Hamlet by William Shakespeare More than you wanted to know, but what you need to know.

Learning Targets 1.Know the basic background information about Shakespeare’s life and writing 2.Know the basic background information about the play Hamlet 3.Use the basic knowledge of the author and the play to understand the play’s main themes 4.Be able to use this knowledge to analyze an aspect of one of the play’s themes.

Renaissance: Major events: 1534-Henry VIII names self head of Church of England 1558-Queen Elizabeth I takes the throne 1585-The Lost Colony is founded 1593-Plague 1603-King James I took the throne 1611-King James Bible

William Shakespeare Born in 1564 in Stratford England Moved to London by 1592 Wrote plays for money, poems for his literary reputation Retired and returned to Stratford where he died in 1616

Shakespeare’s Theater The theater was known as the Globe There were 3 levels of seating The stage had no curtain, but did have a balcony area with the tiring house (dressing room)above it No women in plays, boys played girl parts Burnt down in 1613 leading to Shakespeare’s retirement

Hamlet Play was written in 1602, few years after the death of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet Action centers around a young man whose father has died, whose mother has remarried his uncle, and whose been visited by his father’s ghost calling for revenge for the death The play is concerned with the ideas of revenge, sanity, morals and death

Famous lines “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” “Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t” “To be or not to be; that is the question” “I must be cruel, only to be kind”