6 lesser-known facts about William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright of all times 

William Shakespeare is one of the most famous names in literature, let alone theatre. From Macbeth to Hamlet, his plays are been popular all around the world and have been adapted in several different languages. Widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest writers in the English language, it is believed that he has a canon of around 39 dramatic works so far. Even with his name and fame, there is still some interesting trivia about him that many are not familiar with. Read on to learn about some lesser known facts about the great English playwright. 

It is a myth that Shakespeare was an Elizabethan playwright 

Many people around the world are under the impression that Shakespeare was an Elizabethan playwright. However, this information is inaccurate because he wrote a majority of his plays after the death of Queen Elizabeth I. This, technically, makes him a playwright of the Jacobean era. 

One of his plays has been lost in history 

Historians have stumbled upon convincing evidence that suggests that Shakespeare had written a play titled ‘Cardenio’, which is also believed to have been performed to an audience in England. However, not a single copy of this play has been found yet. 

None of his plays were published by Shakespeare himself 

Shakespeare was not very interested in anything other than writing his plays, and so, he did not publish them himself either. The world was made familiar with his great works, all thanks to his friends John Heminges and Henry Condell who posthumously published all his plays.   

He became interested in sonnets due to the bubonic plague  

The bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, which took over England in 1665 was a ghastly time for the country. Since people could not leave their houses, all the theatres across the nation were shut down. Knowing that his plays could not be performed anymore during this time, Shakespeare turned to poetry and began writing sonnets.  

People fear going too close to Shakespeare’s grave 

Shakespeare’s tomb, which can be found at the Trinity Church in his birthplace of Stratford-Upon-Avon, has been untouched since 1747. This is because the great poet and playwright had a poem engraved on his tomb which says that anyone who attempts to move his bones will be cursed forever.  

Shakespeare wrote a slightly odd will for his wife 

Usually, people tend to leave most if not all of their fortune for their family after their death. However, Shakespeare left quite an odd set of belongings to his wife. He mentioned in his will that we would like to leave his wife with the second-best bed in the house along with some linen.