English Restoration dramatist. Rowe's play productions include The Ambitious Stepmother (1700), Tamerlane (1701), The Fair Penitent (1703), The Biter (1704), Ulysses (1705), The Royal Convert (1707), The Tragedy of Jane Shore (1714), and The Tragedy of the Lady Jane Gray (1715). Samuel Johnson's Life of Rowe first appeared as a preface to the volume of Works of the English Poets (1779-81) devoted to Rowe and Thomas Tickell.

French language teacher and author of Observations sur l'éducation des jeunes gens, depuis la fin de leur études, jusqu'à l'epoque de leur entrée dans le monde: ouvrage destiné uniquement à L'Angleterre.

One of the most influential among eighteenth-century writers, Rousseau was one of the period's most controversial figures as well.

French poet and dramatist whose Odes sacrées (1702) were well regarded. He was exiled in 1710 for some defamatory verses attributed to him, and died in poverty.

Italian composer particularly respected for his numerous operas. His best known work is Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, 1816). A few of his other particularly well-loved compositions include L’Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers, 1813), Cinderella (1817), Semiramide (1823), and William Tell (1829).

Italian novelist, poet, playwright, historian, and intellectual.

Characters in William Shakespeare's drama Hamlet.

Roman comic actor; the most famous of his time.

Rosalind is the protagonist and heroine of Shakespeare's As You Like It. Daughter of the exiled Duke Senior and niece of his usurper, Duke Frederick, Rosalind disguises herself as a shepherd named Ganymede.

Especially known for his wild, dramatic landscapes and battle scenes, Italian painter Salvator Rosa influenced many Romantic writers’ literary evocations of the sublime.