1. William Shakespeare

2. The Life and Times of Shakespeare! Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon (in England), died April 23, 1616 Never gave a single interview or wrote an autobiography Father was a prominent mayor Joined a famous acting group (Lord Chamberlain’s Men): wrote Romeo and Juliet for this group

3. Family Life 1582: married Anne Hathaway at age 18; she was 26! 1585: Couple had twins (in addition to older sister Susanna), Judith and Hamnet (Hamnet died before reaching adulthood Between 1585 and 1592, Shakespeare left his family and moved to London to become an actor and playwright

4. Career He was not concerned with making books- wanted his plays to be performances Wrote his plays fast (he wrote 2 plays a year) Only got paid once for each play-no royalties Queen Elizabeth I loved Shakespeare’s plays. He wrote and performed several just for her. Romeo and Juliet was written in the mid- 1590s

5. Career Shakespeare started an acting company called The King’s Men, which performed for King James I. Unlike many theater people, Shakespeare earned a good living; by 1599, he owned part of the Globe Theatre, one of the newest, trendiest theaters in London

6. Theatre Life Early Theatre – Being an actor was illegal – Noble men would employ men to be actors who traveled on a wagon – Could not be arrested because they were servants of the noble men

7. The Globe 1 penny=standing spot slightly below the stage, no roof (groundlings) 2 pennies=gallery seat with a roof 3 pennies gets you a seat with a cushion!

8. The Globe Actors Leading men No women – Boys who did not hit puberty…got fired after voice changed – Women had less lines because the children played the roles

9. Play types-Comedy The thinking person’s response to an experience About social groups and types-characters should not develop When the funny runs out, or a character changes, he usually dies Popular trends-mistaken identity, randomness, surprise Greek comedies end happily English comedies end in marriage

10. Play types-Tragedy Records the responses of a person with feelings Shows great strength, high degree of character development Focuses on one character, usually named in the title English tradition says they must end in death

11. Play types-Historical Contain elements of comedy and tragedy 10 total history plays Covers English history from the 12 th -16 th centuries – Each one is named after and focuses on the reigning monarch of the time

12. Shakespeare today The Lion King 10 Things I Hate about You Romeo and Juliet Twelfth Night O (Othello) Gnomeo and Juliet

13. Literary Terms Allusion – A reference to another literary work or character Aside – Comments heard by the audience but not by other characters on stage. Usually used for the ironic effect Blank verse – The form of poetry in unrhyming lines that sounds similar to everyday speech Couplet – Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

14. Literary Terms Comic relief – Lighthearted scenes that relieve the overall tension in a tragedy Foreshadowing – Literary technique used to give clues that usually warn of bad events to come Foil – A character who acts as the opposite to another character Paradox – A pair of words that contradict one another – Jumbo shrimp

15. Literary Terms Pun – A joke that makes use of two different meanings of a word or of two words that sound alike (soles, souls) – I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me. – Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He’s all right now. Soliloquy – A speech a character gives when he/she is alone on stage. Its purpose is to let the audience know what the character is thinking

16. Shakespeare Plot Diagram Freytag’s Triangle/the plot line for ALL Shakespeare plays! Exposition: Act I Rising Action: Act II Climax: Act III Falling Action : Act IV Resolution: Act V