Introduction to Shakespeare

1. Introduction to Shakespeare English I

2. Sources • Shakespeare-Online.com

3. Bio of the Bard • Born in Stratford-Upon- Avon in 1564 • Son of a wood and leather merchant • Did not have much education- genius? • Married to Anne Hathaway (no, not the actress) • Wrote 37 plays in his lifetime, although some people claim that he did not write all of these himself.

4. His plays- “All the world’s a stage” • Performed at the Globe Theatre in London (original burnt down) • Accommodated 2-3,000 people • Situated outside of town- theatre looked down upon for political/moral reasons and fear of plague spreading • Lowest seats cost 60 cents, highest $7 (in today’s money!) • Women not allowed to act! Men played their parts. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_KXbKa2crI

5. The Globe- rebuilt, of course

6. Inside the Globe

7. Elizabethan England • Queen Elizabeth is queen during Shakespeare’s time • One of most popular and long-reining monarchs in English history (last of Tudors) • Daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII of England • 25 at time of rule- never married, called illegitimate daughter by pope • Known for being stubborn and strong, not heavily invested in foreign affairs

8. Elizabethan England • First public theatres were built in England • Sports: football, swimming, wrestling, tennis • People would celebrate holidays and festivals- 12th night of Christmas and All Hallow’s Eve • Public punishments: stocks and pillories • Edmund Spenser, Marlowe other popular writers of the time • Black death was at its peak

9. Elizabeth

10. Fashions of the day

11. The Plague

12. Plague, continued • 1665-1666- last wave of the Bubonic Plague • 1665- hot summer- plague easily spread • Known as “The Great Plague” • Killed roughly 100,000 residents of England • Many stayed indoors and avoided public places

13. The sonnet • Two types of sonnets • Types? Petrarchan (“Italian”) and Shakespearean (“English”) • How many lines? 14 lines

14. Shakespeare’s sonnets • Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets • Sonnet 18 = One of his most popular (will explore today) • 1-126 are passionately addressed to a young man of unknown identity • 127-154 passionately addressed to a young lady known as “the dark lady” • We have no idea if these sonnets express Shakespeare’s true feelings- little is known about his life

15. The “Petrarchan” sonnet • What are the two parts of a sonnet? Octave (first six lines) and the sestet (last 6 lines) • Characteristic of octave? Presents a problem, question, or situation • What is the characteristic of the sestet? It comments on the situation, answers the question or suggests a solution to the problem. • Where does the “volta” or tone shift take place? In between the octave and the sestet • Rhyme scheme: abbaabba (octave) cdcdcd (sestet) • NOTE: NOT ALL SONNETS ARE CONSTRUCTED THIS WAY!

16. The “Shakespearean” Sonnet • Three quatrains (four lines of poetry grouped together) followed by a couplet (two lines of poetry grouped together). • The couplet will offer the answer to the question or the solution to the problem that is introduced and developed in the quatrains. Think of it as the resolution or conclusion of the piece. • Rhyme Scheme: ababcdcdefefgg (couplet)

17. Defining Rhyme Scheme • Rhyme Scheme: The pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. • It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. Ex. Ababcdcd

18. Defining Iambic Pentameter • Ten syllables in each line, five pairs of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables • The rhythm sounds like: ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM • When I / do COUNT / the CLOCK / that TELLS / the TIME (Sonnet 12)