1. Shakespeare, The Elizabethan Time Period and The English Renaissance

2. Shakespeare began his career in the theater during the ELIZABETHAN AGE.
-Reign of Queen Elizabeth ( )
-“Golden Age” in English history
-Elizabeth-strong supporter of the arts (literature, painting, sculpture, theater and music)
-Artists of all types held in high esteem

3. Elizabethan Drama -Elizabethan plays were either tragedies or comedies
Comedy- “begins with trouble and ends with peace”
-rise of an individual
-solutions provided to problems by end of play
-humor, characters who looked and acted funny

4. Elizabethan Drama continued …
Tragedy- “play that begins calm and ends with violence”
-fall of an individual or individuals
-usually ends with death
-realistic sword fights and bloody death scenes
*(actors wore pig bladders filled with red liquid that flowed like blood when actors were “stabbed”)

5. Elizabethan Drama continued …
Dialogue: two or more people having a conversation
Monologue: one person talking, someone else is listening
Soliloquy: one person all alone is speaking

6. English Renaissance -Early 1400’s – early 1600’s?
-movement away from the darkness, barbarism and superstition
-European scholars interested in studying the world around them
-Renaissance- French word meaning “rebirth”

7. English Renaissance continued …
-Beginning of modern history
-Began in northern Italy and then spread through Europe.
-Italian cities became centers of trade between Europe and the Middle East
-Ideas exchanged along with goods.

8. English Renaissance continued …
-The Renaissance influenced painting, sculpture, and architecture.
-Paintings became more realistic and focused less often on religious topics.
-Artists begin showing nature and depicting the feelings of people.
-Humanism- philosophical movement focusing on man, his dignity and his worth (purpose)