Richard III (play) "Hamlet" is shorter than its Quarto counterpart. The play is often abridged; for example, certain peripheral characters are removed entirely. In such instances, extra lines are often invented or added from elsewhere in the sequence to establish the nature of characters' relationships. A further reason for abridgment is that Shakespeare assumed that his audiences would be familiar with his "Henry VI" plays and frequently made indirect references to events in them, such as Richard's murder of Henry VI or the defeat of Henry's wife, Margaret. "House of York" "House of Lancaster" "Woodville family" "Richard III's group" "Earl of Richmond's group"
Shakespeare authorship question with such characters as the literary thief Poet-Ape in Ben Jonson's poem of the same name and the foolish poetry-lover Gullio in the university play "The Return from Parnassus" (performed c. 1601). Such characters are taken as broad hints indicating that the London theatrical world knew Shakespeare was a front for an anonymous author. Similarly, praises of "Shakespeare" the writer, such as those found in the First Folio, are explained as references to the real author's pen-name, not the man from Stratford. Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 in Stratford, leaving a signed will to direct the disposal of his