The works of Shakespeare can be divided into four periods of literary development. Each period was characterized by Shakespeare's elaboration in his writing, and his development in his personal style. The first period of Shakespeare's writing career was really his experimental stage. Shakespeare followed traditional formatting, and did not venture beyond what was considered typical writing in the 16th and 17th centuries. Most of Shakespeare's works in the first period were chronicle history plays. These were basically plays based on facts chronicling the life of a person, or in the case of Shakespeare, most likely a king. The first period was also characterized by Shakespeare's plays concerning the Lancastrian and Yorkist kings. This allowed Shakespeare's plays to be more factual than fictitious, and contain valuable insight into the royal histories of the time. 'Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III,' (1595) 'King John' (1596) and 'Richard III' (1598) are all based on the lives and times of the kings themselves. Because many of the kings' lives were corrupt and violent, not a bit of drama was lost on these plays. Shakespeare' second period began in the mid and late 1590's, while he was still working in London. During the second period, Shakespeare's writing became very individualized, and he strayed from traditional writing methods.

Passages from plays give us little insight on Shakespeare's reaction to Hamnet's passing. "How I may be deliver'd of these woes, and teaches me to kill or hang myself." (King John 1595) By the early 1590's, Shakespeare was a distinguished playwright and player in London, and probably worked for an acting company. So begins the literary and dramatic influence of William Shakespeare.

Shakespearean plots are another factor that adds realism to the dramas or comedies. Murder, lust, greed and revenge are themes that have remained enticing since biblical times, and remain enticing today. Shakespeare's plots center around universal issues that have no right or wrong answers. Readers identify with the stories, even several hundred years later. Because of this, the plays have remained entertaining and accepted for hundreds upon hundreds of years. So, I think it's safe to conclude that Shakespeare has remained popular for so many years because his universal themes, and his very personalized characters. Shakespeare's writing has been unparalleled throughout history.

William faced many obstacles while growing up, and was lucky to have lived till adulthood at all. During Shakespeare's childhood, plague and pestilence was running rampant throughout England and Europe. Although we are certain William did survive childhood, little information is known about William's education. It is assumed he began Stratford Grammar School, because of its proximity to his house, and because of John Shakespeare's social status. If Shakespeare did attend school there, he would have learned reading and writing from a hornbook. This would be an accomplishment, since most scholars believe both John and Mary Shakespeare were illiterate. Assuming William did attend Stratford Grammar School, he would have been trained in English literature as well as been familiarized with Latin authors such as Seneca, Cicero, Ovid, Virgil, and Horace. Shakespeare's grasp of Latin evidently expanded beyond what he was taught in school, for both his Latin vocabulary as well as grammar is both used cleverly and eloquently in his writings. Aside from Latin, Shakespeare had the tendency to incorporate events from his own life into his writings. In some of his later stories, William recounts events which are taken as those from his own childhood schooling. Unfortunately, because of his father's financial troubles, William had to be removed from Stratford Grammar School at the age of thirteen.

nce you, reader, that William Shakespeare had the greatest affect on the future of modern literatu

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