In this attempt to provide the first complete biography of Shakespeare since the Victorian age, the author follows the course of Shakespeare's life from his birth in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, through his schooldays and his early years as an actor and novice writer in London, to the height of his fame as the foremost playwright in the Elizabethan theatre and the end of his life in 1616. Professor Levi places the plays in Shakespeare's life as it progresses, relating them one to another and to the poet's experiences in life. He places Shakespeare against the background of the Elizabethan theatre, showing his as a working man of the stage, in touch with the taste and concerns of the times.