1.  400 years on, do you think it’s still valuable to read, perform, watch, and study Shakespeare’s works? Why or why not?  Describe your experiences with Shakespeare so far in life? How’s it been?  Any thoughts, fears, hopes about reading Richard III…Shakespeare generally?

2.  Belongs to the genre of Shakespeare’s plays known as the histories which deal with events in England’s historical past after the Norman Conquest, in 1066.  Although it is often viewed as a sequel to three of Shakespeare’s earlier history plays— 1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, and 3 Henry VII—Richard III is usually read and performed on its own.

3.  The play chronicles the bloody deeds and atrocities perpetrated by its central figure—the murderous and tyrannical King Richard III.  Richard invites an eerie fascination, and generations of readers have found themselves seduced by his brilliance with words and his persuasive emotional manipulations even as they are repelled by his evil.

4.  For a number of decades in the late fifteenth century, England’s royal family was locked in a power struggle that periodically erupted into violence. Historians have labelled this battle the Wars of the Roses, after the family symbols of the two contending groups: the Lancaster family, symbolized by a red rose, and the York family, symbolized by a white one.

5.  When the action of Richard III begins, Edward IV and his brothers have overthrown the Lancastrians, but Edward is growing older and is often sick. His malicious and slightly deformed younger brother, Richard, is power-hungry and is plotting to get his hands on the throne. However, a great many people stand between him and the kingship. For example, even when King Edward himself dies, he will leave behind two sons who are in line for the throne: the young Prince Edward, the crown prince, and his brother, the young duke of York. Fortunately for Richard’s purposes, they are still children, and they meet their final fate as the unfortunate “princes in the Tower.” The mother of the princes is Queen Elizabeth, of the Woodeville family, and she has powerful and intelligent kinsmen who will try to protect her and her children, thus making the queen’s kin yet another threat to Richard. The royal couple also has a daughter, young Elizabeth, who will later become an important pawn in royal marriage negotiations.

6. After a long civil war between the royal family of York and the royal family of Lancaster, England enjoys a period of peace under King Edward IV and the victorious Yorks. But Edward’s younger brother, Richard, resents Edward’s power and the happiness of those around him. Malicious, power-hungry, and bitter about his physical deformity, Richard begins to aspire secretly to the throne—and decides to kill anyone he has to in order to become king.

7. Using his intelligence and his skills of deception and political manipulation, Richard begins his campaign for the throne. He manipulates a noblewoman, Lady Anne, into marrying him—even though she knows that he murdered her first husband. He has his own older brother, Clarence, executed, and shifts the burden of guilt onto his sick older brother King Edward in order to accelerate Edward’s illness and death. After King Edward dies, Richard becomes lord protector of England—the figure in charge until the elder of Edward’s two sons grows up.

9. Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English.” Old English is the language of Beowulf:Beowulf Hwaet! We Gardena in geardagum Þeodcyninga Þrym gefrunon Hu ða æÞelingas ellen fremedon! (Hey! We have heard of the glory of the Spear- Danes in the old days, the kings of tribes, how noble princes showed great courage!)

10. Shakespeare did not write in “Middle English.” Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the author of The Canterbury Tales: Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

11. Original Middle English:  Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Modern Translation  When fair April with his showers sweet, Has pierced the drought of March to the root's feet And bathed each vein in liquid of such power, Its strength creates the newly springing flower; http://www.breme.demon.co.uk/chaucer.htm

12. Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern English.” EME was not very different from “Modern English,” except that it had some old holdovers. The Shakespeare Glossary http://www.bardweb.net/grammar/04gloss.html

13. We speak in prose (language without metrical structure).  Shakespeare wrote both prose and poetry (verse).  To understand his poetry, we need to understand these terms: Blank Verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter. Iambic Pentameter: five beats of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables; ten syllables per line.

14.  Again, for the sake of his poetry, Shakespeare often left out letters, syllables, and whole words. These omissions really aren't that much different from the way we speak today. We say: "Been to class yet?" "No. Heard Miss T’s givin' a test." "Wha'sup wi'that?“ We leave out words and parts of words to speed up our speech. If we were speaking in complete sentences, we would say: "Have you been to class yet?" "No, I have not been to class. I heard that Ms. Torresani is giving a test today." "What is up with that?"

15.  A few examples of Shakespearean omissions/contractions follow: 'tis ~ it is ope ~ open o'er ~ over gi' ~ give ne'er ~ never i' ~ in e'er ~ ever oft ~ often e'en ~ even

16.  Grammatical Shifts: “One thing to rejoice and solace in”  Archaic words / Phrases: “Yet doth beauty, like a dial hand…”  Current words with older meanings: “A couch for … damned incest!”

17. …just close enough to what we use to be confusing.

18.  Present Tense:  Past Tense: NowYou...arehavewillcanshalldo ThenThou…arthastwiltcanstshaltdost NowYou...werehadwouldcouldshoulddid ThenThou…wasthadstwouldstcouldstshouldstdidst

19.  Inflections: - 3 rd Person Singular: -th, not –s (eg: “she giveth,” not “she gives”) - 2 nd Person Familiar: add –est, -st, ‘st (eg: “you givest,” not “you give”)

20. Shakespeare coined many words we still use today: Critical Majestic Dwindle Fashionable Embrace (as a noun) Vulnerable

21. one fell swoop flesh and blood vanish into thin air pomp and circumstance seen better days a sorry sight neither rhyme nor reason full circle dead as a doornail for goodness sake green-eyed monster

22. Unlocking Shakespeare's Language, by Randal Robinson  Unusual Word Arrangements I ate the sandwich. I the sandwich ate. Ate the sandwich I. Ate I the sandwich. The sandwich I ate. The sandwich ate I. Robinson shows us that these four words can create six unique sentences which carry the same meaning. Locate the subject, verb, and the object of the sentence. Notice that the object of the sentence is often placed at the beginning (the sandwich) in front of the verb (ate) and subject (I). Rearrange the words in the order that makes the most sense to you (I ate the sandwich).

23.  1. Read the entire line or read in chunks! Follow Punctuation!: A line refers to the entire section of speaking from a character. In cases of long speeches, break the line into smaller sections.  2. Define Difficult Words: use a dictionary or foot notes to find out the meaning of words you don’t know or aren’t sure of.  3. Read footnotes to help you understand old figures of speech and allusions.  4. Re-write in your own words: Either a) condense it into a shortened form or b) keep it as long as the original line.

24.  Soliloquy- an extended speech, directed to the audience rather than to other characters, in which the speaker explores their thoughts and feelings.  Monologue - an extended speech, directed to the characters…  Aside- Words an actor speaks to the audience which other actors on the stage cannot hear. Sometimes the actor cups his mouth toward the audience or turns away from the other actors. An aside serves to reveal a character's thoughts or concerns to the audience without revealing them to other characters in a play.

25.  In groups of 2-3, attempt to paraphrase 1 famous Shakespearean soliloquy.  We will explain the speech to the class when you are done…

26. Read and take notes: Reading Shakespeare’s Language: Richard III (xvii-xxvii) Read and annotate: Richard III Act 1 Scenes 1-2 (2-3 Annotations per scene!) Due Monday 10/3