ROMEO AND JULIET GLOBE THEATER WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SHAKESPEARE?

SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE 1564 He was born on April 23 in Stratford-on- Avon (about 90 miles northwest of London) He married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 years old. She was 26 years old They had a daughter named Susanna.

SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE 1584 They had twin boys At the age of 22, he left his family to live in London and pursue his career He wrote Romeo and Juliet at the age of thirty. It was based on Arthur Brooke’s The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet.

SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE 1609 He published his sonnets – a series of poems about love and friendship. April 23, 1616 He died at the age of 52 after having written 14 comedies, 11 histories, and 12 tragedies.

SHAKESPEARE’S WORK OTHER PLAYS BY SHAKESPEARE: Hamlet Macbeth A Midsummer Night’s Dream Othello Much Ado About Nothing

SHAKESPEARE’S DEATH The inscription on his tombstone read as follows: Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here. Blest be the man that spares these stones, But cursed be he that moves my bones. He wrote his own inscription (prior to his death) as a warning to grave robbers.

SHAKESPEARE Shakespeare lived in England during the Renaissance. Renaissance thinking placed an emphasis on the individual and freedom of choice.

SHAKESPEARE’S CAREER Shakespeare began his career in the theater during the Elizabethan Age (Reign of Queen Elizabeth – 1603).

THE THEATER The theater was a place where the working class and the educated upper classes mixed – making Shakespeare popular with both the common people and the rich. London was the center of the Elizabethan stage.

THE THEATER Two types of Elizabethan Plays: Comedy a play that begins with trouble and ends in peace. Tragedy a play that begins in calm and ends in violence; usually ends with the death of one or more of the main characters.

FUN FACT Tragedies often included sword fights and bloody death scenes. Actors wore pig bladders filled with red liquid that flowed like blood when the actors were stabbed.

GLOBE THEATRE Built in 1598 Destroyed by fire in It was set on fire by a spark from a cannon during the play Henry VIII.

SHAKESPEARE Shakespeare’s acting group was named The King’s Men. ( Also know as Lord Chamberlain’s Men)

GLOBE THEATRE The globe had no roof and few seats, but it could hold almost 3,000 people because they stood in the area around the stage. Sanitary conditions were poor and diseases were often contracted as a result of attending a play.

GLOBE THEATRE The people who stood to watch the plays were called groundlings – they paid a penny. The groundlings were a rowdy bunch that ate, talked and yelled during the play. They were known to throw rotten vegetables at the actors when they did not like the play.

GLOBE THEATRE

Audiences became emotionally involved in the performances, openly showing their pleasure or disappointment.

GLOBE THEATRE The FLAG indicated that there was a performance that day. There were no lights or curtains and very little scenery. The actors relied on the audience’s imagination. There were no night performances – plays started at 2 p.m.

GLOBE THEATRE There were no female actors because it was considered improper for women to appear on stage. Young male actors played female roles.

SHAKESPEARE Shakespeare’s business interests and revenues from the plays brought him a good deal of money.

THE THEATER The theater was popular until 1642 when the Puritans closed down all theaters because they believed it was evil and had nothing to do with God.

ROMEO AND JULIET Romeo and Juliet is written in Blank Verse – a form of poetry written in unrhyming lines that sound similar to everyday speech.

WORD MASTER Shakespeare was a master of dramatic language and a great experimenter with spoken English. He contributed more words, phrases, and expressions to the English language than any other writer. He coined (invented) the words assassination, bump, and lonely.

WORD MASTER He has been called a “word musician.” coldhearted eyeball green-eyed useless love letter distrustful successful bloodsucking vulnerable well-read

THE END!