1. Dr. Ken Eckert November 16, 2018 Shakespeare

2. Why Study Literature?
Process based education and content based education
Critical reasoning and communication skills
Cultural content
It’s fun

3. How to study literature
Critical approaches include:
Formal readings (narrative; symbolism; imagery)
Historical readings (What does it tell us about its time or author?)
Religious, Political, Feminist, Marxist, Reader-response readings

4. Where does it come from?

5. Storytelling: The ancient art

6. Greek Theater

7. The Origins of England
As Roman power declines, central authority withered and Europe broke up into petty kingdoms.
One of these kingdoms was England. After Roman soldiers abandoned it around 400, Germanic Anglo-Saxon chieftains take control.

8. Beowulf (c. 800)
Beowulf is the first great poem of the English language, about a young prince, Beowulf, and his battle on behalf of the Danish king Hrothgar to kill the evil monster Grendel, who has been attacking his hall and eating his men. Beowulf then must battle Grendel’s mother, who is angry about her son’s death, as well as a fire-breathing dragon.

9. The Normans Invade, 1066
In 1066, William the Conqueror, a French-speaking Viking from northern France, invades England with an army and seizes the country. William imports French language, government, and culture to the island.

10. Medieval English Literature
English literature begins with Germanic poems and stories, usually grim and warlike, but sometimes vulgar and funny. Post-conquest poetry, written in Middle English, becomes more concerned with French and Latin themes of love and romance. It reaches its height with Geoffrey Chaucer ( ).

11. Late Medieval English Romance
Medieval English literature was often religious, but there was a popular trend to fantastic romances about knights, ladies, and dragons. Often these romances were bad-quality translations from French originals, but some were well-made, exciting stories. They directly lead to modern romances.

12. Medieval Mystery / Miracle Plays (1400s-1500s)
- Grew out of church skits about biblical narratives
- Performed by amateurs, but sometimes touring actors
- Performed in churchyards or public areas
- Religious themes, but often rough humor or jokes
- Their growth leads to ticketed, private, secular plays
- Best known is Everyman (c. 1510)

13. William Shakespeare Widely considered the greatest writer in the English language Author of 38 plays and 154 sonnet poems From Stratford-upon-Avon

14. - Son of an alderman and glove maker - Married Anne Hathaway at 18; three children - Moved to London around Member of a playing company; part owner of the Globe theater

15. Did Walt Disney “write” Snow White, Cinderella, or Beauty & the Beast?
Did he write his own plays? - About 40 historical documents describing him - Few medieval plays or stories were ‘invented.’ Most had traditional origins
Did Walt Disney “write” Snow White, Cinderella, or Beauty & the Beast?

16. Shakespeare dies: April 23, Retired and living in Stratford-upon-Avon - On March 25, 1616, signed his will with a “shaky” signature - A vicar’s report in 1661: “Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting, and it seems drank too hard; for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted.” True or false?

17. Shakespeare’s 14th great-niece, Suzana Shakespeare (February 2014)
Shakespeare’s 14th great-niece, Suzana Shakespeare (February 2014). They live in Stratford.

18. The Globe (Replica). Theaters were first built in 1575.

19. An Elizabethan Theatre

20. An Elizabethan Audience
Typically 3 tiers
Capacity
Little artificial light
Noisy and not always sober!

21. Many of the stage and acting conventions of a Shakespearean play are still done today.

22. Hamlet - Early versions may have been performed by 1589
- Dated to approximately
- Highly popular for 400 years on stage and in film and television productions

23. Hamlet with Arnold Schwarzenegger

24. Hamlet
- Possibly based on chronicle history of Vita Amleth by Saxo Grammaticus in Gesta Danorum, early 1200s
No surviving authorial manuscripts
First Quarto (Q1, 1603), the Second Quarto (Q2, 1604), and the First Folio (F1, 1623)

25. Central Themes Supernaturalism (the ghost) Revenge Love
Indecision and procrastination
Misogyny (is the play anti- women?)
Suicide