English playwright and poet William Shakespeare was christened on this day in 1564. Born in Stratford-on-Avon, the son of a glove-maker, he moved to London in his 20s, leaving his wife Anne and young family behind. He joined thespian troupe the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, writing and performing plays that made him one of the most popular dramatists of his day. His plays were groundbreaking for their exploration of human psychology, ranging from romantic comedies (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing), historical epics (Henry IV, Henry V, Richard III), complex moral dramas (The Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure) and searing tragedies (Hamlet, King Lear). His writing ranged from eloquent poetry to bawdy humour and cock jokes, popularising a number of words and sayings in the English language. Over 100 of his sonnets (including Sonnet 18, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”) are dedicated to an unnamed “Fair Youth” (thought to be Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton or William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke) and are often cited as evidence of his bisexuality. Commentators have also pointed to the homoerotic themes in his comic plays, notably the Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night who falls in love with his young male servant Cesario (later revealed to be a woman in disguise). Historians and biographers continue to debate whether he and fellow playwright Christopher Marlowe were lovers (and whether Marlowe was the author of his plays). Shakespeare retired from the stage in 1613 and returned to his family in Stratford-upon-Avon, dying on 23 April 1616 aged 52. Now considered one of the greatest writers of all time, his works have been translated into nearly every human language and continued to be performed and studied. Filmmaker Derek Jarman embraced the queer subtext of Shakespeare’s writing in his 1985 film The Angelic Conversation, setting readings of Shakespeare’s sonnets to images of two male lovers, while the 1998 film Shakespeare in Love, starring Joseph Fiennes as the young Shakespeare, alludes to his attraction to men. He was portrayed most recently by Paul Mescal in Chloe Zhao’s 2025 film Hamnet, based on Maggie O’Farrell’s fictional portrait of Anne Hathaway.