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William Shakespeare 1564-1616. Popular Entertainer. No cinema, no television, no football Wealthy people hired musicians, actors, dancers and fencers Everyone else had to find entertainment: In London, it was Theater Today: Go to a movie, then a bar or nightclub
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William Shakespeare 1564-1616
Popular Entertainer • No cinema, no television, no football • Wealthy people hired musicians, actors, dancers and fencers • Everyone else had to find entertainment: In London, it was Theater Today: Go to a movie, then a bar or nightclub Then: Go to a play, then a tavern
Shakespeare’s Works • Sonnets (poems) • 14 lines • iambic pentameter • abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme • Plays • Histories • Tragedies • Comedies
Blank verse – iambic pentameter • “These times of woe afford no time to woo.” -- Paris
Names of a few of His Plays • Julius Caesar • Macbeth • Hamlet • A Midsummer Night’s Dream • King Lear • Othello • The Tempest
The Theater in Shakespeare’s Time • “The Theatre”—the first permanent theater in England • 1599, The Theatre was torn down • From many of the timbers of “The Theatre,” Shakespeare and his company built the Globe Theatre
The Wooden “O” • The Globe Theatre was a large, round (or polygonal) building • Three stories high • Large platform stage • Curtained-off inner stage • Small balcony or upper stage • Trap doors
Plays were performed in the afternoon • Stage was open to the sky • Very few sets, very little scenery • The stage was “set” by the language • Costumes were often elaborate • Female parts played by young men or boys • Groundlings stood at the foot of the stage
Terms • Blank verse—poetry that is written in iambic pentameter but does not rhyme • Motif—a small, recurring theme; repeated patterns of images. (stars, seasons, fate, feud, etc.)
Foil—any character who by contrast emphasizes the distinctive qualities of another
Romeo & Juliet • Shakespeare took the plot from a poem entitled “The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet” by Arthur Brooke • Takes place in Verona, Italy • Takes place in the 1500’s
Themes in R & J • Themes are based on: • Youth and old age • Public and private • Love and hate • Fate or destiny • Love • The dual nature of all creation