1564-1616

• Many legends; very few facts

• Born Stratford-on-Avon in 1564

• Married Anne Hathaway 1582

• Three children

• 1585-92 “blank decade”

• 1592 first mention in theater

• 1594 Lord Chamberlain’s Men

• 1603 King James I accession

• 1609 The sonnets published

• 1623 First Folio published posthumously

• Playwright, actor, producer, shareholder in the Globe Theatre (built 1599)

• Lord Chamberlain’s Men a repertory company

• Competition:– Christopher Marlowe; Thomas Kyd;– John Webster; Thomas Dekker

• Earl of Southampton his patron

• Shakespeare an active participant in affairs of the Elizabethan theater world

The Elizabethan Theater World

• Prime form of entertainment

• Inexpensive

• Open air– “groundlings” > peasants– Galleries– Higher galleries– Lords’ rooms (boxes)

The Elizabethan Theater World

• Polygonal – as many as 20 sides

• Yard about 80 feet diameter

• No curtain

• Proscenium projected out into the yard

• 300 capacity

• 1 penny admission for the yard

The Globe

• Built 1599• Banks of Thames

River• Southwark• Destroyed by fire

1613• Rebuilt in different

location 1614 (without thatched straw roof)