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SHAKESPEARE. English Writer & Playwright. William Shakespeare. Lived from 1564-1616 Married older woman (Anne Hathaway) Born in Stratford-on-Avon Wrote & acted in plays in London Wrote 37 Plays, 154 Sonnets Investment as theatre owner increased his wealth. Shakespeare’s Times.
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SHAKESPEARE English Writer & Playwright
William Shakespeare • Lived from 1564-1616 • Married older woman (Anne Hathaway) • Born in Stratford-on-Avon • Wrote & acted in plays in London • Wrote 37 Plays, 154 Sonnets • Investment as theatre owner increased his wealth
Shakespeare’s Times • Queen Elizabeth was on the throne • Known as the “Virgin Queen” (never married) • She liked and encouraged theatre • Theatre was cheap entertainment - everyone went • Only men allowed to act in plays
Shakespeare’s Competition • Ben Jonson was more famous than Shakepeare in his day • Another famous playwright was Christopher Marlowe, who was killed in a duel • Plays were never written about religion or politics • The first theatre was called “The Theatre”
Shakepeare’s Sonnets • Shakespeare wrote 154 Sonnets • Wrote in the Elizabethan form of the sonnet (3 quartets, 1 couplet = 14 lines) • Shakespeare’s sonnets are numbered - not named
Sonnets Continued • Series of sonnets: • (1-126) address a young man encouraging him to marry so his good qualities will survive (in his children) • (127-152) address the “dark lady” • (153-154) are to the love god Cupid. • The word “sonnet” comes from an Italian word that means “little song”
Shakespeare’s Plays • Three categories - Histories, Comedies, Tragedies • Histories were about English history • Comedies used puns, wordplay, mistaken identity, often end in marriage • Tragedies involve moral conflicts; the hero dies in the end
The Plays • Written in both rhyme (iambic pentameter) and free verse • Usually the more noble characters speak in rhyme • Soliloquies - a “self speech” to tell audience what the character is thinking
The Plays • Often “the fool” speaks the truth • Plays are written in different “acts” with different “scenes” within the acts • The longest play is Hamlet at over 4,000 lines • The shortest play is The Comedy of Errors at around 1,800 lines • Known for human emotions - jealousy, ambition, desire for power, love
Hamlet • Main characters: King Hamlet (is “the Ghost” and Hamlet’s father Hamlet, Prince of Denmark King Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother
Hamlet - Main Characters • Polonius - Advisor to the king • Laertes - son of Polonius • Ophelia - daughter of Polonius and Hamlet’s girlfriend • Horatio - Hamlet’s best friend
Famous Lines • “To be, or not to be -- that is the question;” (from Hamlet’s soliloquy) • "Not a mouse stirring.” • “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” • “A little more than kin, and less than kind."
Famous Quotes Continued • "Neither a borrower nor a lender be; • “This above all: to thine own self be true,…” • "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” • “A dream itself is but a shadow."
More Famous Quotes • “O, woe is me,…” • “I must be cruel, only to be kind.” • “Good night, sweet prince/ And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Expressions from Shakespeare • “Dead as a doornail.” • “Green-eyed monster” (jealousy) • “It was Greek to me” • “Kill with kindness” • “Love is blind” • “My own flesh and blood”
Last Words… • Remember, Shakespeare wrote in modern English. Even though his language sounds old to us, Old English is over 600 years older than Shakespeare’s language and sounds more German than English.
Shakespeare • Shakespeare’s plays have been performed all over the world for over 400 years. • Shakespeare continues to be popular because he writes about human emotions - love, jealousy, greed, ambition.
William Shakespeare • Now you have a good introduction to Hamlet. • Relax and enjoy the play!