Shakespeare His Life and Times Early Life Born

Shakespeare: His Life and Times

Early Life Born 1564—died 1616 Exact birthdate unknown Baptism dates, not birthdate, recorded Stratford-upon-Avon Parents: John and Mary Arden Shakespeare • Mary—daughter of wealthy landowner • John—glovemaker, local politician

Location of Stratford-upon-Avon From: http: //www. where-can-i-find. com/tourist-maps. html

Stratford-on-Avon in Shakespeare’s Time As reproduced in William Rolfe, Shakespeare the Boy (1896).

Stratford-upon-Avon Today From Stratford’s web site: http: //www. stratford-upon-avon. co. uk/index. htm

Shakespeare’s Birthplace From: http: //perso. wanadoo. fr/danielle. esposito/

Education • Probably attended King’s New School in Stratford • Few records of things like school attendance • Father had position in society • Young boys in middle and upper classes might go to grammar school, through their parents’ guilds or a local parish church. Instruction was largely through rote memorization, and discipline was notoriously strict. Schoolmasters were permitted to beat unruly students. • Girls were not formally educated, but girls from wealthy families were usually taught to read and write

Married Life • Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant at the time with their first daughter • Anne was 26, William was 18 • More controversial that William was 18 than that Anne was pregnant • People wed in mid to late 20 s • Had twins in 1585 • Sometime between 1585 -1592, he moved to London and began working in theatre.

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage From: http: //perso. wanadoo. fr/danielle. esposito/

Of Queens & Kings Queen Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603) • Helped bring England back to militaristic power during her reign • Never produced an heir to the throne James I (1566 – 1625) • Advocated the reform of the Church of England away from traditional Catholic values • Patron of the arts

Elizabethan Age 1558 -1603

London in the E. A. Largest city in Europe Center of trade and social life because of the Thames So many migrants, jobs were scarce

The English Renaissance Economic stability Emergence of poetry, music and literature. No longer embroiled in religious battles Exploration abroad

If you were born in Elizabethan England 5% of you would die within the first week of your life. 40% of you wouldn’t survive to your 15 th birthday. Approximately one out of every 100 mothers died in childbirth. While boys were prized, the birth of a healthy child, regardless of the sex, was cause for celebration. When a baby was born, families might consult an astrologer to determine if the date and time of the baby’s birth was fortunate. People’s lives were thought to be determined by God and could be read in the alignment of the stars and planets. (This is why the chorus refers to Romeo and Juliet as “a pair of star-crossed lovers. ” ) Children were considered miniature versions of adults with no consideration for a child’s particular emotional, physical or spiritual needs out of infancy. Adolescence was not considered a special period in a child’s life. Parental authority tended to continue into early adulthood.

Health and Hygiene You rarely bathed, and if you did, it was no more than once a year. Bathing was thought to spread disease, not prevent it. You lost many of your teeth, if not most of them, by the time you were in your 40’s and 50’s. If a tooth bothered you, you could visit a barber and have it pulled, without painkillers or anesthesia. You probably owned one or two outfits which you wore most everyday. Underneath your clothes, you would wear a linen garment called a shift. For boys it reached to their knees. For girls it was a little longer. You might wash this shift if you had another one to wear in its place. Fleas and lice were an unpleasant fact for everyone. Many people shaved their heads and wore wigs to fend off lice. Fleas were so common, that the famous poet John Donne wrote a love poem for a woman that involved sharing a flea between them. Due to various illnesses and the lack of well trained doctors, you would likely only live to be about 40 years old

Sickness and Disease 3 Main Diseases: Bubonic Plague Small pox Tuberculosis

High Drinking Rate Beer was cheap, so people drank a lot of it to escape their problems Many deaths by drunkenness

Pollution City ditches were used as toilets Butchers threw dead carcasses in the street Garbage was thrown in river Mass graves for the poor

Emergence of Theatre Economic stability = more leisure time Previous popular forms of entertainment were very violent Bear fighting Public executions Illiteracy Theatre was an affordable form of recreation groundlings

The Globe The theaters were closed in the 1590’s because of a plague outbreak. In 1598, the ground landlord of “The Theater” wouldn’t renew the lease because he disapproved of theatrical productions. He planned to pull down the Theatre and sell the building materials.

The Globe (Cont. ) The Chamberlain’s Men found a clause in their former lease giving them the rights to the Theater (the building itself) and the actors dismantled the building themselves, transporting the materials to the other side of the Thames River. • Burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeare’s plays

Caused controversy with: 1. Religious groups (morally) 2. City officials (danger of mob) 3. Business owners (competition)

The Rebuilt Globe Theater, London

External structure Circular Open-air Awning over gallery seating Larger theaters seated approx. 2, 000 – 3, 000 spectators

Internal structure Stage protruded out into the audience The large dressing area behind the stage was called the tiring house

Internal structure The wealthy patrons sat on benches in the gallery The common people stood around the stage in “the pit”; they were called groundlings

The area above the stage housed machines that could lower people onto the stage – called “heaven” A trap door in the stage allowed actors to come up from below – called “hell”

gallery “heaven” Tiring house The “pit” & groundlings stage

The Plays 38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare 14 comedies 10 histories 10 tragedies 4 romances Possibly wrote three others Collaborated on several others

Elizabethan Theatrical Conventions

Theatrical Conventions A theatrical convention is a suspension of reality. v No electricity v Women forbidden to act on stage v Minimal, contemporary costumes v Minimal scenery These control the dialogue.

Theatrical Conventions v Use of disguises/ mistaken identity v Last speaker—highest in rank (in tragedies) v Multiple murders (in tragedies) v Multiple marriages (in comedies)

Shakespeare’s Grammar

In the England of Shakespeare's time, English was a lot more flexible as a language. Shakespeare was writing as a dramatic poet and playwright, not as a scholar or historian. Lack of common spellings Words are no longer used, or had different meanings

Shakespeare’s Language • Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English. ” • Old English is the language of Beowulf: Hwaet! We Gardena in geardagum Þeodcyninga Þrym gefrunon Hu ða æÞelingas ellen fremedon! (Hey! We have heard of the glory of the Spear. Danes in the old days, the kings of tribes, how noble princes showed great courage!)

Shakespeare’s Language • Shakespeare did not write in “Middle English. ” • Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the Gawain-poet, and Malory: We redeth oft and findeth y-write— And this clerkes wele it wite— Layes that ben in harping Ben y-founde of ferli thing… (Sir Orfeo)

Shakespeare’s Language • Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern English” or “Elizabethan English” • EME was not very different from “Modern English”

Shakespeare’s Language • English language was still being formed and standardized • A mix of old and very new • Rural and urban words/images • Understandable by the lowest peasant and the highest noble

Thee, thou, thine, thy, mine Pronoun Correspond to you, your, my People DID use “you”, but it was often considered to be more formal than thou

Est, eth, t Suffix Some are original to people’s speech, others are added for effect Look for “root” word

I’, O’, Ne’er, E’er, O’er Contraction Apostrophe indicates where a letter has been dropped Used for humor and to achieve a specific type of meter

Syntax Word order John caught the ball The ball John caught Purpose of creating rhyme and rhythm

Homework Using your knowledge of Shakespeare’s grammar (and perhaps the insult sheet) write a one paragraph letter written in Elizabethan English You must write the letter in pen or type and print it Should follow standard letter format (date, heading, indented paragraphs, closing, etc. ) Due tomorrow