WORLD

Queen Elizabeth I (a Tudor, daughter of King Henry VIII) reigned from She helped England emerge as the leading naval and economic power of the Western World London was the heart of England, the leading cultural center, and where Shakespeare lived and wrote ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND

Queen Elizabeth I firmly established The Church of England (established by her father to attain divorce) She was a great supporter of the arts – especially theater, which was originally deemed impolite, even sinful This is because all walks of life merged in theaters and all manner of story and characters were presented on the stage – which especially angered the Puritans THE ARTS

Shakespeare was specifically affiliated with The Globe Theater (but there were others, such as The Rose) Theaters were circular in shape, around an inner courtyard Those who paid a penny could stand in front of the stage and watch – these people were referred to as “groundlings” Those who paid more could watch from a box with seats THEATER

The term “box office” comes from the fact that those paying a penny would drop it into a box at the entrance of the theater The “groundlings” were less educated and privileged than those who could afford seats – they were often very rowdy On occasion they were known to throw rotten food at actors they did not like The merchant class (which was the developing middle class), the landed gentry, and nobility would pay for the boxes Royalty, like Queen Elizabeth, would not attend the theaters because the plays were performed for them at special halls in their homes GroundlingsWealthy THEATER CONTINUED

Actors in Shakespeare’s time were all male Female characters were usually played by younger men who had not reached puberty – so their voices were usually less masculine The actor usually only received his own lines to prevent the plays from being stolen by other play houses ACTORS

“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances.” - William Shakespeare SHAKESPEARE

April 26, 1564 (baptized) – April 23, 1616 A poet, playwright, and actor – sometimes called England’s national poet, or “the Bard of Avon” He wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long narrative poems, and some other verses – some of his work is of dubious authorship, some have even speculated that “Shakespeare” was a pen name for Queen Elizabeth, who was his patron SHAKESPEARE

He lived in Strafford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire His father, John, was a successful glover, and his mother, Mary Arden, was the daughter of a land-owning farmer He was educated at the King’s New School as a child – which would have taught him intensive grammar and Latin or the classics He married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and the two had three children – Susanna and twins, Hamnet and Judith SHAKESPEARE

Shakespeare died at the age of 52 due to unknown causes He died within a month of signing his will in which he described himself in perfect health All of his direct line has ended – all three children of his only daughter who had children, died without marrying SHAKESPEARE

Shakespeare’s plays were performed as early as 1592 (but the exact date is uncertain) It is known however that after 1594, Shakespeare’s work was performed exclusively by Lord Chamberlain’s Men After Queen Elizabeth’s death, King James I gave them a new royal patent and they were renamed The King’s Men SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

Addiction, advertising, amazement, bandit, bedroom, besmirch, bloodstained, champion, courtship, dauntless, dawn, dwindle, epileptic, elbow, eyeball, fashionable, frugal, gossip, hobnob, impartial, jaded, lonely, majestic, mimic, moonbeam, negotiate, ode, outbreak, puking, rant, savagery, scuffle, swagger, torture, unreal, varied, worthless, zany WHICH ONES ARE SHAKESPEAREAN?

Trick question! They’re ALL words that Shakespeare created!

Shakespeare created around 2000 words – many of which we still use today but some have fallen out of use He created words by changing nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, changes prefixes or suffixes, and making up entirely new words Furthermore, although Shakespeare can be some what difficult to read and sounds archaic, Shakespeare is considered “Early MODERN English” SHAKESPEARE’S WORDS

Beowulf Hwät! we Gâr-Dena in geâr-dagum þeód-cyninga þrym gefrunon, hû þâ äðelingas ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scêfing sceaðena þreátum. (Translation) Lo! the Spear-Danes' glory through splendid achievements The folk-kings' former fame we have heard of, How princes displayed then their prowess-in-battle. Oft Scyld the Scefing from scathers in numbers... OLD ENGLISH

Spoken from the 5 th through the middle of the 11 th Centuries Much closer to the Germanic mother tongue of the Anglo-Saxons OLD ENGLISH

The Canterbury Tales (The Man of Law’s Tale) Ye seken lond and see for your wynnynges, As wise folk ye knowen all th'estaat Of regnes; ye been fadres of tydynges And tales, bothe of pees and of debaat. (The Man of Law's Tale) (Translation) You seek land and sea for your winnings, As wise folk you know all the estate Of kingdoms; you be fathers of tidings, And tales, both of peace and of debate. MIDDLE ENGLISH

French-speaking Normans showed up around 1066 and Old English underwent some dramatic changes By 1350 it had evolved into Middle English, which is much easier but still looks like a foreign language MIDDLE ENGLISH

By about 1450 Middle English was replaced by Early Modern English, which is the language of Shakespeare It is almost identical to contemporary English Certain words are used differently and others are now obsolete Certain words also sometimes held different symbolic meaning than they do now EARLY MODERN ENGLISH

Just take your time! Try to “translate” it into what it would look like with current conventions. READING SHAKESPEARE