Introduction to Shakespeare & Julius Caesar

Introduction to Shakespeare & Julius Caesar

Overview of the Life of William Shakespeare • Lived from 1564-1616 • Important member of Lord Chamberlain’s Men starting in 1594 • Many gaps in the knowledge of his life. • Some speculate that he was not legitimate • Others consider him the greatest writer of all time

Shakespeare’s Early Life • Only 2 primary sources can identify his existence: church and court records • No birth record exists. • Baptized April 26, 1564 (Estimated birthday: April 23) • 3rd child of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden • Most likely attended King’s New School

Shakespeare’s Married Life • Married Anne Hathaway in November 1582 • He was 18; she was 26 • First child, Susanna, born in May 1583 • Twins born in 1585: Hamnet & Judith • Hamnet died at age 11

Shakespeare’s Lost Years • No record of Shakespeare’s life from 1585-1592 • Called “lost years” • Could have been hiding for poaching game • Could have worked as assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire • Arrived in London in mid to late 1580s

Shakespeare Joins the Theater • 1592- Earning a living as actor and playwright in London • Early 1590s: Managing partner in Lord Chamberlain’s Men • Lord Chamberlain’s Men became the King’s Men in 1603 • Greatly involved in the Elizabethan and Jacobean courts • Wrote plays dedicated to and inspired by Queen Elizabeth and King James

Shakespeare As Playwright • Published 15 of 37 plays by 1597 • Purchased New House for his family • Rarely visited Stratford • 1599: Built theater on the Thames River with partners • This is the well-known Globe Theater

The Globe Theater Flag Inner Stage The “Heavens” Tiring House Upper Stage Main Stage Galleries Trapdoor Open Yard

The Globe Theater • The “Wooden O” • Held up to 3,000 people • Opened in 1599 with “As You Like It” • 1613: Accidental fire • 1614: Reconstructed • 1642: Puritans shut down the Globe • 1644: Leveled for housing • 1993: New Globe opens

Shakespeare’s Writing Style • Early Works: • Conventional • Elaborate metaphors • Rhetorical phrases didn’t always align • Later Works: • Adapted traditional style to his purposes • Created a freer flow of words • Preferred Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter • Used writing style to indicate social class • Iambic Pentameter for royalty • Simple prose for lower class

Early Works: Histories & Comedies • Early 1590s: first plays were mainly histories • Exception: Romeo & Juliet • Included Richard II, Henry VI, and Henry V • The Early Period also includes comedies • Comedies often had a great deal of romance • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night

Later Works: Tragedies & Tragicomedies • After 1600, Shakespeare wrote tragedies: • Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth • Strong impressions of universal temperaments • Moral failures drove the twists/turns that destroyed the hero and his loved ones • Several tragicomedies • Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest • Graver topics than earlier comedies but not as dark as the tragedies • End with reconciliation and/or forgiveness

Shakespeare’s Death • Church records indicate Shakespeare was buried April 5, 1616 • Left bulk of possessions to eldest daughter Susanna • Only bequeathed Anne his “second-best bed” • Speculation of meaning • Could show their lack of closeness/relationship • “First-best bed” was used for house guests and “second-best bed” was the marital bed

Controversy &Legacy • Questioning Authorship • About 150 years following Shakespeare’s death • Several theories are discussed • Official records show the existence of a W. Shakespeare, but he’s not listed as a playwright • Lack of education is biggest issue • Many scholars have argued that a multitude of playwrights could be Shakespeare. • Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere (an Earl), Sir Francis Bacon, or William Stanley (an Earl)

Christopher Marlowe • Born in 1564 and in the same social class • University educated • Talented translator • Atheist • Similar writing style • Killed in a bar fight in 1593 "over an unpaid bill" • Assassinated? • Staged?

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar • One of Shakespeare's tragedies • First performed at the Globe Theater in 1599 • Published in 1623 First Folio • Source: a translation of Plutarch'sLives (especially Brutus and Caesar) • Elizabethan England was entranced by Romans

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar • Based on assassination of Julius Caesar and the civil war that follows • Anachronisms: hats, doublets, clocks, other common items in Elizabethean England • Special connection to contemporary Elizabethan politics • Tragic Hero: Not Caesar, but Brutus. • A sympathetic portrayal of the traitorous friend.

Group Research on Rome • Group 1: Caesar's assassination, include pre- and post events • Group 2: Roman Senate/ Roman government before and during Caesar's rule • Group 3: Julius Caesar, person and leader • Group 4: Marcus Brutus, person and leader • Group 5: Marc Anthony, person and leader • Group 6: Plutarch'sLife of Brutus, the source

Introduction to Shakespeare & Julius Caesar