William Shakespeare

1. William Shakespeare

2. ENGLAND

3. London

4. Boyhood in Stratford-Upon-Avon • Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon • Parents John and Mary Arden Shakespeare • Seven brothers and sisters • Grammar School from age 7 to 13

6. Stratford-Upon-Avon

7. William Shakespeare’s Home

8. Marriage and Life in London • 1582 at age 18 married Anne Hathaway • 1583-1592 ??? • 1592 (28 years old) went to London • actor and playwright • first accused of borrowing from other playwrights • 1592-1594 Plague

9. Shakespeare Prospers • 1598 built Globe Theatre • Owned shares in it • Father granted a coat-of-arms • Gentlemen • Recognized as a genius in his own time

10. Globe Theatre

14. Honored as Actor and Playwright • Queen Elizabeth dies in 1603 • King James I takes the throne • Shakespeare’s Theatre company becomes the King’s Company • Member of famous writer’s group (Mermaid Tavern)

15. Death and Burial at Stratford • 1610 retired from theatre • 1613 Globe theatre burns down • lost much money but still wealthy • helps rebuild Globe theatre • Dies on April 23, 1616 at age 52

16. Shakespeare’s Grave

17. Secrets of the Sonnets • 154 Sonnets, 60 songs • Love, broken trust of friend, loss of love, forgiveness • friend, dark lady, rival poet

18. Shakespeare as an Elizabethan • Queen Elizabeth reigned (1558-1603) • Emerging from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance • Age was extravagant and brutal • elaborate, ornate clothing, language and manners • language was growing fast • middle class (stern, moral, and independent)

20. Elizabeth I Symbolizes the Age • Queen Elizabeth Glory of England • To people, she represented beauty and greatness • one of the most powerful countries in the world

21. Queen Elizabeth 1558-1603

22. Drama in the Elizabethan Age • After defeating the Spanish Armada, England became intensely interested in the past. (Patriotic) Historical plays thrived. • Playwrights were practical men, bent on making a living • Plays were written to be acted, not read. • Once a playwright sold his manuscript, he had no personal right to it.

23. The Elizabethian Theater • Round, wooden, roofless building • Three galleries of seats • Pit (no seats) cost a penny “groundlings” • Main stage • 40 feet wide • 27 feet projection into the pit • Recessed inner stage (curtains and balcony) • Music Room • Heaven and a Hell

24. The Stage Influences on Shakespeare’s Methods • Open, free stage=quick changes, rapid action • Encourages speechmaking, passionate soliloquies • No women actors • Only day time light= speeches about time, season and weather • (Macbeth=40 such speeches • Closeness of different classes

25. Shakespeare as a Dramatist • Objective of Plays= give pleasure • Fanciful, imaginative plays • Audience= everyday people, uneducated, wanted to escape • Wrote in verse=free use of words

26. His Poetic Greatness • Most quoted writer in the world • diversity of speech from common men to philosophers • Examples of his Poetry

27. Critics Rank the Plays • Tragedies-Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello • Comedies-The Tempest, As You Like It, The Winter’s Tale, The Merchants of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream • Histories-Henry IV, Henry V, Richard II, Richard III, Henry VIII