An introduction to the life of the: Copyright © 2011 TES English

NAME:Shakespeare is most commonly used although Shakespeare himself spelt his name in other ways too. He used: Shakespere, Shakespear, Shackspeare and Shaxpere! FIRST NAME(S):William. Just William. DATE OF BIRTH:Baptised on April 26 th, Birth certificates did not exist at the time. Therefore, it is difficult to state his exact date of birth. However, baptisms generally happened three days after birth and so most people agree that Shakespeare was born on April 23 rd. PLACE OF BIRTH: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. SIBLINGS:The third of eight children, though the two before him had died, making him the oldest of six. *  * His youngest brother, Edmund, also became an actor. Copyright 2011 TES English

Just one class with children from the ages of 7 – 13. Children attended school SIX days a week, every week of the year. The boys (no girls allowed!) who attended the school studied Latin – mostly just Latin. What was Shakespeare’s schooling like? First of all, answer the following questions about your school life. 1.How old are your classmates? 2.How many days a week do you attend school? 3.What time does your school day begin? And end? So how long is your day? 4.How many subjects do you study? Shakespeare’s school King Edward VI School Copyright © 2011 TES English

Globe The Globe London,1610 Copyright © 2011 TES English

 It was moved from the north to the south of the Thames in  Most of Shakespeare’s plays were performed here.  On 29 June 1613 the Globe Theatre went up in flames during a performance. A cannon, used in the production, misfired and ignited the wooden beams and thatching. It was then rebuilt.  The Globe was closed in 1642 and demolished in 1644 by the Puritans.  Today, you can visit the new Globe, built on almost the same site, in London. Copyright © 2011 TES English

Most of the audience could neither read nor write, so the plays had to be entertaining or the theatres would have made no money… and Shakespeare was a very rich man! 3,000 people could fit into the Globe. 1,700 of them paid one penny to stand in the yard where there was no roof. They were called groundlings.  This is a groundling’s point of view. Copyright © 2011 TES English

So, how did Shakespeare attract his audiences? A very important feature of the plays are their dramatic openings. Here are some examples: A HUNCHBACK Witches A FIGH T A GHOST Richard III Hamlet Romeo and Juliet Macbeth Can you think of some reasons why these openings would have enthralled Shakespeare’s audiences? Think about the social class of the audience as well as the world of theatre. Discuss your ideas in small groups. Copyright © 2011 TES English

The importance of HUMOUR! the biggest stars were the clowns Will Kempe Robert Armin Shakespeare became so cross with Kempe’s fame (and improvising) that he sacked him! ha ha! ha ha ha haaa! h e h e h e e e h a ! waaa ha ha ha! Copyright © 2011 TES English

… t h e g h o s t i n H a m l e t … … a n d A d a m i n A s Y o u L i k e I t … We know that he played… … a n d h e a p p e a r e d i n t h e J o n s o n p l a y S e j a n u s. However, the star of Shakespeare’s company was Richard Burbage, who played all the leading parts. Burbage’s father owned ‘The Theatre’, the first public theatre in England. Copyright © 2011 TES English

sonnets.com/Images/Laugh3.jpg Copyright © 2011 TES English