William Shakespeare, also known as Bard of Avon, was an English poet, playwright and actor, who is globally considered to be the greatest dramatist of all time. Even today, very few writers can be compared to that of Shakespeare, whose plays, written in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, are now performed and read more often across the globe. His earliest plays include the comedies, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, and As You Like It. There are history plays based on the lives of the English kings, including Henry VI, Richard III, and Richard II; and the tragedy Romeo and Juliet.