"We can more easily decide between Shakespear and any other author, than between him and himself. Shall we quote any more passages to shew his genius or the beauty of Romeo and Juliet? At that rate, we might quote the whole."

William Shakespearewas born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April, 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. A. R.Braunmulleris Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has written critical volumes on George Peele and George Chapman and has edited plays in both the Oxford (King John) and Cambridge (Macbeth) series of Shakespeare editions. He is also general editor of The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Stephen Orgelis the Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of the Humanities at Stanford University and general editor of the Cambridge Studies in Renaissance Literature and Culture. His books includeImagining Shakespeare, The Authentic Shakespeare, Impersonations: The Performance of Gender in Shakespeare s EnglandandThe Illusion of Power."