 Do our differences define us?  What are the elements of drama?  How do playwrights use them to achieve their purpose?

 Aside – Actor speaks directly to the audience, not heard by other actors on stage  Dramatic Irony-the audience knows more than the character does. Creates incongruity.  Comic Relief – comedic scene to relieve tension  Conflict – Struggle between opposing forces  Man vs. Man  Man vs. Society  Man vs. Nature  Man vs. Self

 Denouement – closing of action – final resolution  Monologue – extended speech by one actor to other characters  Protagonist – main character  Setting – Time and place  Soliloquy – Speech to the audience (actors’ inner thoughts)

 Born April, 1564 in Stratford Upon Avon  Parents: Mary Arden and John Shakespeare  John Shakespeare: Leatherworker, Prominent Man in Stratford

 1582-Married at age 18  Anne Hathaway  26 years old & pregnant  Daughter  Twins-male died at age 11

 This period of time is known as the English Renaissance.  The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to other European cultures.  The English Renaissance was from the 1480s to the 1660s.  Renaissance means “rebirth.”

And why does it matter?

 Paradigm means “World View”

 Medieval time period is also known as the Middle Ages.  From mid 1000s to mid 1400s  Church had all the control.  Kings and Queens and nobles had the rest of the power.

 Church taught that people were meant to suffer; it was the only way to get to Heaven.  God and the world were not meant to be understood.  Human life here was unimportant.  Taught the Seven Deadly Sins:  Pride, Envy, Wrath (Anger), Sloth (Laziness), Lust, Avarice (Greed), Gluttony

Medieval Times meant NO FUN ALLOWED

 A total change in World View

Rebirth of Ancient Greek and Roman ideas

Human life on earth is important

Maybe God (or the church) doesn’t have all the answers

Delight in the arts and literature

There is beauty in nature.

Human impulses are to be enjoyed.

The world can be “mastered.”

Christianity is still very important.

 Career began as an actor for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men circa 1588  Acting Guild  Performed plays around London

 154 Sonnets  2 Narrative Poems  Several Other Poems  37 Plays

 Tragedies  Comedies  Histories

 Romeo and Juliet  Julius Caesar  And more, such as Macbeth, Hamlet  King James I  Became King of England in 1603  Actor Company changed name to “The King’s Men”

 All Shakespearean tragedies followed a certain pattern.  Both the pattern and many of the ideas for Renaissance drama came from the Ancient Greeks.  Since the word renaissance means “rebirth,” playwrights and artists were returning to the Ancient Greeks and Romans for inspiration.

 Protagonist (main character or hero)  Also known as tragic hero  Noble by birth  Important to community  Hamartia  Error in judgment  Causes the hero to suffer

 Moira-personification of fate  Hero is doomed by fate  Separation from community  Hero rejects compromise  Peripeteia  Reversal of fortune  Action takes a turn

 Pity and Fear in the audience  Catharsis  Purging of these emotions

 Anagnorisis (recognition)  Hero learns through suffering

 Inevitable Defeat  Hero is courageous despite his defeat

 The Merchant of Venice  Twelfth Night  Happy Endings  Usually a marriage  Queen Elizabeth I  Queen of England during Shakespeare’s life until 1603  Shakespeare performed many comedies

 Open Air Theatre  London  Circa 1598  Lord Chamberlain’s Men (also known as the King’s Men)  Performed at this theatre

 Poor  Forced to stand in the pit  Called the Groundlings  Actually better viewing area than seats  Closer to the action

 Scenery  Not elaborate  Balcony  Trapdoor

 Seating available for wealthy nobles  Seats around the inside perimeter of theatre

 Actors  Men and young boys only  Young boys played the roles of women  Unacceptable for women to be on stage  Masks and Costumes

 Not Old English  Not Middle English  Elizabethan English  Early Modern English  Similar to our English  A few differences

 Iambic Pentameter  Iambic –unstressed, stressed  Think syllables or beats  2 beats/syllables per iamb (unstressed, stressed)  Pentameter- Think penta – 5  5 iambic feet per line  How many syllables / beats per line?

 Also known as Blank Verse  Very popular writing style at the time  Shakespeare DID NOT invent it  Easier to memorize  Easier for the actors to put the emphasis on the right words  When Shakespeare deviates from blank verse, there is ALWAYS a reason.

 Word play  Suggests two or more meanings  Usually a deliberate confusion of the meaning of the word  Can be humorous or serious  Shakespeare uses them very often, usually for humorous reasons

 A man rushed into a busy doctor's office and shouted, "Doctor! I think I'm shrinking!" The doctor calmly responded, "Now, settle down. You'll just have to be a little patient.”  What did one plate say to the other plate? Lunch is on me!  Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

 Invented Many Words  Majestic, Critical, Dwindle  Coined Many Phrases  One fell swoop  Flesh and blood  Vanish into thin air

 Aside – Actor speaks directly to the audience, not heard by other actors on stage  Climax – Turning point in the action  Comic Relief – comedic scene to relieve tension  Conflict – Struggle between opposing forces  Man vs. Man  Man vs. Society  Man vs. Nature  Man vs. Self

 Denouement – closing of action – final resolution  Monologue – Speech by one actor  Protagonist – main character  Setting – Time and place  Soliloquy – Speech to the audience (actors’ inner thoughts)