Module 3　Literature

　　在英国乃至世界文学史上，莎士比亚都有举足轻重的地位，下面让我们走进他的文学世界。

　　William Shakespeare

　　Of all the famous English writers，probably the best known is William Shakespeare.

　　He was born in Stratford­upon­Avon in 1564 on April 23rd.His father was an important man in town so Shakespeare had a good upbringing.Shakespeare probably went to school (although no records survive to prove this)but not university.He got married when he was 18 to Anne Hathaway and the couple had 3 children.

　　Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets (a sonnet is a kind of poem)．He began working in his hometown of Stratford but by 1592 was writing in London.He became rich enough to buy a house in the capital and one in Stratford.He wrote sad stories called tragedies，like Romeo and Juliet，funny stories or comedies，romantic stories and stories about historical figures such as Julius Caesar.

　　Shakespeare died on his birthday in 1616，almost 400 years ago.But why are his works still popular today?

His works looked at common human themes，such as betrayal，murder，lust(欲望)，power，ambition and love.These themes are as much a part of human nature today as they were all those years ago and are the themes we see in modern soap operas and Hollywood films.Even though his theatre，The Globe,