The works of William Shakespeare bears no comparison in the history of liberal arts. He was a versatile English poet, play writer and dramatist. He has written about 38 acts, 154 sonnets and uncounted verse forms between 1582–1612, which are read and discussed even up to now. They had great contribution on English literature and western theater. All his works have been interpreted into all known languages and they have been performed around many countries more than a million times.

Eventough most of his writings are for the English audience the appeal was worldwide. His writing style was greatly influenced by Christopher Marlowe. In 1594, Shakespeare became part owner of Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a drama company. It was that time he started acting, along with writing plays. Under his presence the company became popular the reason why King James acquire the company and and have it renamed as King’s men.

His works revolved around tragedy, comedy, romance and history. He started working with other writers which was common at that time. Since then he helped the playwrights to finish their work fast. Like Hamlet was the new adaptation of a lost play named Ur-Hamlet and King Lear was the new version of King Leir. His plays on history were inspired by the Greek, Roman and English history. Plays like Plutarch’s Parallel Lives and Raphael Holinshed’s The Chronicle of England inspired plays like Macbeth and King Lear. Tempest was his original work.

Shakespeare’s early works of 1590s were based on romantic comedies and historic nostalgia which were the storyline of works like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry IV, Part I. After the plague, he started incorporating rhyming couplets and dramatic dialogues in his writings. His middle period plays focused around betrayal, murder, egoism, power, ambition, lust, tragedy and comedy. Plays like Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello King Lear, Troilus and Cressida were based on them. His later works were mostly romantic and fantasies such as The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. His works were also published in press as a series of quartos. Two actors named John Heminges and Henry Condell embarked on First Folio to award and publish Shakespeare’s work exclusively during the year 1623. Categories such as comedies, tragedies and histories were made in First Folio. Modern critics have added up categories like problem-play and tragic-comedies.

The exact order of his plays is not known and has been the subject of debate during that period, plays weren’t authoritatively printed. A number of his plays had various blueprints and because of technical glitches like printing errors and reading mistakes, so the identifying his original work is a problem. Shakespeare invented many words and spellings. He had a habit of writing his plays number of time using those different words and spellings. After his death, there came the questions on the authenticity of his work. There are only few available details on the accounts of his life and nor even his will gives details regarding his ownership of the Globe theater. It has been rumored that they might be works of Francis Bacon or Christopher Marlowe.

The works that have been lost are Quixote, Cardenio, and Love’s Labour’ Won. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, As You Like It, Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, The Tempest, and Macbeth are some the critically acclaimed works of William Shakespeare.

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