Shakespeare’s life can be divided into three stages: the first 20 years in Stratford, where he attended the local grammar school; marriage (aged 18) to Ann Hathaway, and fatherhood (twins). Then he spent 25 years as an actor and playwright in London - the boundary between these two periods being marked by a lack of information on him “the dark years”. In the last 5 years he returned to Stratford, where he enjoyed the fruits of his earlier success, in retirement.

Shakespeare’s plays were phenomenally successful and popular during his time, and the fact that they continue to be enjoyed so many years later is testament to their excellence.
There was only a fraction of the current population in Britain in Shakespeare’s day, and yet one of his plays could attract an audience of tens of thousands of people! That would be an impressive number even nowadays.

Shakespeare’s plays contain themes that have never dated. People will always identify with the jealousy of Othello, the pride of King Lear and the ambition of MacBeth, amongst other remarkable character portrayals.

There are so many cautionary messages and influential ideas in Shakespeare’s work that it has had an effect on the direction of our culture. Shakespeare can be considered to be a great philosopher in this regard. He never preached and always allowed the audience to make their own conclusions in the unbiased way, reflective of the realities of life, that his plots were devised. Modern versions of the plays are often updated in such a way as to make political or moral points in a manner that is often an abuse of the lack of single minded agenda in the original plays.

The plays are written in (usually non rhyming) verse, so that it can sound inspirational, heroic and poetic. He wrote in pentameter - lines with five pairs of syllables. Yet, he listened to how people really spoke and used the natural rhythms of speech, so that the outcome did not sound over stylised.

Numerous words and phrases in the English language originate from Shakespeare. Sometimes writers coin words, out of forms of existing words, or entirely originally. Shakespeare had the most individual influence on the language we speak today.

Examples of words first used by Shakespeare:
accommodation,
aerial,
amazement,
apostrophe,
assassination,
auspicious,
baseless,
bloody,
bump,
castigate,
changeful,
clangor,
control (noun),
countless,
courtship,
critic,
critical,
dexterously,
dishearten,
dislocate,
dwindle,
eventful,
exposure,
fitful,
frugal,
generous,
gloomy,
gnarled,
hurry,
impartial,
inauspicious,
indistinguishable,
invulnerable,
lapse,
laughable,
lonely,
majestic,
misplaced,
monumental,
multitudinous,
obscene,
palmy,
perusal,
pious,
premeditated,
radiance,
reliance,
road,
sanctimonious,
seamy,
sportive,
submerge,
suspicious

Research this yourself - don’t just take my word for it (no pun intended)! There are more phrases such as :
barefaced,
fancy-free,
catch a cold,
disgraceful conduct,
elbowroom,
fair play,
hot-blooded,
housekeeping,
lacklustre,
leapfrog,
mind's eye,
it's Greek to me,
breathe one's last,
heart of gold,
too much of a good thing,
naked truth,
foregone conclusion,
break the ice,
strange bedfellows,
wear one's heart on one's sleeve,
all that glitters isn't gold,
eat out of house and home,
be all and end all,
more sinned against than sinning,
one fell swoop,
the milk of human kindness

Shakespeare is popular all over the world, with various ethnicities finding important insights, in their own unique ways, for themselves in his plays. His work speaks of aspects of human character, rather than specifically English or British character.

In a play such as Measure for Measure, relevance to society has actually become more pointed over time. In the past, critics thought it a comedy “grounded on impossibilities” - Dryden. Dr Johnson complained of how “he carries his persons indifferently through right and wrong, and in the end dismisses them without further care”.

The play is about the consequences of lack of restraint upon our natural inclinations and how too much liberty ends up with the enforcement of restrictions to order society. Plato made a similar observation in his Republic.