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. Location of Stratford-upon-Avon
From:

4. Shakespeare’s Birthplace
From:

5. Education Probably attended King’s New School in Stratford
Educated in:
Rhetoric
Logic
History
Latin

6. King’s New School
From:

7. Married Life
Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant at the time with their first daughter
Had twins in 1585
Sometime between , he moved to London and began working in theatre.

8. Anne Hathaway’s Cottage
From:

9. Theatre Career
Member and later part-owner of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later called the King’s Men
Globe Theater built in 1599 by L.C.M. with Shakespeare as primary investor
Burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeare’s plays

10. Theater in London Performed in courtyards of inns
The Theater-first public theater-1576
Daytime/open air
Limited set design
Relied on music, sound, costumes, props and great description

11. The Rebuilt Globe Theater, London

12. The Globe Theater

13. The groundling Poor audience member Stood around stage in “the pit”
Women not allowed (had to dress up as men to attend)
Threw rotten vegetables at bad performances

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

15. Actors All men Female parts played by young boys
No actual kissing or hugging on stage

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

17. 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!)

18. 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)

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

20. 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

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

22. Elizabethan Theatrical Conventions

23. A theatrical convention is a
Theatrical Conventions
of Shakespeare's Theatre
A theatrical convention is a
suspension of reality.
No electricity
Women forbidden
to act on stage
Minimal, contemporary
costumes
Minimal scenery
These control the dialogue.

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

25. 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)

26. Life in Shakespeare’s Time

27. Living Conditions
No running water
Chamber Pots
Open Sewers
Crowded
                  

28. Personal hygiene/health
Bathing considered dangerous
Body odor strong
Childhood diseases
Children often died before 5 years
Small Pox
Bubonic Plague

29. Conditions in London-BAD!
Thames River polluted with raw sewage
Trees used up for fuel
Poverty

30. Clothes One set used all year long, rarely washed
Underclothing slept in, infrequently changed
Clothes handed down from rich to poor

31. “Romeo and Juliet” Tragedy Written in 1595 Set in Verona, Italy
Themes: parental control/rebellious teens; fate/freewill; impulsive behavior/self-control