Sonnet 18)

Lastly, Shakespeare retired in 1612. He took his last breath on April 23, 1616. His plays are studied and highly popular all over the world.