1. Introduction to Shakespeare

2. William Shakespeare Born 1564, died 1616 Wrote 37 plays
Wrote over 150 sonnets
Actor, poet, playwright

3. Sonnet Form A sonnet has 14 lines.
A sonnet must be written in iambic pentameter
A sonnet must follow a specific rhyme scheme, depending on the type of sonnet.
A sonnet can be about any subject, though they are often about love or nature.
A sonnet introduces a problem or question in the beginning, and a resolution is offered after the turn.

4. Iambic Pentameter
A line of Iambic Pentameter is a line with ten beats.
An “Iamb” is two beats, or one “foot.”
“Penta” is five (line has five “feet”).
“Meter” is the rhythm of the poem.
A “foot” is made of an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable (in that order).

5. Types of Plays Shakespeare wrote:
Comedies - light and amusing, usually with a happy ending
Tragedies –serious dramas with disastrous endings
Histories – involve events or persons from history

6. The Theatre The Globe Theatre: Open ceiling Three stories high
No artificial lighting
Plays were shown during daylight hours only

7. Spectators Wealthy people got to sit on benches
The poor (called “groundlings”) had to stand and watch from the courtyard
There was much more audience participation than today

8. Actors Only men and boys
Young boys whose voices had not changed played the women’s roles
It would have been indecent for a woman to appear on stage

9. The Big Question
This is perhaps the biggest question in all of English Literature: Why does Hamlet delay avenging his father’s murder so long?

10. Ophelia Syndrome
Psychologists have named a particular behavioral disorder after Ophelia.
Identify the symptoms of this disorder.

11. Death
Death pervades the play. 8 of the 11 principal characters die during the play. How does Hamlet feel about death? Does he prescribe to the thinking of the time (that death is punishment for sin)? Does he fear death?

12. Reflection
Hamlet the play famously contains a play within the play. It also sets up foils for most of the characters, which are characters who contrast other characters. Further, Hamlet is constantly soliloquizing, or talking to himself. Why is the play so obsessed with mirrors?

13. Morality
In Act 2, Hamlet states, “There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.” How does Hamlet orient his moral compass?
Why does he test the statements of his father’s ghost?