Shakespeare composed his
plays, including the ones discussed in this essay, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who ruled
England from 1558 to 1603, and during the early part of the reign of her cousin, James VI of Scotland, who took England's throne as James I after Elizabeth's death in 1603. This
paper shows that records of Shakespeare's
plays first appeared in 1594, when the theaters reopened following the passing of an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague, which had closed them for 21 months. This paper focuses on the events of Shakespeare's life during the years 1602-1611, a period in which Shakespeare wrote prolifically and penned such plays as "Troilus and Cressida", "All's Well That Ends Well", "Antony and Cleopatra", "The Winter's Tale" and "The Tempest".