Review: Shakespeare’s Background

2. Review: Shakespeare’s Background • Born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon to a middle-class family • Married Anne Hathaway in 1582 • Became an actor & playwright in 1594 for Lord Chamberlain’s Men • Became partner in The Globe Theater in 1599 • Died in 1616

3. Theatre in Shakespeare’s Time REPERTORY SYSTEM Theatre performed by a company of actors that presents and performs a number of different plays or other works during a season, usually alternating works

4. The Globe Theatre • London playhouse built in 1598 • Staged most of Shakespeare’s plays • Burned down in 1613; rebuilt 1614 • Destroyed in 1644 by the Puritans

5. New Globe Theatre Built in 1997; modeled after original

6. Structure of the Globe • Octagonal building • Thatched roof • 84 feet in diameter

7. Flag announcing performance Diagram of the Globe Area behind: tiring house Middle Gallery Lords’ Rooms Stage The yard

8. No curtain; nothing separates actors from audience—very intimate experience Curtain acts as psychological barrier between audience and actors Elizabethan vs. Modern Theatre • No lighting on stage; • daylight is only source • of light • Lighting only on • stage—audience in • dark to further separate • the two

9. 2-3 acts Elizabethan vs. Modern Theatre • Minimal scenery • & few props • Scenery & props • cue viewers • Quiet, reserved • audience • Loud, boisterous • audience • Male & female • actors • All male actors • 5 acts

10. Background to Hamlet • Most likely written by Shakespeare in 1600 • Play derived from the legendary story of Hamlet (Amleth) recounted in the Danish History from the 12th century, a Latin text by Saxo the Grammarian

11. Background to Hamlet • This version was later adapted into French by Francois de Belleforest in 1570 • Shakespeare most likely knew this version or a later version (presumably by British author Thomas Kyd)

12. A play of questions “There is matter in these sighs, these profound heaves: you must translate…” --Claudius, Act 4, sc. 1 With so many people masking their true identities, how do we know what is true and what is false? What is real, and what is imagined?

13. Hamlet: The Role of a Lifetime Richard Burbage John Barrymore Edwin Booth

14. Hamlet: Lawrence Olivier

15. Hamlet, 1948Directed by Lawrence Olivier

16. Hamlet: Mel Gibson

17. Hamlet, 1990Directed by Franco Zeffirelli

18. Hamlet: Kenneth Branagh

19. Hamlet, 1996Directed by Kenneth Branagh

20. Hamlet: Hawke

21. Hamlet, 2000 Directed by Michael Almereyda

22. The Many Editions of Hamlet

25. As you read, consider the following concepts… • The power of self-reflection • The question of revenge • The meaning of loyalty and duty • The importance of personal relationships • The expectations of gender • The link between thought and action

26. Your Book…Folger Library Edition Please put your name on the inside cover!