The Renaissance spread to England in the mid-1500's. The period was known as the Elizabethan Age, after Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth reigned from 1558 to 1603. She was well educated and spoke French, Italian, Latin, and Greek. She also wrote poetry and music. As queen she did much to support the development of English art and literature.

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William Shakespeare: The most famous writer of the Elizabethan Age was William Shakespeare. Many people regard him as the greatest playwright of all time. Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, a small town about 90 miles northwest of London. By 1592 he was living in London and writing poems and plays, and soon he would be performing at the Globe Theater.

Like many Renaissance writers, Shakespeare revered the classics and drew on them for inspiration and plots. His works display a masterful command of the English language and a deep understanding of human beings. He revealed the souls of men and women through scenes of dramatic conflict. Many of these plays examine human flaws. However, Shakespeare also had one of his characters deliver a speech that expresses the Renaissance's high view of human nature. 

Shakespears's most famous plays include the tragedies Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear, and the comedies A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew. Even though he has been dead for almost 400 years we still see his plays remade in modern Hollywood and international movies. One of the most recent remakings of Shakespeares work is the movie 10 things I Hate About You, which is an adaptation of the play The Taming of The Shrew.