Shakespeare His Life and Times Why study Shakespeare

Shakespeare: His Life and Times

Why study Shakespeare? Chances are, you’ve quoted Shakespeare without even knowing it! Have you ever said the following. . .

“in a pickle” “It’s Greek to me. ” “Too much of a good thing. ”

“as luck would have it” “good riddance” “dead as a door-nail” “foul play”

“a laughing stock” “an eyesore” “send me packing” “without rhyme or reason”

Even today, Shakespeare lives on. We can relate to his tales of love, hatred, revenge, courage, trust and deception. So much of our world today has been influenced by Shakespeare.

My Early Life- A Mystery? ? ? l l Born April 23 or 26 1564 - died April 26, 1616 Stratford-upon-Avon 3 rd of 8 children Parents: John and Mary Arden Shakespeare • • Mary—daughter of wealthy landowner John—glove maker, local politician

Location of Stratford-upon. Avon

Stratford-on-Avon in Shakespeare’s Time

Stratford-upon-Avon Today

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

Education • Probably attended King’s New School in Stratford • Educated in: • Rhetoric • Logic • History • Latin But was he actually educated? ? Shakespeare dropped out of ‘middle school’ when his father lost his fortune

King’s New School From: http: //perso. wanadoo. fr/danielle. esposito/

Married Life • Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant at the time with their first daughter • Had twins in 1585 --Hamnet & Judith • Hamnet died from the plague at age 11 • Sometime between 1585 -1592, he moved to London and began working in theatre. • Poet • Playwright • Actor • The years 1583 -1592 are know as ‘The Lost Years’ • No one know where he was, or what he was doing during those years

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

1590’s l l l Queen Elizabeth I ruled English explorers were crossing the ocean to the New World And travelers coming to England LOVED watching plays. . .

The Playwrights. . . l l l Christopher Marlowe Thomas Kyd And William Shakespeare was the original “New Kid on the Block”

The Theatres. . . l Theatre, l The Rose, built in 1576 1587 (London’s first “Bankside” theatre) l The Swan, 1595 l The Globe (Shakespeare helped construct in 1598 -1599)

About theatres • Protestants condemned the plays • Theatres were on the outskirts of London-away from the authorities • People who attended theatres included: -merchants -lawyers -laborers -prostitutes -visitors from other countries -nobility & royalty

• No lighting • No scenery-Just a curtain • Could hold around 2, 000 people

• most expensive seats were directly behind the stage • people sitting there could only see the actors from behind

Theatre Career • Member and later part-owner of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men under Queen Elizabeth I • Globe Theater built in 1599 by L. C. M. with Shakespeare as primary investor • Later called the King’s Men under King James I • Burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeare’s plays • What happened between 1593 -1594 to theater companies?

The Rebuilt Globe Theater, London

The Plays l 38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare l 14 comedies § l 10 histories § l Henry IV, Henry V 10 tragedies § l Ex. Alls Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet 4 romances § The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale

The Poetry • 154 Sonnets • Two major poems • Venus and Adonis • Rape of Lucrece • Numerous other poems • Got his ideas from all over!

Shakespeare’s Death l l Shakespeare died on April 23 rd, 1616 Not exactly sure what he died from l l l History says he drank too much wine and ate too many pickled herrings In his will, Shakespeare left money, horses, stables, etc. to his two sons-in-law But only left his wife one thing- the “second-best bed” l Was he trying to make a point?

Shakespeare’s Death Shakespeare is buried in Holy Trinity Church in his birth village of Stratford. His grave is covered by a flat stone that bears an epitaph warning of a curse to come upon anyone who moves his bones.

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. ” • EME was not very different from “Modern English, ” except that it had some old holdovers.

Shakespeare’s Language • A mix of old and very new • Rural and urban words/images • Understandable by the lowest peasant and the highest noble How many words did he use? 30, 000 How many words do we use today? 6, 000 -15, 000

Shakespeare’s Language • • Shakespeare coined many words we still use today: • Critical • Majestic • Dwindle And quite a few phrases as well: • One fell swoop • Flesh and blood • Vanish into thin air

Love of the Language In Shakespeare’s time, everyone loved the English language. There were no grammar rules, punctuation keys, OR spelling! The language was evolving and everyday new words were being made up. Shakespeare’s language reflects this freedom and experimentation.

Iambic Pentameter l l l Is a sound pattern IAMB: one unaccented (or unstressed) syllable with one accented syllable It’s like a heartbeat: ba-bum, ba-bum Five “ba-bum”s in a row make one line of iambic pentameter (10 -syllable lines) Example: he WENT to TOWN to. DAY to BUY a CAR OR: In SOOTH / I KNOW / not WHY / I AM / so SAD

Why go to all the TROUBLE? ? ? l l l Using iambic pentameter kept things moving in the play (like a drum beat) It made the words & play more interesting It helped the actors remember their lines (like a song)

When Shakespeare set his words to iambic pentameter it is compared to the birth of rock-n-roll: a mixing of old styles and new sounds.

• In Shakespeare’s time, you only had one copy of a play, and after you wrote it for the acting company, you no longer owned it! • Scripts were thrown out when they were no longer wanted or needed. • NO copies of Shakespeare’s plays in his own handwriting have survived. The only known evidence of anything in his handwriting is his signature (shown above) on the play Sir Thomas More that Shakespeare might have written.

“Quartos” l l l Small books of published plays were called “quartos. ” The first published works of Shakespeare’s vary considerably Scholars believe these are faulty versions, calling them “bad quartos. ”

l l l The first full collection of Shakespeare’s work was published in 1623, seven years after his death. It was called “First Folio” It contained 36 plays (compiled by John Heminge and Henry Condell--friends and fellow actors of Shakespeare’s)

Elizabethan Theatrical Conventions

Acting l l l The actors were all men; young boys (age 12 -14) played the female parts They were considered “shareholders” and owned stock or shares in the play texts, costumes, and props Their pay depended on admission sales Actors only had about 3 weeks to practice a new play In one week, the troupes may perform 6 different plays (as many as 4, 000 lines!)

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.

v Soliloquy v Aside v Blood and gore v Use of supernatural Types of speech Audience loves to be scared.

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

“All the world 's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. ” So…. . Let’s dramatize Shakespeare!!!

Shakespeare’s Epitaph… "Good Friends, for Jesus' sake forbear, To dig the bones enclosed here! Blest be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones. "