Queen Elizabeth I rules England› This is why the English Renaissance is

called “The Elizabethan Age”

William Shakespeare (1564-1612) Lived and worked during the Elizabethan Age

1534 - Ralph Roister Doister (really bad)› First comedy written in English

1550 – Gammer Gurton’s Needle › ripoff of a comedy by Roman Playwright

Plautus 1561 – Gorbaduc

› First tragedy written in English

Three guys who were apprenticed to lawyers and wrote plays in their spare time… they were all roommates, too!› Thomas Kyd

Wrote The Spanish Tragedy

› John Lyly Wrote pastorales

› Christopher Marlowe Died in a barroom brawl Just as popular as Shakespeare at the time

Tambourlaine I and II Doctor Faustus

› STILL POPULAR TODAY! Edward II

› Considered to be his best show› Reads like good Shakespeare

The Jew of Malta› Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice might

have been a rip-off of this show

Oldest of six – father was the High Baliff of Stratford-upon-Avon

1582 – got a license to marry quickly› Wife Anne Hathaway was 26, William was

18› Daughter Susannah was born 8 months

later› Later had twins Judith and Hamnet

Hamnet dies at age 11, William never recovers

Mostly made his living as an actor, not a playwright… (playwrights were not paid well back then, but actors were.)

Became 1/10th owner of the Globe Theatre

Wrote plays from 1590 to 1613, though his last few plays may have been co-written by a guy named Fletcher

Died 1616 in Stratford-upon-Avon 1623 – First folio is printed

› A folio is a collection of plays

Early Period – 10 plays› Richard III› Romeo & Juliet› Taming of the Shrew

Comedy/History Period – 11 plays› Merchant of Venice› Much Ado About Nothing› Henry IV cycle (three plays long)

Tragedy Period – 12 plays› Hamlet› Othello› King Lear› MacBeth (The Scottish Play)

Romance Period – 4 plays› Semeline› Winter’s Tale› The Tempest› Pericles

Tragedies (13)› Hamlet› Othello

Histories (10)› Only considered History play if it is about

English History› Richard III

Comedy/Pastorale (14)› A Midsummer Night’s Dream› Much Ado About Nothing

He followed the “rules” of writing a play, and was mad that Shakespeare didn’t, but was still more popular.

Is the reason that we have Shakespeare’s plays today – it was Johnson’s idea to record the scripts instead of throwing them away after the show was over.

Wrote Every Man In His Humour› Each character centered in one

Humour

Tell me what is the setting for your scene? (Context)

What is your character trying to get out of this scene? (Objective)

What is being talked about in your scene? (Dialogue)

What is your character not saying out loud? (Subtext)

DUE MONDAY