The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet By: William Shakespeare

Meet my hero: Shakespeare Born April 23, 1564 Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in England Little is known about Shakespeare

Early Life William Shakespeare’s father was a merchant that studied Latin Literature Next, he …

Meet my hero: Shakespeare Married Anne Hathaway at age 18 on Nov. 28, 1582 (she was 26!, hmmm do I hear cheetah…)

Children Daughter Susanna born 6 months later (premarital sex!) 1 yr. 9 months later, twins Hamnet and Judith were born Hamnet died at age 11

Susana with twins Hamnet and Judith

The Death of William Died April 23, 1616 (age of 52)

Meet my hero: Shakespeare Nicknamed “The Bard” which means poet Was an actor and a stage manager, too! Considered the greatest writer EVER by most scholars

William Popularity and Wealth His first plays were produced in 1591-92 Richard Burbage and other actors assisted in the building of the Globe Theater He’s written 154 sonnets/poems and 37 plays

Authorship debate Some people have debated whether William Shakespeare wrote his plays and poems. Some common arguments include: Can one person write that many quality poems/plays in 52 years of life? Shakespeare never attended University- could he have had such intellect? Limited records about his life

Elizabethan England Shakespeare’s theater company, the Lord Chamberland’s Men, performed twice in front of Queen Elizabeth I Women not allowed to perform on stage; men played those roles Globe theater

Elizabethan England- the language Thou & Thee= you Thy & Thine= your Doth= does

Tips on reading Shakespeare: Recognize the layers The narrative story The characters The subplots The language The puns The foils The structure

Clarification on literary terms Pun: A play on words that relies on a word’s having more than one meaning or sounding like another word. Ex. Math teachers have problems. Foil: character in a work whose behavior and values contrast with those of another character in order to highlight the distinctive personality of that character (usually the protagonist). Ex. Bob Ewell is a foil to Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Tips on reading Shakespeare: the structure Iambic- refers to the stress pattern of words; most common in English language– unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. (This equals one “iambic foot”) Pentameter (5 iambic feet per line; thus 10 syllables)

Tips on reading Shakespeare: why the heck does he write like that? The dramatic convention of the day; much the same as Eminem raps in Iambic feet most of the time. Only royalty and so called other upper class character speak in this. Clowns, lower class and “mad men” speak in prose

Tips on reading Shakespeare: how do I approach it? Recognize that Shakespeare is difficult Recognize that his writing is rich, layered and the best English has to offer. Recognize that you need a plan of attack

Tips on reading Shakespeare: recommendations Read a synopsis of the play; (or, at the very least, read about the characters) Read a summary of each scene; then, read the original. You may wish to read an analysis of each scene; however, this may cloud your interpretation. Read the footnotes!

Tips on reading Shakespeare: No Fear Shakespeare Try reading the original play first. NFS takes so much away from play and language. If you are still having trouble, use this site. Also, use sparknotes.com for the summary and analysis.

Tips on reading Shakespeare: there’s no “right” answer You, as an intelligent and thoughtful reader, are entitled to your interpretations and thoughts. Shakespeare’s plays reveal many, many meanings.

Tips on reading Shakespeare: study questions Meant to help you pull out ideas Look for important quotes. Shakespeare’s plays are noted for their universal and timeless themes.

Elements of a drama Drama= literature acted in front of an audience by people who play the parts of the characters Two basic types Comedy- work with a happy ending; humorous Tragedy- involves the downfall of the main character who wins the sympathy of the audience

Elements of a drama Playwright= author of the play Script= written form of the play that contains stage directions and dialogue Dialogue= the speech of actors in the play

Elements of a drama Act= major division of a drama [Shakespeare’s plays contain 5 acts] Scene= smaller divisions of acts; usually has a new setting [Shakespeare’s acts usually contain 5-6 scenes each]

Elements of a drama Stage directions= notes provided by the playwright to describe how something should be presented or performed on stage. Usually found in italics and enclosed in brackets or parenthesis

Elements of a drama Tragic flaw= a personal failing that leads to the downfall of a central character in a tragedy Conflict= struggle in the play Prologue= introduction to the play In Romeo and Juliet it tells the audience how the play will end!