The Poacher's Plays
1564-1616
1592 1592
00.02W51.29N
LIT

STRATFORD-ON-AVON, ENGLAND
	If William Shake\speare's poaching had gone undetected, the world might have been deprived of some of the greatest plays ever written.
	But in 1584, when he was about 20, Shake\speare was caught and had to leave his home of Stratford-\on-\Avon.  He drifted around and ended up in London, where he took a menial job in the theater.
	There, however, Shake\speare found his place in life and by 1592 he had become a well-known playwright.
	During his life he wrote about 40 plays, ranging from humor ("The Comedy of Errors," "The Taming of the Shrew," "Much Ado About Nothing," "A Mid\summer Night's Dream") to tragedy ("Romeo and Juliet," "Julius Caesar," "Macbeth," "King Lear" and "Othello") to tragi\comedy ("Two Gentlemen of Verona" and "Merchant of Venice").
	As his life progressed, Shakespeare's work became more pessimistic, hitting bottom with "Timon of Athens."  Then something must have changed in his life and his last plays ("Cymbeline" and "The Tempest") became idyllic and romantic.