Shakespeare: His Life and Times

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Shakespeare His Life and Times
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Early Life

• Born 1564
• Died 1616
• Stratford-upon-Avon,
• England

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Stratford-on-Avon in Shakespeares Time
As reproduced in William Rolfe, Shakespeare the
Boy (1896).
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Shakespeares Birthplace
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Family and Theatre

• Married to Anne Hathaway
• Had twins - Hamnet Judith, and daughter
  Susanna
• Sometime between 1583-1592, he moved to London
  and began working in theatre.
• Member and later part-owner of the Lord
  Chamberlains Men, later called the Kings Men
• Globe Theater built in 1599
• Burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeares
  plays

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Elizabethan Theatrical Conventions
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The Rebuilt Globe Theater, London
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The Globe Theater
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The Stage In Shakespeares Time

• Shakespeare created at least 38 plays, made up of
  tragedies, histories, comedies, and
  tragicomedies.
• A show lasted about 2 ½ hours, usually in open
  air theatres during the afternoon.
• There was no scenery, but elaborate props and
  costumes to give reality.
• Devices such as trap doors and scaffolds were
  used to make gods, witches, etc. disappear.

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The Stage In Shakespeares Time (continued)

• There were no actresses. All parts were played by
  men or boys.
• In front of stage was a big open area where the
  "penny-public" stood to watch as they could not
  afford seats. The wealthy had seats on upper
  levels.

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Tragedy and the Tragic Hero

• Shakespeares tragedies are often called his
  greatest plays.
• Every tragedy contains a tragic hero
• Tragic hero a main character who goes through a
  series of events that lead to his/her downfall

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Qualities of a Tragic Hero

• Possesses importance or a high rank
• Exhibits extraordinary talents
• Displays a tragic flawan error in judgment or
  defect in characterthat leads to downfall
• There are attempts to mislead him
• Faces downfall with courage and dignity

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Soliloquy and Aside

• Shakespeare uses soliloquies and asides even
  though these are not things that are used in real
  life.
• Soliloquy a long speech given by a character
  while alone on stage to reveal his or her private
  thoughts or intentions. (monologue)
• Aside a characters quiet remark to the audience
  or another character that no one else on stage is
  supposed to hear. A stage direction (often in
  brackets) indicates an aside

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• WERE DOING NOTES AGAIN OPEN YOUR NOTEBOOKS.

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Aside Example

• Trebonius Caesar, I will. Aside And so near
  will I be
• That your best friends shall wish I had been
  further.
• The audience is meant to hear the aside, but not
  Caesar.
• What does the aside suggest?

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Dramatic Irony

• Irony the contrast between appearance and
  reality
• Dramatic Irony when the reader or audience knows
  something that one or more of the characters do
  not know.
• Ex In Romeo and Juliet when we know Juliet is
  married to Romeo, but her parents do not.

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Verbal Irony

• Verbal irony when you say one thing and mean
  another (sarcasm is a type of verbal irony)
• Ex When Ms. Hintz says shes happy to see your
  enthusiasm when you are sleeping in class.

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Situational Irony

• Situational irony When the opposite of what you
  expect happens
• Ex. A fire station catches on fire

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Elizabethan England The Renaissance
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The Time and What It Stood For

• This period is associated with Queen Elizabeth
  Is reign (1558-1603).
• England during this period had a centralized,
  well-organized, and effective government. They
  were also greatly profiting from trade with the
  colonies.
• This age also known as the English Renaissance
  is considered the GOLDEN AGE in English history
  
• ----- literature, poetry, and theatre all broke
  away from the past and expanded in new creative
  directions.

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Random interesting things..

• Catholics and English Protestants were fiercely
  opposed to each other in England at this time.
  Catholics made many terrorist attempts to
  assassinate Queen Elizabeth so the Pope could
  regain control in England. Spain went to war
  with England over this too.
• Women were relatively unrestrained, torture and
  persecution were at an all-time low, the borders
  were open to travelers from other countries.
• Travel and exploration were important and most
  new inventions were related to travel of some
  sort.

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The True History of Macbeth
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Sources for Macbeth

• Holinsheds Chronicles a fantastical account of
  Scotlands history
• Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, and her Scottish
  cousin James I took the throne. Shakespeare
  wanted James to continue funding his plays, so he
  did his best to please King James in how he
  conveyed the story of Macbeth. (Borrowing from
  Jamess book Demonology and making King
  DuncanJamess ancestor- look like a great ruler.)

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King Duncan I - The Sick

• Took the throne in 1033A.D.
• He was young, but sickly and not the most
  popular ruler.
• Close with Macbeth since a young age. cousins
• In 1039, Duncan was horribly defeated when he
  went south to Durham to claim land.
• Macbeth murdered Duncan within a year of the
  defeat.

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Macbeth - The Red King

• Macbeth became the unrefuted king thanks to his
  title and his wife (the Gruochs were of royal
  lineage).
• Duncans family went into hiding in Atholl,
  located at the center of Scotland.
• Malcolms supporters including Siward - and
  Englands Edward the Confessor made many attempts
  to dethrone Macbeth. King Macbeth even met his
  opposing armies on the battlefield, and showed
  great valor.

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The Good of Macbeth

• Actually was not considered all that horrendous
  in respect to the time he ruled. He also was
  known as a fair king by many.
• He was the first Scottish king who was a
  benefactor of the church. He even gave away
  money as if it were seed to the poor of Rome.
• alas in 1057, Malcolm III, son of Duncan I,
  overtook Macbeth finally. Macbeth was killed by
  Macduff and Malcolm III took the throne of
  Scotland.