Shakespeare: His Life and Times

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Shakespeare His Life and Times
Adapted from http//www.public.asu.edu/muckerrm/E
nglish_321_S2005/Introduction.ppt
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Early Life

• Born 1564died 1616
• Stratford-upon-Avon
• Parents John and Mary Arden Shakespeare
• Marydaughter of wealthy landowner
• Johnglovemaker, local politician

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Location of Stratford-upon-Avon
From http//www.where-can-i-find.com/tourist-maps
.html
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Stratford-on-Avon in Shakespeares Time
As reproduced in William Rolfe, Shakespeare the
Boy (1896).
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Stratford-upon-Avon Today
From Stratfords web site http//www.stratford-up
on-avon.co.uk/index.htm
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Shakespeares Birthplace
From http//perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/
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Education

• Probably attended Kings New School in Stratford
• Educated in
• Rhetoric
• Logic
• History
• Latin

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Kings New School
From http//perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/
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Married Life

• 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.

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Anne Hathaways Cottage
From http//perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/
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Theatre Career

• Member and later part-owner of the Lord
  Chamberlains Men, later called the Kings Men
• Globe Theater built in 1599 by L.C.M. with
  Shakespeare as primary investor
• Burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeares
  plays

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The Rebuilt Globe Theater, London
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The Globe Theater
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The Plays

• 38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare
• 14 comedies
• 10 histories
• 10 tragedies
• 4 romances
• Possibly wrote three others
• Collaborated on several others

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The Poetry

• 154 Sonnets
• Numerous other poems

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Shakespeares Language

• Shakespeare did NOT write in Old English.
• Old English is the language of Beowulf
• Hwaet! We Gardena in geardagum
• Þeodcyninga Þrym gefrunon
• Hu 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!)

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Shakespeares 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 harping
• Ben y-founde of ferli thing (Sir Orfeo)

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Shakespeares Language

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

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Shakespeares Language

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

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Elizabethan Theatrical Conventions
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Theatrical Conventions of Shakespeare's Theatre

• 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.
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Theatrical Conventions of Shakespeare's Theatre

• Soliloquy
• Aside

Types of speech
Audience loves to be scared.

• Blood
• Use of supernatural

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Lets play Shakespeare

• Antony and Cleopatra Coriolanus Hamlet
  Julius Caesar King Lear Macbeth Othello
  Romeo and Juliet Timon of Athens Titus
  Andronicus

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Theatrical Conventions of Shakespeare's Theatre

• Use of disguises/
• mistaken identity

• Last speakerhighest in
• rank (in tragedies)

• Multiple murders
• (in tragedies)

• Multiple marriages
• (in comedies)

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All the world 's a stage, And all the men and
women merely players. So.. Lets dramatize
Shakespeare!!!
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Dramatic Vocabulary
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Lets Review some terms we already know!

• The line What light through yonder window
  breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.
  BEST illustrates what type of figurative
  language?
• Hyperbole
• Metaphor
• Simile
• Personification

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• The line Rise fair sun and kill the jealous
  moon, who is sick and pale with grief. BEST
  illustrates what type of figurative language?
• Hyperbole
• Metaphor
• Simile
• Personification

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Dramaticirony

• is a situation in which the audience knows more
  than the character onstage.
• A character does or says something of greater
  importance than he or she knows.
• The audience, however, is aware of the meaning
  and importance of the act or speech.

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What are some examples we can think of?

• Texts--Romeo and Juliet the other characters in
  the cast think Juliet is dead, but the audience
  knows she only took a sleeping potion.
• Music/Audio The sound effects in horror movies
  Jaws, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Renee by Lost
  Boyz
• Visual Images Take a look at the next slides

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Saved by the Bell examples
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Soliloquy

• A soliloquy is a device often used in drama
  whereby a character relates his or her thoughts
  and feelings to him/herself and to the audience
  without addressing any of the other characters
• Romeos Soliloquy-Act 2 Scene 2
• He jests at scars that never felt a wound.But,
  soft! what light through yonder window breaks?It
  is the east, and Juliet is the sun.Arise, fair
  sun, and kill the envious moon,Who is already
  sick and pale with grief,That thou her maid art
  far more fair than sheBe not her maid, since
  she is enviousHer vestal livery is but sick and
  greenAnd none but fools do wear it cast it
  off.It is my lady, O, it is my love!

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Soliloquy
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Another Soliloquy Example
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Aside

• An aside is a dramatic device in which
  a character speaks to the audience. By convention
  the audience is to realize that the character's
  speech is unheard by the other characters on
  stage. It may be addressed to the audience
  expressly (in character or out) or represent an
  unspoken thought.

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An example of an Aside
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Monologues

• is a speech presented by a single character, most
  often to express their thoughts aloud, though
  sometimes also to directly address another
  character or the audience.

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The Monologue Song
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Lets Review Figurative Language

• Which of the following is not a characteristic of
  a soliloquy?
• It is heard by the audience
• It is heard by another character
• The character relates a thought or feeling
• It is not heard by another character