He enriched the stage with comedies and tragedies and towards the end of his life plays that would defy description and haunt the imagination.

The range of characters that appeared in his plays were enormous. From Kings and Queens, priests, princes and merchants to clowns, drunkards, fairies, monsters and avenging ghosts. He created over 900 characters large and small. Each one would spring vividly to life in every performance. They still live on as they are so much like us today. They experienced love, jealousy, fear, pride, courage, ambition and much more.

This enables many people to perform his plays over and over again in modern day times as well as the electrical power that came through his storytelling. Many of his plays are altered, lengthened or abridged or translated into foreign languages, thus making Shakespeare live on in our society today.

The plays were full of murders and suicides. Swords were flashed, blood was shed, poison was dropped and lovers did sigh. but dialogue from local men discussing trivial things such as the weather would be incorporated to give the story more originality and make the play seem even more life like.

Since the plays were written over four hundred years ago, they have become well read and loved by people of all nationalities, and have become priceless possessions of the world.

Many of the popular comedies were 'The Tempest', 'Much Ado About Nothing', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 'The Winter's Tale'.

Famous tragedies would be 'Romeo and Juliet', 'The Life and Death of Julius Caesar', 'Macbeth', 'Hamlet' and 'King Lear'. He also wrote many plays about kings which were classed as Histories.

William Shakespeare was born on April 23rd 1564 and died on his 52nd birthday in 1616. He was born in Stratford upon Avon. He lived with his mother and father, Mary and John, and his two elder sisters. His education started in his local school and he left the grammar at fourteen to help his father's business. When he turned eighteen he wed Anne Hathaway who lived nearby, and was a father of three by twenty one.

During the next seven years he went to London to seek employment in the theatre. By the age of twenty eight he had become a well known playwright and actor.

When he reached his mid forties he returned to Stratford, his family home until his death.

Shakespeare was an unforgettable character and is still loved by youngsters today. I think it is wonderful how he can capture the mind of young and old and fill you with anxiety, making you wonder what will happen next. He is surely one of England's most loved and appreciated playwrights.

By Kim Woollam (BISHOP HEBER HIGH SCHOOL)