Shakespeare Introduction Grade 10 English

Shakespeare’s Life Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire Baptized on 26 April 1564 Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway Was working on plays and sonnets in London by 1592 Died in 1616 36 of his plays published for the first time in The First Folio in 1623

Family Life Father - John Shakespeare glovemaker and wool merchant Mother - Mary Arden, daughter of well-to-do local landowner Wife - Anne Hathaway was 12 years older and four months pregnant at the wedding Children - Susanna (1583 - 1589), twins Judith (1585 - 1592) Hamnet (1585 - 1596) Family lived in Stratford, Shakespeare lived in London except for last five years of his life when they were together

Professional Life FACTS He wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets in London - first documented play in 1594 Two of his sonnets were written with the patronage of Henry Wriothesley He acted with and wrote for the troupe The Lord Chamberlain’s Men which changed names to The King’s Men in 1603 when King James ascended the throne He and members of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men built the Globe Theater in 1599, which burnt down in 1613 and was rebuilt in 1614

Shakespeare wrote HISTORIES, TRAGEDIES, AND ROMANCES Historical Guesses: (No one knows exactly when Shakespeare wrote anything, but based on the little information available, the time line of some of his plays are thought to be) 1589 - first play is Henry IV Part One 1590-91 - Henry IV Parts II and III 1593 - Two Gentlemen of Verona 1594 - Taming of the Shrew 1595 - Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer’s Night Dream 1605 - Macbeth, King Lear (To honor King James) 1610 - Othello 1611 - The Tempest

Performing a Shakespearean Play Protestant Church, City officials opposed theaters due to crime, bawdy subject matter, fighting, drinking, and up to 3,000 people in one place to spread Bubonic Plague Theaters also used for bear-baiting and gambling 1596 Plague caused London to ban all public plays and Theatres within the City limits All actors were men because theaters too disreputable for women Little emphasis on scenery, more attention on costumes, though most were contemporary due to cost Much of the audience watched from the ‘pit’ as groundlings - poor workers who went for the entertainment of alcohol, fights, prostitution, and lewd subject matter of the plays. Often threw food at the actors onstage.

Importance to English Over 12,000 words entered English between 1500 - 1650 Shakespeare’s plays show the first recorded use of 2,035 new English words Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear have one ‘new’ word every 2.5 lines He created: “antipathy, critical, frugal, dwindle, extract, horrid, vast, hereditary, critical, excellent, eventful, assassination, lonely, leapfrog, indistinguishable, well-read, and countless others (including countless)” (Bryson loc. 1396-1406).

Shakespeare’s English Continued The following phrases were coined by Shakespeare. What do they mean and how do we use them today? A laughing stock (The Merry Wives of Windsor) A sorry sight (Macbeth) As dead as a doornail (Henry VI) Eaten out of house and home (Henry V, Part 2) Fair play (The Tempest) I will wear my heart upon my sleeve (Othello) In a pickle (The Tempest) In stitches (Twelfth Night) In the twinkling of an eye (The Merchant Of Venice) Mum's the word (Henry VI, Part 2) Neither here nor there (Othello) Send him packing (Henry IV) Set your teeth on edge (Henry IV) There's method in my madness (Hamlet) Too much of a good thing (As You Like It) Vanish into thin air (Othello)

Shakespearean plays ARE NOT written in Old English Myth Shakespearean plays ARE NOT written in Old English From “King Lear” Old English Thou changed and self-cover'd thing, for shame, Be-monster not thy feature. Were't my fitness To let these hands obey my blood God wolde þa fandian Abrahames gehiersumnesse and clipode his naman and cwæþ him þus to

Works Cited Absolute Shakespeare, Shakespeare Timeline. Absoluteshakespeare.com, 2005. Web. 3 January 2010. BBC. BBC Historic-Figures, William Shakespeare. BBC, MMX, n.d. Web. 3 January 2010. Bryson, Bill. Shakespeare, The World as Stage (Kindle Edition). Amazon, 2007. Ebook. The Elizabethan Era. Elizabethan Era, n.d. Web. 3 January 2010 The Folger Shakespeare Library. The Folger Institute, n.d. Web. 3 January, 2010. Jamieson, Lee. Common Phrases Invented by Shakespeare. About.com Guide, n.d. Web. 3 January 2010. Plowright, Teresa. Globe Theater. About.com Gude, n.d. Web. 3 January 2010. Shakespeare for Children. Squidoo, 2010. Web. 3 January 2010.