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William Shakespeare (1564?—23 April, 1616) was a Muggle poet and playwright who wrote Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Coriolanus, among many others. He lived during Elizabethan times in southern England, when Muggles as a whole were prejudiced against wizards and witches and often organised massive witchhunts, partly inspired by regal paranoia.

Behind the scenes

• The lyrics of Something Wicked This Way Comes, as heard in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, were taken from Shakespeare's Macbeth. Thus, Shakespeare is credited with the lyrics. Additionally, Harry Potter series author J. K. Rowling has stated "I absolutely adore Macbeth. It is possibly my favourite Shakespeare play."^[1]
• In the 2011 film Anonymous, Shakespeare is portrayed by Rafe Spall, son of Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew). In this film Shakespeare is portrayed as a drunken, inarticluate buffoon, and a fraud. The film identifies Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, as the true author of Shakespeare's alleged works. de Vere is portrayed in the film by Jamie Campbell Bower (Gellert Grindelwald) as a young man and Rhys Ifans (Xenophilius Lovegood) as an older man. David Thewlis (Remus Lupin) plays William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Roger Davies) appears as a bear baiter.
• In 2011 Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort) made his directorial debut with a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, in which he also played the title role.
• J. K. Rowling has referred to the Harry Potter Encyclopedia as "The Scottish Book" which is a reference to Shakespeare's play Macbeth, which is sometimes referred to as "The Scottish Play".^[2]

Etymology

The name "William" comes from the Germanic name Willahelm, which was composed of the elements wil "will, desire" and helm "helmet, protection".

Appearances

• J.K. Rowling's Official Site (First mentioned)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Mentioned on a poster)

Notes and references