Introduction to the Literature of William Shakespeare

1. Introduction to the Literature of William Shakespeare The World’s Greatest Storyteller

2. “We do not understand Shakespeare from a single reading, and certainly not from a single play. There is a relation between the various plays of Shakespeare, taken in order; and it is work of years to venture even one individual interpretation of the pattern in Shakespeare’s carpet.” T. S. Elliot, Dante, 1929

3. Shakespeare’s Life (1564- 1616) • Early Life • Born in Stratford, England to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden • Father was a glove maker • Grammar school still in use today • Saw a traveling acting show at the age of 4

4. Shakespeare’s Life, Cont. • Later Life • Married Anne Hathaway at the age of 18 (she was 28) (Nov. 1582) • Children: Susanna and twins; Hamnet and Judith (Baptized 1583 and 1585) • Around 1587 left for London

5. Shakespeare’s Theatrical Life • Professional Life • Member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Players • Wrote first plays in 1592 (Henry VI, Titus Andronicus, Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labors Lost). Comedy of Errors is said to be the first. • Instant success with the public (patriotic, violent; he was experimenting) • Theatres closed down for two years because of the plague • Shakespeare turned to writing poetry (sonnets) “Venus and Adonis” and “Lucrece” – only published works ( great success)

6. Theatrical Life, Cont. • 1594 – theatres reopened; Shakespeare began writing for the stage (did not care what literary world thought of him) – opened with Romeo and Juliet • 1599- Globe Theatre opened; Shakespeare part owner; new acting company – The King’s Men (1603 King James, King of England) • Wrote and acted in 37 plays in his lifetime • Retired to and died in Stratford in 1616; buried in Holy Trinity Church (“Cursed be he who moves my bones.”)

7. Queen Elizabeth (Queen from 1533-1603) • Patron of the arts • Loved plays; they were presented at court at Christmas • Would not let the Puritans close the theatres; they needed the practice

8. The Elizabethan Audience Loved violence and gore; did not mind that they were already familiar with the plots All classes of people attended; loved the language of Shakespeare’s plays; it was to them what music is to us today. Wealthy got benches “Groundlings” = poorer people stood and watched from the courtyard (“pit”) All but wealthy were uneducated/illiterate

9. Theatres • Began in inn courtyards; people hanging out their windows to watch • 1576 - James Burbage built the Theatre in London (Shakespeare was 12 – had to be built _out of the city limits) • 1599 – the theatre lost its lease; was rebuilt in another part of town and named the Globe • Theatres were round, opened in the center; a flag was put each day to signify whether a comedy or a tragedy was playing; multilevel • Very little use of scenery or props; however, elaborate costumes

10. Theatres, Cont. • Plays performed during the day (around 2 PM) • 1613 – Globe Theatre burned down during a performance of Henry VI • 1614 – rebuilt better, later torn down (1641) • Late 1990’s rebuilt on its original site on the Thames in East London • The theatres were repeatedly closed down during the 1500’s and 1600’s because it was believed to be connected to many deaths (plague)

11. The Globe Theatre • The Globe Theatre in London was the venue at which the Bard's best known stage works were first produced. • The Globe was built in 1599 and had a total capacity of 2,000 -3,000 spectators. Because there was no lighting, all performances at the Globe were conducted between 2 and 5 • Acoustics were poor and the actors had to shout their lines, stress their enunciation, and engage in exaggerated theatrical gestures. • Productions were completely devoid of background scenery. • Changes of scene were indicated in the speeches and narrative situations that Shakespeare wrote into the text of the plays. • The Globe was destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt, and remained active until 1642. It was demolished in 1644. • Excavation was begun in 1989; finished almost 10 years later

12. Props & Scenery • Hair: wigs • Makeup: flour to whiten faces for ghosts or villains • Ink: to draw features such as wrinkles, etc. • Cheeks: brick dust, or slap them around before going out on stage; charcoal for black faces

13. Props & Scenery, Cont. • Props: blood, real blood, an animal spleen or heart (Shakespeare one of the first to show violence on stage) • Expensive costumes (often reused) • Cannons for battle scenes • Open sky • Music – created mood and scene; also done by language – drums and trumpets (special effects for distance) • Bright colors, banners, fireworks, processions • Dress easily distinguished social class and profession

14. Actors • Only men • Needed to be able to sing, dance, tumble, swordfight • Had to have fantastic memories (often had to do several plays a week) • Rarely wrote their own plays • Were often looked down upon; were not university educated; however, they were respected and well known abroad • Young boys were used for the women’s parts (boys were often kidnapped and forced into the theatre life…until their voices changed) • The same actor was often well known for a certain type of character, and plays were written with this in mind (Richard Burbage played Othello) Richard Burbage-most famous Shakespearean actor of the time

15. Subjects & Themes of Shakespeare’s Plays • All of Shakespeare’s 37 plays were adaptations, not original creations • Shakespeare added elements of human nature to all his plays; made cardboard characters more rounded; made plots more complicated, therefore lifelike • Ideas for plays came from: • History plays: Holinshed’s Chronicles; classical mythology; England’s own history • Comedies and tragedies: poems and classical literature • Shakespeare was the first to mix comedy with tragedy

16. Subjects & Themes of Shakespeare’s Plays, Cont. • Shakespeare’s plays were criticized during his lifetime because they did not follow the formula that other dramatists followed, particularly university educated writers. Shakespeare wrote for the common man. His plays were not published in his lifetime. The action took place off stage. • Frequent themes found in Shakespeare’s plays are revenge, hate, love, jealousy, power • Plays weren’t published until 1623 in the First Folio by two members of Shakespeare’s acting company who issued it as a memorial to their fellow actor.

