'Background information accompanies Shakespeare's play about lovers' triangles and the interaction of fairies and mortals

William Shakespeare, perhaps the greatest English playwright ever, was born in 1564. By 1592 he was sufficiently established as a playwright to be criticized in print. He was a leading member of the Lord Chamberlain's Company, which became the King's Men on the accession of James I in 1603. He died in April 1616 and is buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.