75 Facts About William Shakespeare [Plus Free Fact Cards]

Discover fascinating insights into the life and legacy of William Shakespeare with these Facts About William Shakespeare. Dive into the world of the renowned playwright and poet and explore his timeless contributions to literature, theater, and culture. Plus, get free fact cards to expand your knowledge even further!

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William Shakespeare was a famous English playwright and poet who lived during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He is often regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language and is known for his numerous plays, sonnets, and poems.

William Shakespeare was a literary genius whose enduring works have left an indelible mark on the world of literature and the performing arts, making him an iconic figure in the history of English literature. Keep reading to learn more facts about William Shakespeare.

Interesting Facts About William Shakespeare

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There are no living descendants of Shakespeare.
The Globe Theater built by Shakespeare was burnt to the ground and rebuilt the next year.
During the life of Shakespeare, women were not allowed to perform on the stage, it was illegal!
It is believed that The Two Gentlemen of Verona was his first play.
Only one play by Shakespeare was set in England, The Merry Wives of Windsor.

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The Globe Theater could hold up to 3,000 people.
It is rumored that witches put a curse on the play Macbeth since they claim it has a real spell written into the play.
Shakespeare’s last play, The Two Noble Kinsmen, was written when he was 49 years old.
Shakespeare was known for writing the women in his plays as strong and challenging men, which was not common at the time.
A transcript of Shakespeare’s plays was written seven years after he died.

Plays by Shakespeare have influenced several Hollywood movies. West Side Story is based on Romeo and Juliet.
Shakespeare’s plays had common themes: love, power and politics, identity, revenge, appearance versus reality, fate and free will, madness and sanity.
Shakespeare was very wealthy and owned lots of property.
Shakespeare performed for both Queen Elizabeth I and King James I.
Shakespeare’s exact birthday is unknown, but he was baptized in April 1564.

Shakespeare loved birds and referenced them 600 times in his plays.
Shakespeare made up a total of 420 words.
Shakespeare never attended university.
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most quoted play.
Shakespeare is known as England’s poet.

Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s plays, takes 4 hours to perform.
Of his three children, only one daughter had a child, and that child never had children.
Shakespeare came up with many words, but also names. He is credited with the names Jessica, Imogen, Miranda, and Olivia.
In his time, graves were often moved to make room, but Shakespeare did not want his remains touched so he put a curse on them.
The only writing to be more quoted than Shakespeare is the Bible.

Shakespeare used the word love over 2,000 times in his works.
Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of 52.
He was born in Warwickshire, England.
Shakespeare’s shortest play is The Comedy of Errors which is around 1,770 lines.
Thanks to Shakespeare, we have the word assassination.

Shakespeare’s performance company did not perform on Sundays.
Shakespeare liked to make up words and some we still use today such as eyeball.
Not only did Shakespeare write plays, but he also loved to perform in them as well!
There are people who think that Shakespeare did not write his own play.
Shakespeare’s plays have been translated into more than 100 languages.

Shakespeare wrote comedies, tragedies, and histories.
You can visit a replica of the Globe Theater in England. It stands around 750 feet away from the original site.
“Honorificabilitudinitatibus” is the longest word in any of Shakespeare’s plays. It means invincible glorious honorableness.
There are superstitions surrounding the play Macbeth, and people will not utter that name in a theater thinking it will bring bad luck.
Shakespeare was one of eight children.

Hamlet also contains 30,557 words.
He loved dogs too and there are 200 dog references in his plays too.
Abraham Lincoln’s favorite play was Macbeth, and ironically the man who assassinated Lincoln had played the title role before.
There is a lost play, Cardenio, which was performed during Shakespeare’s life but there is no written record of the story.
The Globe Theater was built in 1599.

He created at least 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and poems in his lifetime.
Just in his play Romeo and Juliet, the word love appears 150 times.
It is said that one of the most accurate depictions of Shakespeare’s likeness is in Stratford’s Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.
Uranus has 27 moons, and 24 of those moons have the names of Shakespeare’s characters.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the most produced play by Shakespeare.

His father was a glove maker.
There are seven years, from 1585 to 1592, when Shakespeare disappears from any historical record.
In total, Shakespeare and his wife had three children.
Even though Shakespeare was a wonderful writer, he was a horrible speller! There are at least 10 versions of his signature with different spellings.
Shakespeare liked to include elements of fantasy in his plays and often had fairies, witches, ghosts, and spells in them.

Richard II and King John are Shakespeare’s only two plays to be written completely in verse. His other plays are a mix of verse and prose.
The Globe Theater had to close due to the plague, so Shakespeare worked on poetry instead during that time.
Shakespeare’s performance company often put on plays for Queen Elizabeth I.
The Original Globe Theater burned down when the roof caught fire.
Shakespeare wrote in a style called Iambi Pentameter, which is said to resemble the beating of a heart.

Julius Ceasar was the first play performed at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater.
William Shakespeare is considered the world’s greatest playwright.
Shakespeare’s performance company was called the Lord Chamberlian’s Men.
If you do happen to read a Shakespeare play, you will notice that they are written in rhyming verse.
Shakespeare was often referred to as “The Bard”, which means poet.

Shakespeare took his material from events in history and stories from other countries.
Over 400 versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream have been produced for television.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is considered one of the greatest love stories of all time.
There are 36 films made of Romeo and Juliet.
Shakespeare did collaborate with other authors on some of his works.

Shakespeare’s wife, Anne, was 8 years older than him.
While his longest play is Hamlet which has 4,042 lines.
Shakespeare’s first play was Henry IV, part I.
Shakespeare wrote about suicide 13 times.
In one of Shakespeare’s portraits, he is depicted with an earring.

Are you looking for more fun and engaging facts to share with your family? Check out these other posts for more facts!

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Interesting Facts About William Shakespeare

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