Well-known Facts about William Shakespeare

• 1563-1616• Widely regarded as the greatest

writer in English literature• Plays have been translated into

many languages, musicals, ballets, and movies

• Born Stratford-upon-Avon• Well-to-do, affluent while alive• Parents were John and Mary

Arden Shakespeare – middle class family• Mary—daughter of wealthy

landowner• John—glovemaker, local

politician• Most quoted author, other than

the Bible

His Education

• Attended Stratford Grammar School.

• Studied Latin and ancient texts. Translated Latin to English andEnglish to Latin.

• He was never discoveredby any of his teachers.

• All of the teachers of hisschool were Oxfordgraduates.

Personal Facts• Teen father: married

pregnant 26 year old Anne Hathaway when he was 18

• Worked as an actor• Left wife and children

for London stage career

• Father of daughter, Susanna, and twins, Hamnet and Judith

The PlaysThe Plays• 38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare

• 14 comedies

• 10 histories

• 10 tragedies

• 4 romances

• Possibly wrote and collaborated on several others

• Authored 154 sonnets

Shakespeare’s Language• Shakespeare coined many words we still use today:

– Cruelhearted, The Two Gentlemen of Verona– Eyesore, The Taming of the Shrew– Quarrelsome, As You Like It– Dwindle, Macbeth

• And quite a few phrases as well:– “Eaten out of house and home” Henry IV– “Cruel to be kind” Hamlet– “Knock, knock! Who’s there?” Macbeth– “Too much of a good thing” As You Like It– “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” Hamlet– “To thine own self be true” Hamlet– “A tower of strength” Richard III

Shakespeare’s Language

• A mix of old and very new

• Rural and urban words/images

• Understandable by the lowest peasant and the highest noble

Theater in London• Courtyard surrounded by

three levels of galleries

• Daytime/open air/roofless

• No artificial lighting

• Limited set design

• Relied on music, sound, costumes, props and great description

Theatre CareerTheatre Career

• Member and later part-owner of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later called the King’s Men

• Globe Theater built in 1599 by L.C.M. with Shakespeare as primary investor

• Burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeare’s plays

The Globe TheaterThe Globe Theater

• Built across the Thames- “Wrong side of town”

• 1500 plus audience capacity

• Built in similar style to the Coliseum, called an amphitheatre

• Color coding was used to advertise the type of play to be performed - a black flag meant a tragedy , white flag a comedy, and red flag a history.

• Penny admission

Theatrical Conventions (A theatrical convention is a

suspension of reality)

• No lighting • Women forbidden to act on

stage• Elaborate costumes• Props were few, but

important• Minimal scenery• Information given in

dialogue.

Theatrical Conventions(continued)

• Blood and gore

• Use of supernatural

• Use of disguises/mistaken identity

• Multiple deaths (in tragedies)

Personal hygiene/health

• Bathing considered dangerous

• Body odor strong

• Childhood diseases

• Children often died before 5 years

• Small Pox

• Bubonic Plague

Living Conditions• Conditions in London were

not pleasant. • Homes of the poor were small

and dirty• Overcrowding and

unemployment were major problems.

• No running water, Chamber Pots

                  

London 1600• Open gutters, raw sewage, and rotting garbage

was common in most major cities of the time.• Unsanitary conditions caused the outbreak of the

Bubonic Plague (black death)• Bubonic was rampant from 1563 to 1603.• 1592 the plague hit London hard and the theatres

were closed down. During this time, Shakespeare wrote most of his poetry.

Clothes

• One set used all year long, rarely washed

• Underclothing slept in, infrequently changed

• Clothes handed down from rich to poor

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Actors

• All men• Female parts played

by young boys whose voices had not changed.

• No actual kissing or hugging on stage

The Audience

• Wealthy got benches• Poor audience members

were called “groundlings and stood around stage in “the pit”

• Women not allowed (had to dress up as men to attend)

• Much more interaction between actors and audience than today

“Romeo and Juliet”

• Tragedy• Written in 1595• Set in Verona, Italy• Themes: parental

control vs. rebellious teens; fate vs. freewill; impulsive behavior vs. self-control, love vs. hate.

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Motifs

A motif is a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., esp. in a literary, artistic, or musical work.

• Light and dark• Time• Fate

Play’s source

• Borrowed from a poem by Author Brooke-1562

• The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Iuliet

• Shakespeare gave story new life and beauty

Queen Elizabeth

• Daughter of King Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn (2nd of 6 wives)

• Henry had Ann beheaded for “treason”

• Younger sister of “Bloody Mary.”

• “Virgin Queen?”

The Renaissance

• 1400-1700• “Rebirth” of arts, culture,

science • Discovery of “New

World”• Copernicus: Sun-centered

Universe (1543)• King Henry VIII =

renaissance man (ideal)• Reformation of Catholic

Church

Things to think about…

• What would you do if your parents did not approve of someone you were dating?

• How important is the opinion of your family in decisions that you make?

• Does violence solve problems?