Queen Elizabeth I - born September 7, 1533 in Greenwich Died March 24, 1603 in Richmond, Surrey Daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (beheaded by Henry for not bearing a son) Coronated January 15, 1559 Spoke Greek, French, Italian, Latin, and, of course, English. Never married and was nicknamed, "The Virgin Queen.” Elizabethan age was height of English Renaissance in music, literature, military strength Also saw the birth and rise of William Shakespeare, the Bard, and possibly most famous English playwright of all time

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 of his plays published for the first time in The First Folio in 1623

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 twins Judith ( ) Hamnet ( ) Family lived in Stratford, Shakespeare lived in London except for last five years of his life when they were together

FACTS He wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets in London - first documented play in 1594 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: Comedies - light and amusing, usually with a happy ending Tragedies –serious dramas with disastrous endings Histories – involve events or persons from history

The theatre was an open air theatre with no roof. The sun provided light. 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 1596 Plague caused London to ban all public plays and Theatres within the City limits The theatre attracted the rowdiest of the culture. People would drink, swear, gamble, and bear bait outside before a performance. They were an extremely rowdy audience that needed to be calmed and intrigued by the performance. All actors were men because theaters too disreputable for women. The female parts were played by young boys who had not yet mastered their acting and whose voices had not changed. There was no curtain, no torches, and little to no sets or props. 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. Queen Elizabeth was a huge fan of the theatre, which was not considered proper.

Over 12,000 words entered English between 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 The English language owes a great debt to Shakespeare. He invented over 1700 of our common words by changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and devising words wholly original. 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 ). online.com/biography/wordsinvented.html

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)

Shakespeare’s use of language is what makes him unique and considered a poetic genius. He is studied all over the world and he is one of a very few writers that high school classes devote units to every year. So you don’t stumble when you first encounter this language, here are some commonly used words that you don’t see too often in modern times.

Against: for, in preparation for Alack: alas (an exclamation for sorrow) An: and ; if Anon: soon Aye: yes But: only, except E’en: even E’er: ever Fair: beautiful Haply: perhaps, by chance Happy: fortunate Hence: away; from here Hie: hurry Hither: here Marry: yes, indeed Whence: where Wilt: will, will you Would: wish Withal: in addition, not withstanding Art: are Fie: expression of anger (Fie! I forget my homework) Prithee: please Hath: has Tis: it is Thee/thou: you Thy: your **add -eth to verbs with singular nouns Ex: I wilt walketh thy fair dog. ** add -est to verbs with plural nouns. Ex: I will walkest thy fair dogs.

Iamb - a metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable Iambic – consisting of iambs Penta – containing five groups Meter – The measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhythm, syllabic quantity, or the number of syllables in a line. Pentameter – a line of verse containing five metrical feet Iambic Pentameter: every line has 10 syllables and 5 rising feet (the second syllable is accented)

SONNET 116 Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Shakespearean Sonnet – a highly structured poem consisting of 14 lines written in iambic pentameter. These lines are arranged, by the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg, into three quatrains and a rhyming couplet.

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