William Shakespeare is the most famous playwright  . Although he died in 1616, people still go to see his plays. Among the most popular are Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet -- the story of a prince who struggles to respond to the crimes around him. Shakespeare, who was born in 1564, was an actor as well as a writer. Most of his ideas for plays were taken from history, people's conversation, ancient stories, and also from other writers. He wrote not only about kings and queens and princes, but also about friends and ordinary people. He wrote about the cruelty of war and the bravery of heroes, as well as about jealousy, joy, hate, ambition and love. His stories live on. The tragedy Romeo and Juliet was reborn as the musical West Side Story and more recently as the movie Romeo and Juliet with the wonderful performance of Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. He invented a number of great characters: powerful magicians, thrilling witches, smart women and both wise and wicked men. He also invented some great phrases. If you've ever said, "Oh, for goodness sake!" you can thank Shakespeare for that. "To be, or not to be: that is the question," Hamlet says. "Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it is morrow," says Juliet to her Romeo. Don't be surprised if you don't understand everything when reading Shakespeare or watching one of his plays because the meanings of many words have changed over the years. And Shakespeare's characters speak in poetry, so their speeches can be complicated. It does help to find out a little bit about the story before reading a Shakespeare play. It's worth the effort. As Shakespeare wrote, "All the world is a stage." And in his plays you'll find that an entire world is waiting for you. Shakespeare created the following characters EXCEPT   _  .
Juliet Hamlet Claire Danes Romeo