William Shakespeare

1
William Shakespeare

• April 23, 1564 - April 23, 1616

2
Life Information

• Born in Stratford-on-Avon, England
• Background
• Poor fathermarried a wealthy woman
• Many trades and political offices
• Married Ann Hathaway in 1582
• Three children
• Began acting in 1592
• Spent most of career in London

3
Career

• 1594-1603 Lord Chamberlains Men
• 1603-1612 Kings Men
• 1599 Co-owner - Globe Theater
• 1610 Retired a wealthy land owner in
  Stratford-on- Avon
• 1616 Died April 23 in Stratford- on-Avon

4
Language

• Most lines are poetry
• Iambic pentameter
• Blank Verse
• Sonnet
• Couplet

• Allusions
• Juxtaposition
• Soliloquy
• Aside

5
Staging

• Globe Theater seated approx. 2000
• Simple, raised platform
• Heavens
• Hell
• Groundlings
• Simple Props

• Setting established through dialogue
• Costuming
• Cross dressing

6
Comedy and Tragedy

• Comedy
• Puns
• Chaos
• Bawdy jokes

• Tragedy
• Shakespearean tragedy
• Tragic hero
• Tragic flaw

7
Elizabethan Drama Structure

• Act I Introduction
• Act II Rising ActionTragic heros fortunes
  improve
• Act III Climax
• Act IV Falling ActionTragic heros fortunes
  decline
• Act V EndTragic hero dies tragedy is
  complete

8
Society

• Taverns were social centers
• Seedbed for cruelty
• Despised by Puritan authorities
• Perfect reflection of life in Elizabethan theater