1. William Shakespeare

2. Dates of importance Born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England
23rd of April! known as Shakespeare Day
1582 Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway, 3 children
1589 starts to work on his first play: Henry VI
1599 The Globe Theatre opens up
the plague in London, the theatres are closed
The Globe burns and is rebuilt
Dies in 1616, 52 years old (also on April 23rd...)

3. His work as a playwright and author
37 plays : comedy, tragedy, historical and fairy tales
Poetry: sonnets
Owner of The Globe theatre

4. Important plays 1595-96 Romeo and Juliet A midsummer night’s dream
Hamlet
King Lear
Macbeth

5. Poetry 1609 The Sonnets Sonnet 18
Shall i compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines
And often is his gold complexion dimmed
And every fair from fair sometimes declines
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed…

6. The theatres in the 16th century
Quite a few theatres open up in London: the Swan, the Rose, the Globe
Round or 8 angles with several floors made of wood
spectators
Everybody goes to the theatre, poor and rich, aristocrats and farmers
The plays are played in daylight without pauses
The actors belong in troops, often called The King’s Men, and similar
They are all men

7. Shakespeare’s English
Early Modern English
London dialect is the standard
Latin influences, but also Spanish and Dutch: armada, cargo, dock, brandy, cruise
Italian: fresco, opera, madrigal
The third person –eth is slowly replaced by modern –es or –s:
He judgeth – he judges, she doth – she does
Thou, thee, thy, thine (today: you, your, yours)
Thou knowest, thou hearest and thou sayest not a word.

8. England in the 16th century – the Elizabethan age
1558 Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England
1587 Mary Queen of Scots is executed
1588 the Spanish Armada is destroyed off the coast of southern England
1603 Elizabeth I dies. James of Scotland becomes
James I of England
The plague hits London in 1603, the theatres are closed

9. Top 10 William Shakespeare Quotes - BrainyQuote

10. What connections can you find between Shakespeares work and life/litterature/movies today?