William Shakespeare 1564 1616 All the world s

William Shakespeare 1564 -1616 “All the world 's a stage, / And all the men and women merely players. ”

• Born in Stratford • The 3 rd of 8 kids • Married at age 18 • (his wife was 26) • Worked as an actor • Eighteen plays printed small books called quartos • First folio in 1623

The Globe Theater 1599 Burned in 1613

The New Globe Theater

The Plays • Comedies • Tragedies • Histories • • The Tragedies Hamlet Romeo and Juliet Othello King Lear • Macbeth

Characters: Macbeth Characters: Duncan – King of Scotland Malcolm – heir to the throne Macbeth – general of the king’s army Banquo – general of the king’s army Macduff – Macbeth’s foil Lady Macbeth – wife of Macbeth

Themes: Macbeth • Violence resulting when social order is tampered with • Qualities of good and evil combined in a single individual • Seduction of power and ambition turns noble people into tyrants • Internal desires versus external realities

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 • the seeds of discontent were sown in the late 1520 s during the reign of Henry VIII when he parted from the Roman Catholic Church • subsequent monarchs decided the fates of the nation’s believers • Elizabeth became fearful of an encroaching Catholic Europe so she began to repress and persecute Catholics "Remember, remember the fifth of November. Gunpowder, Treason and Plot. I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgot. "

• three British Catholic gentlemen met in secret (Catesby, Wintour, and Wright) • King James promises a relaxation in the anti. Catholic laws, but it now appeared that he would be even more severe in their persecution than his predecessor had been • the plan was to blow up the King and the House of Lords at the next Opening of Parliament by renting a cellar right under the House of Lords • they would then seize the royal children and return Catholicism to the land

• Guy Fawkes was able to fill the underground storehouse with some thirty-six barrels of gunpowder • Everything was set in place: all the conspirators had to do now was wait. • The plan was foiled when a letter was sent to Lord Monteagle telling of the plot • All the conspirators except for one were executed for their crimes • To commemorate the discovery of the Plot, King James had a medal created picturing a serpent hiding amongst flowers • “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t” • The Shakespearean audience would have understood the context and allusion

Elizabethan Belief in Witches • Ghosts, malevolent spirits, witches, and other supernatural elements were common belief • Queen Elizabeth I passed the 1562 Elizabethan Witchcraft Act forbidding “conjuration, enchantments, and witchcrafts” • Belief in witches inspired violent behavior in Shakespearean times • Historians cite that 16, 000 women were killed due to witchcraft accusations • King James wrote a book on the subject Daemonology (Shakespeare incorporated this aspect of the king’s character when creating the role of Macbeth)