HistoryFreePrintable

William Shakespeare Fact File

A free history worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.

Download now

Name:Date:

William Shakespeare Fact File

Read the fact file, then complete the questions. Use evidence from the fact file to support your answers.

William Shakespeare: fact file

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in 1564. He became a successful playwright, poet and actor. By the early 1590s, he was working in London, where he wrote and performed with an acting company. The company was known as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men before it later became known as the King’s Men. Shakespeare wrote around 39 plays and more than 150 sonnets. His plays include comedies, histories and tragedies. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy, while Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet are tragedies. His company performed at the Globe Theatre, which opened in London in 1599. The original Globe was destroyed by fire in 1613 and later rebuilt nearby. Shakespeare died in 1616. His plays are still performed around the world. They continue to interest audiences because they explore powerful ideas such as ambition, loyalty, love and conflict, and because their characters face difficult choices.

Find the facts

Answer using the fact file. For question 4, select every correct answer.

1.In which year was Shakespeare born, and where was he born?

2.Name two kinds of work Shakespeare did.

3.What was the name of Shakespeare’s acting company before it became known as the King’s Men?

4.Select all the accurate statements about Shakespeare’s writing.

He wrote around 39 plays.
He wrote more than 150 sonnets.
He wrote only tragedies.
His plays included comedies, histories and tragedies.

5.Match each play with its type: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet. Types: comedy; tragedy.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet

Tragedy
Comedy
Tragedy

The Globe and Shakespeare’s legacy

Think about what the fact file says—and what it does not say.

6.In what year did the Globe Theatre open, and what happened to the original building in 1613?

7.Does the fact file tell us whether the Globe was the only theatre where Shakespeare’s company performed? Explain your answer using the fact file.

8.Shakespeare died in 1616. How many years after the Globe opened in 1599 did he die? Show or explain your calculation.

9.The fact file says Shakespeare’s works explore ideas such as ambition, loyalty, love and conflict. Choose one idea and explain why it might still interest audiences today.

10.Aisha is preparing a short introduction to Shakespeare for a UK music festival stage. Write two sentences using at least two accurate facts from the fact file, and explain one reason his plays are still performed.