1. The Elizabethan Age and Shakespeare

2. The Time and What It Stood For
Queen Elizabeth I’s reign ( ).
England: centralized, well-organized, and effective government.
This age – also known as the English Renaissance -- is considered the GOLDEN AGE in English history
----- literature, poetry, and theatre all broke away from the past and expanded in new creative directions.

3. The Elizabethan Mindset
The arts became incredibly important at this time.
Travel and exploration were important and most new inventions were related to travel of some sort.

4. THEATER & Tour Troupes – groups of professional “players” who traveled to perform.
Funded by wealthy patrons.
First seen as vagabonds and the law tried to make them stop performing.
Became immensely popular. The miracle plays and masques died out.
Tour troupes received better and better funding as Queen Elizabeth I showed her enthusiasm for them.

5. William Shakespeare ‘Baptized’ 26 April 1564 in his hometown:
Stratford-upon-Avon.
England’s National Poet
At 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.

6. William Shakespeare
While in his twenties, Shakespeare lived in London and was a successful actor and writer
His early plays were comedies and histories. His later plays were mostly tragedies.