John Sartain approached the Fairmount Park Art Association in 1892 with an interest in raising funds for a monument to Shakespeare through public and private subscription. By 1917 funds were in place, and Alexander Stirling Calder was commissioned. The original site in front of the Free Library was carefully selected by representatives from both the Art Association and the Shakespeare Memorial Committee, with additional input from architects Gilbert McIlvaine, Paul Cret, and Jacques Gréber. The sculpture was cast in 1926 by the Roman Bronze Works and dedicated on Shakespeare's birthday in 1929. Because of expressway construction, the memorial was moved in 1953 to its present location.

The sculpture depicts two figures, representing Comedy and Tragedy. Hamlet is shown leaning his head against a knife, while Touchstone, the jester, sits at his feet, his head rolled back in laughter. The well-known quote from As You Like It is inscribed on the base: "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players."

Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).