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Shakespeare’s Life and Times

Shakespeare’s Life and Times. He was not of an age, but for all time. – Ben Jonson . Life in Renaissance England (1580s and onward). Public sanitation Disease Growing cities Printing and Sailing Politics & religion.

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Shakespeare’s Life and Times

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  1. Shakespeare’s Life and Times He was not of an age, but for all time. – Ben Jonson

  2. Life in Renaissance England (1580s and onward) • Public sanitation • Disease • Growing cities • Printing and Sailing • Politics & religion

  3. The streets were narrow, cobbled, slippery with the slime of refuse. Houses were crammed together, and there were a lot of furtive alleys. Chamber pots, or jordans, were emptied out of windows. There was no drainage. Fleet Ditch stank to make a man throw up his gorge. But the City had its natural cleansers--the kites, graceful birds that made their nests of rags and refuse in the forks of trees. They scavenged, eating anything with relish. ... And countering the bad, man-made odors, the smells of the countryside floated in. There were rosy milkmaids in the early morning streets, and sellers of newly gathered cresses.

  4. Beginnings • Born April 23, 1564 in Strafford-upon-Avon, England • 103 miles west of London • Court records & plays • John, a leather merchant and local politician • Mary, daughter of wealthy landowner • 1 of 8 children

  5. Marriage • 1582: Married Anne Hathaway, 26, at the age of 18 • She was already pregnant • Gave birth to Susanna • ~1585: had twins, Hamnet and Judith • Lived at Straftford-upon-Avon while WS worked in London

  6. 7 years… • ????????????????????????????????????? • No record exits, “lost years” • Gone into hiding for poaching game on landlord’s property? • Assistant school master? • Starbucks barista?

  7. 1592: He Resurfaces – start 4/11 • Living as an actor and playwright in London • Written criticism of his work: “…an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers…” • Managing partner in Lord Chamberlin’s Men/King’s Men – an acting company in London • Acting company: “sharers” who split profits/debts and acted roles; boy apprentices

  8. Establishing Himself • By 1597: 15/37 plays were published • $$$ & came home once a year • Built Globe Theatre in 1599 • 3 stories high • No roof • Held more than 1,500 spectators • Burnt down in 1613 during Henry VIII because a canon misfired • Entrepreneur and playwright

  9. Rebuilt Globe Theatre

  10. Theatre of the Times… • Actors = all men, young boys played female roles, no kissing/hugging on stage • Groundlings = poor audience member who stood around “pit” and threw rotten vegetables during bad performances • Cost = 1 shilling to attend, 2 shillings to sit in balcony • Expensive seats = behind stage

  11. Special Effects • Mechanisms to lower actors from sky (angels and gods) or bring them below stage by trapdoor (hell/funerals) • Little scenery – dialogue explained setting • Elaborate costumes to tell profession, social class, and family ties • Identity tied to clothing – trickery involved nothing more than changing costumes • Sound effects: thunder, running horses, falling rain, canon blasts, and music

  12. Early Works • Early 1590’s: Histories depicting the destructive results of weak or corrupt rulers (except for Romeo and Juliet) • Richard II • Henry V • Henry VI • Comedies: witty, romantic, charming • A Midsummer Night’s Dream • Much Ado About Nothing • As You Like It

  13. Later Works – After 1600 • Tragedies: vividly capture human temperament, exploring deceit, retribution, betrayal, incest, and moral failure • Hamlet • Othello • Macbeth • Tragi-Comedies: written in final period of life, end in reconciliation and forgiveness, but heavier subject matter than earlier comedies • The Tempest • Cymbeline • The Winter’s Tale

  14. All around… • 36 plays • Longest is Hamlet, at 884,647 words and over 100,000 lines • 154 sonnets • Works translated into 80 different languages • Coined more than 500 new words: amazement, countless, useful, radiance, lackluster, bump, lonely

  15. Controversy • Authorship of plays • Lack of evidence/primary sources and documentation • Education • Literary training • Defense: • Other authors had “sketchy” pasts with little evidence/documentation of histories • His education could have been of high caliber • Circumstantial evidence based on his friendships and relationships

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