Research task 4: Shakespeare Research . . .

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in 1564; little is known about his life, but by 1592 he was in London working as an actor and a dramatist. Between about 1590 and 1613, he wrote at least 37 plays and collaborated on several more. 

Many of these plays were very successful both at the Queens court and in the public playhouses. In 1613, Shakespeare retired from the theatre and returned to Stratford-upon-Avon. He died and was buried there in 1616.

He wrote plays and poems; his plays were comedies, histories and tragedies. His 17 comedies include A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merry Wives of Windsor. 

Among his 10 history plays are Henry V and Richard III. The most famous among his 10 tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. 

Shakespeare’s best-known poems are The Sonnets, first published in 1609.

Coriolanus: Considered one of Shakespear's histories. 

Most scholars date Coriolanus to the period 1605–10 (but most likely 1608–09) but with the little evidence we have, it doesn't give much certainty.

Some scholars note evidence that may narrow down the dating to the period 1607–09. Another possible connection with 1608 is that the surviving text of the play is divided into acts; this suggests that it could have been written for the indoor Blackfriars theatre (which Shakespeare's company began to perform in 1608); however, the act-breaks could instead have been introduced later.

The play's themes of popular dispute with the government have been connected with the Midland Revolt (a series of peasant riots in 1607 that would have affected Shakespeare as an owner of land in Stratford-upon-Avon); and with the debates over the charter for London, which Shakespeare would have been aware of; as it affected the legal status of the area surrounding the Blackfriars Theatre. 

The riots in the Midlands were caused by hunger because of the enclosure of common land. Shakespeare himself had been charged and fined several times for hoarding food stocks to sell at inflated prices.

The play was first published in the 1st Folio of 1623. Elements of the text - such as the uncommonly detailed stage directions, lead some Shakespeare scholars to believe the text was prepared from a theatrical prompt book (a copy of a production script that contains the information necessary to create a theatrical production, it's a compilation of all blocking, light, speech and sound cues; and any other relevant information that might be necessary to help the production run smoothly.)