1. Shakespeare: His Life and Times
Adapted from

2. Early Life Born 1564—died 1616 Stratford-upon-Avon
Parents: John and Mary Arden Shakespeare
Mary—daughter of wealthy landowner
John—glovemaker, local politician

3. When was he born?

4. Location of Stratford-upon-Avon
From:

5. Stratford-on-Avon in Shakespeare’s Time
As reproduced in William Rolfe, Shakespeare the Boy (1896).

6. Stratford-upon-Avon Today
From Stratford’s web site:

7. Where is Stratford upon Avon?

8. Shakespeare’s Birthplace
From:

9. Education Probably attended King’s New School in Stratford
His school day was long and rigorous
Educated in:
-Rhetoric
-Logic
-History
-Latin
Shakespeare dropped out of ‘middle school’ when his father lost his fortune

10. King’s New School
From:

11. What did he study at school?

12. Married Life
Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant at the time with their first daughter
Had twins in Hamnet & Judith
Hamnet died from the plague at age 11
Sometime between , he moved to London and began working in theatre.
The years are know as ‘The Lost Years’
No one know where he was, or what he was doing during those years

13. Anne Hathaway’s Cottage
From:

14. Who was his wife? - When did he start working in the thatre?

15. Theatre Career
Globe Theater was built in 1599 with Shakespeare as primary investor
The theatre burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeare’s plays

16. The Rebuilt Globe Theater, London

17. The Globe Theater

18. The Plays 38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare 14 comedies
10 histories
10 tragedies
4 romances
Possibly wrote three others
Collaborated on several others

19. How many plays did he write?

20. The Poetry Two major poems Venus and Adonis Rape of Lucrece
154 Sonnets
Numerous other poems

21. Shakespeare’s Death Shakespeare died on April 23rd, 1616
Not exactly sure what he died from
History says he drank too much wine and ate too many pickled herrings
In his will, Shakespeare left money, horses, stables, etc. to his two sons-in-law
But only left his wife one thing- the “second-best bed”
Was he trying to make a point?

22. Shakespeare’s Death
Shakespeare is buried in Holy Trinity Church in his birth village of Stratford.
His grave is covered by a flat stone that bears an epitaph warning of a curse to come upon anyone who moves his bones.

23. Where is he buried?

24. Shakespeare’s Language
Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English.”
Old English is the language of 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!)

25. Shakespeare’s Language
Shakespeare did not write in “Middle English.”
Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the Gawain-poet, and Malory:
We redeth oft and findeth y-write—
And this clerkes wele it wite—
Layes that ben in harping
Ben y-founde of ferli thing… (Sir Orfeo)

26. Shakespeare’s Language
Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern English.”
EME was not very different from “Modern English,” except that it had some old holdovers.

27. Shakespeare’s Language
Shakespeare coined many words we still use today:
Critical
Majestic
Dwindle
And quite a few phrases as well:
One fell swoop
Flesh and blood
Vanish into thin air
See

28. Shakespeare’s Language
A mix of old and very new
Rural and urban words/images
Understandable by the lowest peasant and the highest noble

29. Describe the language of Shakespeare..

30. Elizabethan Theatrical Conventions

31. A theatrical convention is a
Theatrical Conventions
of Shakespeare's Theatre
A theatrical convention is a
suspension of reality.
No electricity
Women couldn’t
act on stage
Minimal, contemporary
costumes
Minimal scenery
These control the dialogue.

32. Theatrical Conventions of Shakespeare's Theatre
Soliloquy
Aside
Types of speech
Audience loves to be scared.
Blood and gore
Use of supernatural

33. Theatrical Conventions of Shakespeare's Theatre
Use of disguises/
mistaken identity
Last speaker—highest in
rank (in tragedies)
Multiple murders
(in tragedies)
Multiple marriages
(in comedies)

34. Describe theatrical conventions of Shakespeare’s theatre

35. Love poem….sonnet
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Gli occhi della mia donna non sono come il sole;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; Il corallo è assai più rosso del rosso delle sue labbra;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; Se la neve è bianca, perché allora i suoi seni sono bigi;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. Se i capelli sono setole, nere setole crescono sulla sua testa.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, Ho visto rose damascate, rosse e bianche,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; Ma tali rose non vedo sulle sue guance;
And in some perfumes is there more delight E in alcuni profumi c’è più delizia
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. Che nel fiato che dalla mia donna esala.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know Amo sentirla parlare, eppure ben so
That music hath a far more pleasing sound. Che la musica ha un molto più gradevole suono.
I grant I never saw a goddess go, Ammetto (che) mai vidi una dea camminare,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. Ma la mia donna, quando cammina, calca la terra.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare Eppure, in nome del cielo, penso (che) il mio amore (sia) tanto raro
As any she belied with false compare she = woman Quanto qualsiasi donna travisata da falsi paragoni.

36. My mistress eyes… The poet loves the woman for her human qualities.
The poem describes the things in nature that are commonly perceived as beautiful and that this woman has not.
The poem raises the question: «what is beauty?»

37. What does the poem describe?