Our mission is to help everyone understand Shakespeare’s language.
From translating Shakespeare quotes (to be or not to be, anyone?) and complete Shakespeare plays, to providing great Shakespeare facts, a Shakespeare translator, and articles on Shakespeare’s life – including a great William Shakespeare biography – we’re here to make Shakespeare easy and accessible. We even have a section dedicated to other great Shakespeare websites!
Scurvy Companions is the brand new podcast from NoSweatShakespeare.
Hosted by our most enthusiastic contributor, Emily Jackoway, the podcast takes a fortnightly deep dive into all things Shakespeare.
Take a browse around NoSweatShakespeare using the navigation options at the top of each page, or click the quick links below to take you to a site section or specific article on Shakespeare.
Find out the basics about the Bard’s life with a Shakespeare biography and a timeline of Shakespeare’s life and work.
Read the best and most famous Shakespeare quotes, monologues and soliloquies by play (Hamlet quotes, Macbeth quotes, Romeo & Juliet quotes and more), or see Shakespeare’s love quotes.
Read short summaries of Shakespeare’s plays, meet Shakespeare’s characters, and understand Shakespeare’s play types – comedies, histories, tragedies etc.
Brush up on Shakespeare’s family – his parents, siblings and his own three children, alongside in-depth information on Anne Hathaway – Shakespeare’s wife.
Need to know what iambic pentameter is, or how to write a sonnet? We also have modern translations of all 154 sonnets (including sonnet 18), and all of Shakespeare’s poems.
Studies of Shakespeare’s most loved characters – Lady Macbeth, Caliban, Queen Mab, Laertes, Prospero, Polonius, Friar Laurence, Falstaff, Fortinbras, and many more.
Everything to know about each of the London theatres Shakespeare was connected to, including Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, along with some great Globe Theatre facts.
With his insults Shakespeare was most certainly a master of his trade. Try insulting someone in Elizabethan English with this list of Shakespeare insults.
What did Shakespeare look like? See all of the known portraits and pictures of William Shakespeare – Chandos, Cobbe, Droueshot, Hilliard, Holy Trinity Bust, Saunders – with a description of each.
William Shakespeare’s date of birth is generally accepted as 23rd April 1564. There was no birth certificate in those days, but there is a record of Shakespeare being baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford upon Avon on 26th April, 1564.
Shakespeare was the third of the eight children born to John and Mary Shakespeare of Stratford upon Avon.
William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582 at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford upon Avon, he was 18 and she was 26.
William and Anne Shakespeare had three children. Their first child was a daughter, Susanna, who was born in May 1583, six months after her parents got married. In January 1585 William and Anne had twins, Hamnet and Judith.
This is a question with no definitive answer. Here’s why:
Sadly there’s no William Shakespeare photo (as cameras were not around in the Elizabethan era!), but there are a number of Shakespeare portraits, paintings, engravings, and sculptures.
The shorthand image of Shakespeare is of a man with a dome-like high forehead, a beard and mustache, and shoulder-length hair, sometimes wearing a gold hoop earring.
William Shakespeare died on 23rd April 1616, his 52nd birthday.
William Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday, 23rd April 1616.
Shakespeare was buried alongside his immediate family members, inside Holy Trinity Church – his local parish church in Stratford upon Avon. Read about Shakespeare’s grave.
And yes, we do offer more than straight-up Shakespeare – though all in keeping with our literary theme.
Interested in finding out more about the world’s most famous authors? Or drilling down into the best American writers, English authors or Irish authors, plus selections of the very best quotes in literature?
Find all this and more in our section of the website devoted to all thingsEnglish literature.
