2.  1563 – 1616  Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in English Literature.  Lived at Stratford-Upon Avon in England  He was born and died on the same day.  He married Anne Hathaway, a woman eight years his senior.  Shakespeare wrote 37 Plays and about 154 Sonnets.  His plays can be classified as Comedies, Tragedies, and Histories.

4.  He fathered three children: Susanna and twins, Hamnet and Judeth.  His greatest writing period was between 1600 and 1611. Hamlet was written about 1601.

5. Shakespeare even penned a poem for his own grave.

6.  Shakespeare started his career as an actor.  He worked with a troupe known as Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later known as The King’s Men).  He was the principal playwright for the troupe.  Then, in 1599, Lord Chamberlain’s Men came together to build The Globe.

7.  Plays were performed for the general public.  The theater did not have a roof; therefore, plays were performed in the open air.  No artificial lighting was used and rude mechanicals (the most basic prop forms) were employed.  A different color flag flew atop the theater indicating the play to be performed. A red flag indicated a history play. A white flag indicated a comedy. A black flag indicated a tragedy.  The stage consisted of a trap door from which ghosts would arise and a second-level gallery that served as the “heavens” or a balcony.  The costumes were elaborate and expensive.  All actors were male.  Young boys whose voices had not changed played the roles of women.

9.  The theater consisted of a courtyard surrounded by three levels of galleries.  Groundlings (the lower class or poor people of the time) stood to watch the play in the courtyard.  Groundlings would often yell at the actors on stage. Some even threw things. It was a theater based on much more interaction than today’s theater.  The wealthy sat in the galleries. The higher one’s gallery seat, the higher his or her social class.

10.  Remember, only the wealthy were literate at this time, so many spectators may not have understood content of the plays.

11.  A Shakespearean Tragedy follows the basic plot structure according to Freytag’s Pyramid: Inciting Incident (Exposition), Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.

13.  Plot: The sequence of events in a literary work  Exposition:The general atmosphere, time, place, main characters, and opening conditions of the play.  Conflict: A struggle between opposing forces within a literary work.  Crisis: This is the point where the protagonist’s situation will either get better or worsen.  Climax: This is the story’s turning point.  Resolution: The end of the central conflict.

14.  A Tragedy is a drama where the central character suffers a disaster or great misfortune. In many cases, a downfall is the result of fate, a character flaw, or a combination of the two.

15.  The writing is a combination of both prose and poetry. Higher social classes speak in prose to reveal education. Lower social classes speak in poetic form to reveal illiterate nature.

16.  Round Character: This character has many traits, much like a real person.  Static Character: This character is unchanging throughout the work.  Flat Character: This character embodies a single trait throughout the entire work.  Dynamic Character: This character changes throughout the literary work.  Monologue: This occurs when a character speaks on stage for an extended period of time. Other characters will also be on stage.  Soliloquy: This occurs when a character speaks alone on stage. This is typically a long speech which expresses the thoughts of the character.  Aside: This occurs when words are spoken in an undertone and are not meant to be heard by all characters on stage.