Merchant of Venice

Merchant of Venice Wang Zhi 2P3(28)

Agenda • Shakespeare • England in Shakespeare’s time • The renaissance

Who is Shakespeare? • William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616) • An English poet and playwright • Widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist • He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"

His inspirations to writing • From great classical authors like Ovid and Seneca, to English historians like Holinshed, Shakespeare's greatest influences were the works of other great writers. • With the exception of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost and The Tempest, which are wholly original stories, Shakespeare borrowed his plots, down to fine detail.

His family and social status • William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden • At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. They had three children • Shakespeare's family was about at the middle of the social system in money and status

Interesting facts about him • Shakespeare was born in 1564 and he died on 23rd April 1616. He was baptised on 26th April 1564 and it is now believe that he was born on April 23rd . He therefore died on his fifty-second birthday, coinciding with St George's Day. How fitting that the great English writer is so closely identified with the patron saint of England! • Galileo Galilei was born in 1564 • Michelangelo died in 1564

Interesting facts cont’d • Shakespeare was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon. He put a curse on anyone daring to move his body from that final resting place. • His epitaph was:Good friend for Jesus' sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here: Blest be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones.

Interesting facts cont’d • Shakespeare uses "dog" or "dogs" over two hundred times in his works. He was also the first writer to use the compound noun "watchdog", in The Tempest. • London football club Tottenham were formed in 1882, and originally named after Harry Hotspur - one of Shakespeare's characters in Henry IV

England in the 16th century • The age of Shakespeare was a great time in English history. • The reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) saw England emerge as the leading naval and commercial power of the Western world.

Social system • In Shakespeare's time there are only about 55 noble families in England. At the head of each noble family is a duke, a baron, or an earl. These are the lords and ladies of the land. • A person became a member of the nobility in one of two ways: by birth, or by a grant from Queen Elizabeth

Significant historical events • 1565: St. Paul's dictum prohibits women from singing on stage and • 1576: Building of The Theatre, first permanent structure in England for the presentation of plays in churches • 1587: Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire on February 8

Significant historical events cont’d • 1603: Death of Queen Elizabeth I on March 24 • James VI of Scotland crowned King of England • Plague • 1625: Death of James VI and I on March 27 • 1639: England and Scotland at war until 1644 in what become known as the Bishops' Wars • 1640: The Long Parliament summoned. • 1642: English Civil War begins

English Renaissance theatre • The London audience had six theatres to choose from: three surviving large open-air "public" theatres, the Globe, the Fortune, and the Red Bull, and three smaller enclosed "private" theatres, the Blackfriars, the Cockpit, and the Salisbury Court.

The renaissance • The Renaissancewas a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. • The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform across Europe, this is a general use of the term.

What happened at that time? • As a cultural movement, it encompassed a flowering of literature, science, art, religion, and politics, and a resurgence of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform. • 1603: Shakespeare: Hamlet.

How it affected Shakespeare’s work • Shakespeare updated the simplistic, two-dimensional writing style of pre-renaissance drama. • He focused on creating “human” characters with psychologically complexity. • Hamlet is perhaps the most famous example of this.

How it affected Shakespeare’s work • The upheaval in the accepted social hierarchy allowed Shakespeare to explore the humanity of every character regardless of their social position. Even monarchs are given human emotions and are capable of making mistakes. • Shakespeare utilized his knowledge of Greek and Roman classics when writing his plays. Before the renaissance, these texts had been suppressed by the Catholic Church.

Thank you!

Merchant of Venice