“A Coming of Age Story” set in Elizabethan Times Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease “A Coming of Age Story” set in Elizabethan Times Making connections among: Cue for Treason, Shakespeare in Love Romeo and Juliet

A little bit about Shakespeare http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDkt1MlLd gc

He is considered “the bard” of Avon. William Shakespeare Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He died on April 23, 1616. He is considered “the bard” of Avon. He wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and other poems. At 18, he married Anne Hathaway. He had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Bard = a professional poet

Shakespeare Continued…. Before becoming a playwright, Shakespeare was a successful actor. Few records of his private life survive. This is Shakespeare’s family home.

Shakespeare Continued Shakespeare’s works are still read today because they contain insights about the human condition. “Romeo and Juliet” is one of the early plays written by Shakespeare. It was written in 1594 or 1595.

About Cue for Treason Two young runaways become boy actors, at first on the road and later in London, where they are befriended by William Shakespeare. They become aware of a plot against Queen Elizabeth's life and attempt to prevent it.

The Setting of Cue for Treason The novel is set in Elizabethan England at the end of the 16th century.

Map of Elizabethan England Let’s find North Cumberland, Penrith & London!!!! Penrith = in Cumbria

Important Characters Peter Brownrigg - Narrator and protagonist. 14- year-old Cumberland boy, Kit's friend Kit Kirkstone- Protagonist. Runaway, (not who he appears to be), Peter's friend Sir Philip Morton - Antagonist. Ruthless landlord and conspiracy leader Mr Desmond - Actor Mrs Desmond - Mr Desmond's wife Anthony Duncan - Conspirator John Somers - Actor, conspirator, assassin Tom Boyd - Secret agent

Levels of Social Status $ Wealth from owning land Royalty - King/Queen who reigns by hereditary rights) Nobility - upper social class of privilege (heredity) - power, wealth, title, land (castle) Wealth from trade not land Knights - granted honourary title by monarch; class of lower nobility Yeomen farmers who owned land (Peter’s family) “Customary” tenants or “Copyholders” “Hired Labourers” Poor Landless & Unemployed/Unemployable The Gentry and New Merchant Class -middle class who upheld interests of ruling class; economic managers of materials and goods; businessmen

A Modernized Cue for Treason? “Shakespeare in Love” ??? Well it’s not a modernized version but there are certainly similarities and allusions to Trease’s works! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovAPEY2P4 1Q

Some things we need to know.. What is a sonnet? The sonnet was created in 15th century Italy. In the 1590’s a sonnet craze swept through Elizabethan England. Shakespeare wrote over 150 sonnets. A Shakespearean sonnet is usually 14 lines of verse in iambic pentameter with a rhyming scheme that goes like this: ABABCDCDEFEFGG

Sample Sonnet Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day? Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.