17. Language in Shakespeare’s Plays • Written in iambicpentameter (unstressed/stressed accent) • Blank verse • Often rhymed to help actors learn lines and to show when a scene was coming to an end • Is rich with new words added to our language (afeared) • Shows the development of the English language (you, thou, thee) • Is filled with many frequently quoted passages (“To be or not to be…”) • Language was used to establish the setting as there was no curtain • Used contractions, elongatedwords

18. Quick Write: • Please take a minute to write down all the Shakespearean plays you have heard of or read.

19. Shakespeare wrote: • Comedies • Histories • Tragedies

20. All's Well That Ends WellAs You Like ItThe Comedy of ErrorsCymbelineLove's Labours LostMeasure for MeasureThe Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merchant of VeniceA Midsummer Night's DreamMuch Ado About NothingPericles, Prince of TyreTaming of the ShrewThe TempestTroilus and CressidaTwelfth NightTwo Gentlemen of VeronaWinter's Tale Henry IV, Part I Henry IV, Part II Henry VHenry VI, Part IHenry VI, Part IIHenry VI, Part IIIHenry VIIIKing JohnRichard IIRichard III Antony and CleopatraCoriolanusHamletJulius CaesarKing LearMacbethOthelloRomeo and JulietTimon of AthensTitus Andronicus

21. Typical Images of Shakespeare

22. Atypical Images…

23. Q: What do the following words have in common?

24. A: They were all coined by Shakespeare. • William Shakespeare invented over 1700 words by changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words that were never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and devising original words.

25. The Will The Bard's will gave most of his property to Susanna, his first child and not to his wife Anne Hathaway. Instead his wife received his "second-best bed".

26. The Cursed Grave Good friend, for Jesus’ sake, forbear To dig the dust enclosed here; Blest be the man that spares these stones And curst he that moves my bones.

27. Publishing • William never published any of his plays. • We read his plays today only because seven years after his death, fellow actors posthumously recorded his work as a dedication to Shakespeare in 1623. • This collection, The First Folio, is the source from which all published Shakespeare books are derived and is proof that he authored his plays. • FOLIO: The largest common size of a book or manuscript, usually about 38 cm (or 15 in.) in height and made up of folded sheets.

28. The First Folio

29. The First Folio • When Shakespeare was writing, plays were not really considered Literature were not published with the care that his poems were. But in 1616, Ben Jonson published his complete Works--and included his plays (which he called "poems"). • Seven years later, the First Folio was published. • Had the First Folio not been published, we would have lost three of Shakespeare's last plays (Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest), four tragedies (Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus), and two of the mature comedies (As You Like It and Twelfth Night).

30. Multi-Talented Fact: Few people realize that aside from writing 37 plays and composing 154 sonnets, William was also an actor who performed many of his own plays as well as those of other playwrights (such as Ben Jonson).

31. Elizabethan (QE) Words • You have to understand a little of the “Queen’s English” • An,and: If • Anon: Soon • Aye: Yes • But: Except for • E’en: Even • E’er: Ever

32. QE Words (cont.) • Haply: Perhaps • Happy: Fortunate • Hence: Away, from her • Hie: Hurry • Marry: Indeed

33. QE Words (cont.) • Whence: Where • Wilt: Will, will you • Withal: In addition to • Would: Wish

34. Why Are These Plays “Good?” • Transcend Time and Place • Reflect Humanity: • Emotions • Continual Struggles • Reflect History • Still relatable

35. Blank Verse • Much of Shakespeare is written in it: • unrhymed verse • iambic (unstressed, stressed) • pentameter( 5 “feet” to a line) • ends up to be 10 syllable lines

36. Prose • Ordinary writing that is not poetry, drama, or song • Only characters in the lower social classes speak this way in Shakespeare’s plays • Why do you suppose that is?

37. Structure of The Bard’s Plays • All have a Plot: The sequence of events in a literary work • All have Exposition: • The plot usually begins with this: • Introduces: • setting • characters • basic situation

38. Inciting Moment • Often called “initial incident” • the first bit of action that occurs which begins the plot • For example, Romeo and Juliet “lock eyes” at the party

39. Conflict • The struggle that develops • man vs. man • man vs. himself • man vs. society • man vs. nature

40. Crisis • The point where the protagonist’s situation will either get better or worse

41. Climax • The turning point of the story • everything begins to unravel from here • Thus begins the falling action

42. Resolution • The end of the central conflict

43. Denouement • The final explanation or outcome of the plot • If this is included in literature, it will occur after the resolution.

44. Metaphorical Language • Comparison of unlike things • Paris standing over the “lifeless body” of Juliet, “Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew…” • “Thou detestable maw…”Gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth…” Romeo

45. Dramatic Foil • A character whose purpose is to show off another character • Benvolio for Tybalt • look for others in R & J

46. Round characters • Characters who have many personality traits, like real people.

47. Flat Characters • One-dimensional, embodying only a single trait • Shakespeare often uses them to provide comic relief even in a tragedy

48. Static Characters • Characters within a story who remain the same. They do not change. They do not change their minds, opinions or character.

49. Dynamic Character • Characters that change somehow during the course of the plot. They generally change for the better.

50. Monologue • One person speaking on stage; may be other character on stage too • “Logue” – speech; “mono” - one