Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England in 1564, William Shakespeare was a glove maker’s son who later became the most famous of British playwrights and poets. Educated at the free local grammar school in Stratford and married young to Anne Hathaway, by whom he had three children, Shakespeare appears to have journeyed to London sometime in the 1580s. Players’ records from 1594 verify his presence as a cast member for the acting troupe known as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. During the 1590s, Shakespeare began his career as a playwright; between 1594 and 1598, he composed most of his historical plays, along with comedies such as Two Gentlemen of Verona and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and tragedies such as Titus Andronicus and Romeo and Juliet (also in Literature and Its Times). Twelfth Night appears to have been written between 1598 and 1601, along with such major works as Much Ado about Nothing, As You Like It, and Hamlet (also in Literature and Its Times). Like many of Shakespeare’s comedies, Twelfth Night is not set at a specific historical period; rather, its frame of reference corresponds to Shakespeare’s own time, touching on festive occasions, religious tensions, and the prevailing social order.
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