Welcome to Renaissance England.

It’s Time!

It’s time to don your doublet!

Tighten your trussing!

Get on your galligaskins!

Females, fit on your farthingales!

Smooth your stomachers!

Remember your ruffs!

Slip on your shoes! And grab your gloves!

Gentlemen? Ladies?

Is everybody ready? We’re going to the theater!

The Globe! Shakespeare’s theater is located just outside of London, England.

A white flag is flying. There’s a play today! The groundlings have paid their penny and are standing to watch the play. It’s afternoon, time for the play to start. The stage is a lower class profession, and no women will appear there. The young men are dressing up to take the female roles. Poetry is a higher class of art than play writing is.

The wealthy are in the upper decks. We’re in for a real treat! It’s good the plague is over and the theaters are open again. The play is about to begin! It’s one of Shakespeare’s tragedies!

William Shakespeare

What do we know about Shakespeare? He moved to London and became an actor, playwright, and theater owner. He died in 1616. He has a monument in Westminster Abbey though he’s buried in Stratford-on-Avon. They had three children, including a set of twins. He wrote 37 very successful plays. Even Queen Elizabeth enjoyed his plays! When he retired he went back to Stratford-on-Avon and bought the best house in town. He purchased a coat of arms to make his family upper class. His vocabulary was huge: 17,000 to 34,000 words! Later it became “The King’s Men.” His acting company was called “The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.” He married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 years old. His father was a middle class butcher, mayor, & glovemaker. His hometown is Stratford-on-Avon. He was born in 1564. She was 26!

What do we know about Shakespeare? He has had an amazing influence on our English language.

Have you heard these phrases? I couldn’t sleep a wink. He was dead as a doornail. She’s a tower of strength. They hoodwinked us. I’m green-eyed with jealousy. We’d better lie low for awhile. Keep a civil tongue in your head.

They are just some of the many expressions coined by that master of language, William Shakespeare.

Now, let the show begin!

Sources Used Fashion pictures from High Fashion in Shakespeare’s Time by Andrew Brownfoot, Five Castles Press Ltd., 1992 Shakespeare’s Book of Insults, Insights, & Infinite Jests, by John W. Seder, Templegate Publishers, 1984 The Story of English by Robert McCrum, et. al., Penguin Books, 1987