1. A Brief Biography The Globe Theater Dramatic Terms
Shakespeare
A Brief Biography
The Globe Theater
Dramatic Terms

2. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
Born in April 1564 at Stratford-on-Avon
John Shakespeare (father)
tanner, glover, dealer in grain
town official (alderman, and later mayor)
Mary (mother)
daughter of Robert Arden, a prosperous gentleman- farmer.

3. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
Attended the Stratford Grammar School
Did not go to Oxford or Cambridge

4. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
Married Anne Hathaway in 1582
Three children born: Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet

5. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
By 1590, he was an actor and playwright
Leader of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and the King’s Men
Died April 23, 1616

6. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
He was buried in Stratford; the inscription on his tombstone reads. . .

7. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
“Good Friend, for Jesus’ sake, forbear To dig the dust enclosed here; Blest be the man that spares these stones And curst be he that moves my bones.”

8. Shakespeare: A Brief Biography
Author of 37 plays and 154 sonnets
Robert Greene, a critic, attacked Shakespeare, a mere actor, for writing plays.
He acted before Queen Elizabeth in 1594.
The exact year in which William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet is unknown, but versions exist from 1603 and 1604

9. The Globe Theater
He wrote his plays to be performed in the Globe Theater.
The only account we have of the Globe is from a diary of a Swiss doctor who visited London and crossed the Thames River to see a play in a theater with a thatched roof.

10. The Globe Theater
It was built in 1599 and burned down 14 years later in
It was an 8 sided building with a central yard.

11. The Globe Theater Spectators’ price of admissions was
one penny - to stand in yard around stage (these were called the groundlings)
two pennies - to sit in 2nd and 3rd floor galleries
three pennies - to sit in the first floor galleries

12. The Globe Theater Stage 1/3 of yard was filled with 6ft high platform
no curtain
no artificial lighting
back wall had at least two doors
balcony was used for hilltops, walls of cities, or second story scenes.
trapdoors were used to raise or lower actors and props.

13. The Globe Theater Take a tour of the new Globe Theater. . . .
There is a cross section of the Globe on page 428 of your book

16. Shakespearean Drama
Tragedy: A drama that ends in catastrophe—most often death—for the main character and often for several other important characters as well Tragic Hero: The main character, someone who is nobly born and has great influence in his or her society. This character has weakness or errors in judgment (Tragic Flaws) that lead to his or her downfall. Fate may play a role in the course that events take. The tragic hero as a character has become a part of Western and even global consciousness, an archetype.

17. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Contrast
one idea/character or object is thrown into opposition with another for the sake of emphasis or clarity
use of contrast heightens distinctions of character and increases interest by placing opposites side by side (e.g. comic scene just before a tragic scene)
character foils (those who provide contrast, usually to the protagonist) are used extensively by Shakespeare

18. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Fate
intervention of some force over which humans have not control
may complicate the plot but does not bring about the downfall of the hero (he ultimately chooses it for himself by his actions)
pathos/sympathy may be felt by the audience for those hurt by fate

19. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
The Supernatural
Shakespeare knew the appeal of ghosts, witches, premonitions, prophesies and other supernatural events for his audience and thus he included them

20. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Nemesis
Nemesis is the Greek goddess of vengeance, the personification of righteous indignation; she pursues those who have displeased the gods
by Shakespeare’s time, the term became associated with any agent of fate or bringer of just retribution

21. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Catharsis
a term to describe the intended impact of tragedy on the audience; the reason we are drawn, again and again, to watch tragedy despite its essential sadness
by experiencing the events which arouse pity and terror, we achieve a purging (catharsis) of these emotions
detached pity and involved terror that leaves the spectator with “calm of mind, all passion spent”
MILTON Said this!

22. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Suspense
uncertainty in an incident, situation, or behavior
keeps the audience anxious concerning the outcome of the protagonist’s conflict
Shakespeare uses conflict, precarious situations, apparently unsolvable problems, foreshadowing and delay to develop suspense
MILTON Said this!

23. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Comic Relief

24. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Comic Relief A humorous scene, incident, or speech that relieves the overall emotional intensity in the play. Comic relief helps the audience absorb the tragic events in the plot of a play.

25. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Allusion

26. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Allusion A brief reference, within a work, to something outside the work that the reader or audience is expected to know. Many of Shakespeare’s allusions are to mythology or the Bible.

27. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Foil

28. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Foil A character whose personality or attitudes are in sharp contrast to those of another character in the same work. This highlights the other character’s traits.

29. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Soliloquy and Aside

30. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Soliloquy and Aside A Soliloquy is a speech made by an actor alone on stage to let the audience know what is on that character’s mind.

31. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Soliloquy and Aside: A Soliloquy is a speech made by an actor alone on stage to let the audience know what is on that character’s mind. An Aside is a character’s remark to the audience or to another character that others on stage aren’t supposed to hear. The purpose of an aside is to reveal that character’s thoughts.

32. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Dramatic Irony
This situation occurs when the audience is aware of the conditions that are unknown to the character on stage or when some of the characters are ignorant of what really is on the speaker’s mind

33. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Blank Verse

34. Common Elements in Shakespearean Tragedy
Blank Verse Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter. Shakespeare wrote all of his plays in blank verse.

35. Blank Verse
Example of Blank Verse ~ / ~ / ~ / ~ / ~ / But soft.|What light| through yon|der win|dow breaks? ~ / ~ / ~ / ~~ / ~ / It is| the east|, and Jul|iet is |the sun!

36. Hamlet
Principal conflict When the play begins, the old king Hamlet has been killed by his brother, Claudius, who now sits on the throne. Claudius has also married the old king Hamlet’s wife, Gertrude. Young prince Hamlet (the son of the old king) is distraught over his father’s death and his mother’s hasty remarriage.

37. Hamlet
The ghost of his dead father visits Hamlet and reveals to him that his father was poisoned by uncle Claudius. The Ghost commands prince Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet agrees, but spends much of the play uncertain of whether to trust the ghost’s words and eager to obtain proof of his uncle Claudius’s guilt.

38. Characters
Hamlet: Son of a murdered Danish king and nephew of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet suffers great mental anguish over the death of his father, the marriage of his mother to the suspected murderer (Claudius), and the clash between his moral sense and his desire for revenge against his father’s murderer. To ensnare the killer, Hamlet pretends madness. Some scholars contend that he actually suffers a mental breakdown.

39. Characters
Hamlet: Son of a murdered Danish king and nephew of the present king, Claudius. Hamlet suffers great mental anguish over the death of his father, the marriage of his mother to the suspected murderer (Claudius), and the clash between his moral sense and his desire for revenge against his father’s murderer. To ensnare the killer, Hamlet pretends madness. Some scholars contend that he actually suffers a mental breakdown. Claudius: The new King of Denmark, Hamlet's uncle. He killed Hamlet’s father, the old king, and married Gertrude.

40. Characters
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, and widow of the murdered king. Her marriage to Claudius within two months after the late king’s funeral deeply disturbs Hamlet.

41. Characters
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, and widow of the murdered king. Her marriage to Claudius within two months after the late king’s funeral deeply disturbs Hamlet. Ghost of Hamlet’s father, old King Hamlet: The Ghost tells Hamlet about Claudius’s treacherous murder and commands Hamlet to avenge his death.

42. Characters
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, and widow of the murdered king. Her marriage to Claudius within two months after the late king’s funeral deeply disturbs Hamlet. Ghost of Hamlet’s father, old King Hamlet: The Ghost tells Hamlet about Claudius’s treacherous murder and commands Hamlet to avenge his death. Polonius: Bootlicking Lord Chamberlain of King Claudius.

43. Characters
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, and widow of the murdered king. Her marriage to Claudius within two months after the late king’s funeral deeply disturbs Hamlet. Ghost of Hamlet’s father, old King Hamlet: The Ghost tells Hamlet about Claudius’s treacherous murder and commands Hamlet to avenge his death. Polonius: Bootlicking Lord Chamberlain of King Claudius. Ophelia: Daughter of Polonius. She loves Hamlet, but his pretended madness–during which he rejects her–and the death of her father (who Hamlet kills by accident) trigger a pathological reaction in her.

44. Characters
Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet's mother, and widow of the murdered king. Her marriage to Claudius within two months after the late king’s funeral deeply disturbs Hamlet. Ghost of Hamlet’s father, old King Hamlet: The Ghost tells Hamlet about Claudius’s treacherous murder and commands Hamlet to avenge his death. Polonius: Bootlicking Lord Chamberlain of King Claudius. Ophelia: Daughter of Polonius. She loves Hamlet, but his pretended madness–during which he rejects her–and the death of her father (who Hamlet kills by accident) trigger a pathological reaction in her. Horatio: Hamlet’s best friend. Horatio never wavers in his loyalty to Hamlet.

45. Characters
Laertes: Son of Polonius, brother of Ophelia. Circumstances make him an enemy of Hamlet, and they duel to the death in a fencing match at the climax of the play. As a man who reacts to circumstances quickly, with a minimum of reflection on the meaning and possible outcome of his actions, Laertes contrasts sharply with the pensive and indecisive Hamlet and, thus, serves as his foil. Rosencrantz, Guildenstern: Courtiers and friends of Hamlet who attended school with him. They turn against him to act as spies for Claudius and agents in Claudius’s scheme to have Hamlet murdered in England. Hamlet quickly smells out their deception and treachery. Players: Actors who arrive at Elsinore to offer an entertainment. Hamlet asks them to stage a drama called The Mouse-trap, about a throne- seeker who murders a king. Hamlet hopes the play will cause Claudius to react in a way that reveals his guilt as the murderer of old King Hamlet.

46. Are there any questions?