Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At 18, he married Anne Hathaway, and they had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a theater company called Lord Chamberlain's Men, which later became known as the King's Men. He retired at the age of 49 (roughly 1613) and returned to Stratford, where he passed away three years later. A few personal records about Shakespeare's life have survived, stoking speculative theories about his appearance, sexual orientation, religion, and whether or not he was the author of other people's works. These theories are frequently criticized for lacking conclusive evidence, given the paucity of records surrounding the lives of common people during that period.
Shakespeare's most well-known compositions were composed between 1589 and 1613. His early plays are regarded as some of the best in their respective genres; they were mostly comedies and histories. He primarily composed tragedies up to 1608, including *Hamlet*, *Othello*, *King Lear*, and *Macbeth*, which are regarded as some of the best plays ever written in English. Later in life, he composed romances, or tragicomedies, and worked with other authors.
Shakespeare's plays comprise the 36 comedies, tragedies, and histories that were printed in the First Folio in 1623. The majority of academics concur that Shakespeare made a substantial contribution to the writing of *The Two Noble Kinsmen* and *Pericles, Prince of Tyre*, two plays that were excluded from the First Folio but are today recognized as belonging to his body of work. The First Folio contained none of his poems.