In London, Shakespeare was actor and dramatist for The Lord Chamberlain’s Men—later renamed The King’s Men when James I took the throne in 1603—one of two predominate acting troupes in London at the time (the other was The Lord Admiral’s Men, headed by Edward Alleyn with financial banking from Philip Henslowe). In 1599, Shakespeare became a shareholding member of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
Between the years of 1588 and 1613, Shakespeare wrote 38 plays. His dramatic work is commonly studied in four categories: comedies, histories, tragedies, and romances. In addition, Shakespeare also wrote several Ovidian poems, including Venus and Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece (1594). Shakespeare is also well known for his sonnet sequence written in the early 1590s which is comprised of 154 interconnected sonnets dealing with issues such as love, fidelity, mortality, and the artist’s power and voice.
