Shakespeare: His Life and TimesShakespeare: His Life and Times

Early LifeEarly Life

Born 1564—died 1616 Born and raised Stratford-upon-Avon Parents: John and Mary Arden

Shakespeare• Mary—daughter of wealthy landowner• John—glove maker, local politician

Location of Stratford-upon-AvonLocation of Stratford-upon-Avon

Shakespeare’s BirthplaceShakespeare’s Birthplace

• Probably attended King’s New School in Stratford

• Educated in:• Rhetoric• Logic• History• Latin

EducationEducation

• Married in 1582 to Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant at the time with their first daughter

• Had twins in 1585• Sometime between 1585-1592, he moved

to London and began working in theatre.

Married LifeMarried Life

Anne Hathaway’s CottageAnne Hathaway’s Cottage

• Member and later part-owner of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later called the King’s Men

• Globe Theater built in 1599 by L.C.M. with Shakespeare as primary investor

• Burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeare’s plays

Theatre CareerTheatre Career

The Rebuilt Globe Theater, LondonThe Rebuilt Globe Theater, London

The Globe TheaterThe Globe Theater

The PlaysThe Plays

38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare14 comedies10 histories10 tragedies4 romances

Possibly wrote three others Collaborated on several others

• 154 Sonnets• Numerous other poems

The PoetryThe Poetry

Shakespeare’s Language

• Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English.”

• Old English is the language of Beowulf:Hwaet! We Gardena in geardagum Þeodcyninga Þrym gefrunonHu ða æÞelingas ellen fremedon!

(Hey! We have heard of the glory of the Spear-Danes in the old days, the kings of tribes, how noble princes showed great courage!)

Shakespeare’s Language

• Shakespeare did not write in “Middle English.”

• Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the Gawain-poet, and Malory:

We redeth oft and findeth y-write—And this clerkes wele it wite—Layes that ben in harpingBen y-founde of ferli thing… (Sir Orfeo)

Shakespeare’s Language

• Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern English.”• EME was not very different from “Modern English,”

Shakespeare’s Language

• A mix of old and very new• Rural and urban words/images• Understandable by the lowest peasant and the highest noble

Elizabethan Theatrical

Conventions

A theatrical convention is a

suspension of reality.

No electricity

Women forbidden

to act on stage

Minimal, contemporary

costumes

Minimal scenery

These control the dialogue.These control the dialogue.

Audience loves to be scared.

Audience loves to be scared.

Soliloquy

Aside Types of speechTypes of speech

Blood

Use of supernatural

Use of disguises/

mistaken identity

Multiple marriages

(in comedies)

Multiple murders

(in tragedies)

Last speaker—highest in

rank (in tragedies)

Later Years

In 1597 he bought the second largest house in Stratford.

Shakespeare retired to Stratford around 1610.

Died in 1616, buried in Trinity Church, where he had been baptized 52 years earlier.

Plays were owned by Theatre Company.

Folios

The first folio was published in1623 by two of his friends.

Neoclassical writers of late 1600s-1700 didn’t much care for his plays.

Became popular again in the 1800s. Nickname is “The Bard”- old term for writer

“All the world 's a stage, And all the men and women merely players.” W.S.

So…..

Let’s dramatize Shakespeare!!!