The poets and the playwrights were the same people, because plays, and especially tragedies, were written in poetry. Playwrights, unlike actors, were as well respected as poets. We have actual proof of this in Francis Meres' Palladis Tamia of 1598, in which he compares the literary figures of his day to the literary figures of ancient Greece and Rome. An excerpt:
As these tragic poets flourished in Greece, Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles, Alexander Aetolus, Achaeus Erithriaeus, Astydamas Atheniensis, Apollodorus Tarsensis, Nicomachus Phrygius, Thespis Atticus, and Timon Apolloniates, and these among the Latins, Accius, M. Attilius, Pomponius Secundus and Seneca, so these are our best for tragedy, the Lord Buckhurst, Doctor Legge of Cambridge, Doctor Edes of Oxford, Master Edward Ferris, the author of the Mirror for Magistrates, Marlowe, Peele, Watson, Kyd, Shakespeare, Drayton, Chapman, Dekker, and Benjamin Johnson.
The best poets for comedy among the Greeks are these, Menander, Aristophanes, Eupolis Atheniensis, Alexis Terius, Nicostratus, Amipsias Atheniensis, Anaxandrides Rhodius, Aristonymus, Archippus Atheniensis and Callias Atheniensis, and among the Latins, Plautus, Terence, Naevius, Sext. Turpilius, Licinius Imbrex, and Virgilius Romanus, so the best for comedy amongst us be Edward Earl of Oxford, Doctor Gager of Oxford, Master Rowley, once a rare scholar of learned Pembroke Hall in Cambridge, Master Edwards, one of her Majesty's Chapel, eloquent and witty John Lyly, Lodge, Gascoigne, Greene, Shakespeare, Thomas Nash, Thomas Heywood, Anthony Munday, our best plotter, Chapman, Porter, Wilson, Hathway, and Henry Chettle.
So if someone tries to tell you that being a playwright was not an admirable profession or that Shakespeare began writing poetry as opposed to plays because he wanted to be recognized as a literary figure, they are totally off the mark. Shakespeare was recognized as a literary figure because he wrote plays as much as he was because he wrote poetry.
A couple of reasons put Shakespeare at the front of the pack:
1. His art is a performance art and thus easier for most people to absorb than other forms of literature. Donne and Milton, who were Shakespeare's contemporaries, may have been as talented as Shakespeare, but to get through Paradise Lost, you have to pick it up and read it, but to be familiar with Hamlet you only have to watch it.
2. He got a big boost from his fans, particularly David Garrick in the eighteenth century. None of his contemporaries had any fans as enthusiastic.
3. His plays were exclusive. For a long time only two theatres in England were allowed to put on Shakespeare's plays, which made them seem special.
4. His plays are flexible and absorbent. It is easy to produce them in new ways which bring out a new experience. They also lend themselves to taking on the attitudes of whatever era they are being presented in. All kinds of people in different places and at different times have watched the plays and said, "Yes, that seems familiar to me."
5. Finally, and this is probably behind the previous three, Shakespeare was just better than his contemporaries. Marlowe, Jonson, Kyd and Webster, among others, all wrote good and entertaining plays, but most of Shakespeare's work is better than their best.
Shakespeare was created by his writing, he left school at 15 and many were very surprised at how succsesful he got, however he was a very bad at spelling, so we dont acctully know what his name was... It could have been shakspere, or shagspear...
but he still got very succsefully with his writing...
he did act in some of his plays but he got famous for his play writing
William Shakespeare
superman
The question arises whether Shakespeare is more famous than Homer Simpson or Sonic the Hedgehog or Spongebob Squarepants or some other person. It depends what group of people you are talking about. Among Americans who are poorly educated and watch a lot of TV, Homer Simpson is probably more famous than Shakespeare. Among some video gamers, maybe Sonic is more famous than Shakespeare. Among the billions of people who are not inundated with American culture, Shakespeare is probably the better known person.
Probably Shakespeare. Just about anyone who goes to school hears about Shakespeare; not everyone studies the history of the United Kingdom.
Sorry, no English monarch was instrumental in propelling Shakespeare to fame. James I did stand as a sponsor to the theatrical company Shakespeare belonged to, but Shakespeare was no more famous when he retired from that company in 1613 than he was when the King took up the sponsorship of it in 1603. Shakespeare had already built his rep by then. Shakespeare of course became more and more famous after his death, but it was not due to the royal favour of any monarch--more to the admiration and later adulation of literary figures and theatrical people.
Shakespeare is not particularly famous for the words he spoke. He is much more famous for the words he had Richard Burbage, the star actor of his company, speak. Although we know that Shakespeare was an actor in his plays, we don't know what parts he played or what lines he had to say. We do know that they were supporting characters and would not have had the lines which have since become famous.
Shakespeare.
None of Shakespeare's friends is as famous as he is. Back then, though, his friend Richard Burbage was much more famous than Shakespeare was.
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare
All of Shakespeare's plays are famous, but some of them are more famous than others. Hamlet is more famous than Pericles, but is The Tempest a famous play? Is the Merchant of Venice? Is Antony and Cleopatra?
I think you'll find that Shakespeare is.
superman
William shakespeare wrote lays such as mubeth and more and also is a famous poet
Madonna of course. Shakespeare of course. How in the world are you supposed to know?personally i believe William shakespare is more famous than madonna
Who is Garfield? I guess someone not very famous.