1. William Shakespeare

2. Shakespeare’s Life
The man
behind
the legend

3. ENGLAND

4. London

5. Boyhood in Stratford-Upon-Avon
Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon
Parents John and Mary Arden Shakespeare
Seven brothers and sisters
Grammar School from age 7 to 13

7. Stratford-Upon-Avon

8. William Shakespeare’s Home

9. Marriage and Life in London
1582 at age 18 married Anne Hathaway
???
1592 (28 years old) went to London
actor and playwright
first accused of borrowing from other playwrights
Plague

10. Shakespeare Prospers 1598 built Globe Theatre
Owned shares in it
Father granted a coat-of-arms
Gentlemen
Recognized as a genius in his own time

11. Globe Theatre

15. Honored as Actor and Playwright
Queen Elizabeth dies in 1603
King James I takes the throne
Shakespeare’s Theatre company becomes the King’s Company
Member of famous writer’s group (Mermaid Tavern)

16. Death and Burial at Stratford
1610 retired from theatre
1613 Globe theatre burns down
lost much money but still wealthy
helps rebuild Globe theatre
Dies on April 23, 1616 at age 52

17. Shakespeare’s Grave

18. Did Shakespeare really write his plays?
Many believe it is impossible for Shakespeare to have written his plays
Lacks heights and depths of passion
could not learn aristocratic sports and manners
lacked schooling

19. Secrets of the Sonnets 154 Sonnets, 60 songs
Love, broken trust of friend, loss of love, forgiveness
friend, dark lady, rival poet

20. Shakespeare’s Four Periods
First Period- Apprenticeship (Age 26-30)
Second Period- Mastered his art!
Favorite “Romantic Comedy”
Third Period- Problem of Evil in the World
Forth Period- Creates a new drama form
“Tragicomedy” or the dramatic romance

21. Shakespeare as an Elizabethan
Queen Elizabeth reigned ( )
Emerging from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance
Age was extravagant and brutal
elaborate, ornate clothing, language and manners
language was growing fast
middle class (stern, moral, and independent)

23. Elizabeth I Symbolizes the Age
Queen Elizabeth Glory of England
To people, she represented beauty and greatness
one of the most powerful countries in the world

24. Queen Elizabeth

25. Drama in the Elizabethan Age
After defeating the Spanish Armada, England became intensely interested in the past. (Patriotic) Historical plays thrived.
Playwrights were practical men, bent on making a living
Plays were written to be acted, not read.
Once a playwright sold his manuscript, he had no personal right to it.

26. Shakespeare’s Plots and Characters
First reading =quick
Second reading=more leisurely
Plots=romantic, poetic, farfetched, imaginative, supernatural
Characters=realistic, alive, three dimensional, powerful and eternally true

27. The Elizabethian Theater
Round, wooden, roofless building
Three galleries of seats
Pit (no seats) cost a penny “groundlings”
Main stage
40 feet wide
27 feet projection into the pit
Recessed inner stage (curtains and balcony)
Music Room
Heaven and a Hell

28. The Stage Influences on Shakespeare’s Methods
Open, free stage=quick changes, rapid action
Encourages speechmaking, passionate soliloquies
No women actors
Only day time light= speeches about time, season and weather
(Macbeth=40 such speeches
Closeness of different classes

29. Shakespeare as a Dramatist
Objective of Plays= give pleasure
Fanciful, imaginative plays
Audience= everyday people, uneducated, wanted to escape
Wrote in verse=free use of words

30. His Poetic Greatness Most quoted writer in the world
diversity of speech from common men to philosophers
Examples of his Poetry

31. Critics Rank the Plays Tragedies-Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello
Comedies- The Tempest, As You Like It, The Winter’s Tale, The Merchants of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Histories- Henry IV, Henry V, Richard II, Richard III, Henry VIII

32. Test of Greatness
A great play is one that affects the audience deeply.

33. Reasons for his Popularity

34. The Great Shakespeare Collections
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C.
Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery in San Marino, California
British Museum in London,England
Bodleian Library in Oxford, England

35. To be or
not to be?
What’s the question

36. To be or not to be?
That is the question!
Wait a second!!!
To my own self be true
Then thou canst not be false to any man
Be quiet Will!
What’s going on
And it must follow as the night and the day.

37. Web cites for pictures and additional information on William Shakespeare
shakespeare/timeline/genealogy. htm
Htm

38. Tragedy
A serious play or drama typically dealing with the problems of a central character, leading to an unhappy or disastrous ending brought on, as in ancient drama, by a fate and a tragic flaw in this character, or in modern drama, usually by moral weakness, psychological maladjustment or social pressures.

39. Tragic Hero
A person of high rank who is brought to eventual ruin by a flaw in his/her character.
Example: Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his ambition which leads him into a series of bloody and increasingly indefensible acts.

40. Comedy A drama or narrative with a happy ending or non-tragic theme.
Comedy of manners- depicts and satirizes the manners and customs of fashionable society.
High comedy- appeals to and reflects the life and problems of the upper social classes, characterized by a witty, sardonic treatment.
Low comedy- farce, slap stick,burlesque, horse play

41. Catharsis
The purging or purifying of the emotions or relieving of emotional tension, especially by art. (This concept was applied originally by Aristotle to the effects of tragic drama on the audience.)

42. Conflict
The struggle or interplay of forces, that takes place within the story.
The main character may be in conflict with another person, value system, fate or with nature.

43. Plot The sequence of events that create and then resolve a conflict.
Plot movement:
Climax (peak tension) or Crisis (dramatic turning point)
Falling action (fall of tragic hero)
Rising action
Resolution or Denouncement (Point at which conflict ends and outcome is made clear)
Beginning of story

44. Back to Shakespeare Webquest