Introduction to William Shakespeare

1. Introduction to William Shakespeare

2. Elizabethan England • England was a major European power and enjoyed great cultural and economic advances. • Queen Elizabeth was born in 1533 and became the queen in 1558, six years before Shakespeare was born. • Kings and queens of England ruled by divine right, the belief that the royal bloodline had been anointed by God to be the ruling family of England

3. Many people thought Elizabeth should get married so that they could have a proper king. • Elizabeth knew she would be giving up most of her power to her husband, so she chose to remain “The Virgin Queen.”

4. The English people believed in what they called a Chain of Being. • God was at the top of this chain, of course, followed by Queen Elizabeth, the nobility, priests, and bishops of the church, gentlemen, commoners, beggars, and slaves. • No matter where they were on the chain, men were thought to be superior to women. • As a result, Queen Elizabeth had a lot to prove.

5. In 1588, the English Navy defeated the Spanish Armada, a group of warships led by Phillip the II of Spain, who thought that Elizabeth should not be on the throne because she was female and because she had chosen to be Protestant instead of Catholic. • A Protestant is a person who is Christian but not Catholic and who denies that the Pope has authority over all Christians. • Before the 16th century, the Catholic Church was the only Christian church. It emphasized baptism, marriage, tradition, and ordained clergy, such as priests.

6. Queen Elizabeth I • Elizabeth turned out to be a successful queen. • Elizabeth made a lot of improvements. • She supported commerce and trade, bringing England out of debt and raising the standard of living. • She made England into a strong military force. • She supported education and founded many colleges.

7. Religion • Although Elizabethan England was a very religious society, non-religious ways of thinking were becoming more prevalent in England than ever before. • Humanism was gaining acceptance. Humanists felt that learning about Greek and Roman literature and studies could be as worthy as the study of the Bible. • In other words, they felt that goodness and knowledge could come from human beings without the aid of a divine being. • Many Elizabethans believed in both Christianity and humanism at the same time, though they might seem contradictory.

8. Daily Life in Elizabethan England • Homeless beggars were very common. • Epidemic diseases such as the plague were prevalent, even though the worst of the plague was over. • During Shakespeare’s lifetime, the plague took about 75,000 lives.

9. Shakespeare: The Facts • William Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon (named so because the town of Stratford sits on the Avon River), England, on April 26, 1564.

10. Shakespeare’s House • Shakespeare bought a big house called New Place in Stratford in 1597. • Although he lived in London off and on for the rest of his life, he never sold New Place, and his family most likely lived there full-time.

11. Marriage • On November 28, 1582, Shakespeare was issued a marriage license allowing him to marry Anne Hathaway. • He was eighteen and she was twenty-six. • She was also pregnant with their first child.

12. Children • Shakespeare and his wife had three children. • Susanna was born in 1583, and their twins, Hamnet and Judith, were born in 1585. • Hamnet died in 1596, when he was only 11 years. Old.

13. Business • Along with other players, or actors, Shakespeare formed a theatre company called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men in 1594 and became an owner in the Globe Theatre in 1599. • He bought quite a bit of land in the Stratford area and invested in a house in London. • He once testified in a court case in London.

14. His Will • In early 1616, Shakespeare wrote his will, leaving his “second-best bed” to his wife, some money and other items to his daughter Judith, and most of the rest of his estate to his daughter Susanna and her husband. • He also left some money to three of the actors in his company.

15. Death • Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, and was buried near the Holy Trinity Church, where he had been baptized.

16. Just the Facts • Believe it or not, those basic facts are pretty much all we know about the life of the famous playwright, William Shakespeare. • Unfortunately, we will have to be content with those basic facts. • Many people have made educated guesses about Shakespeare’s life based upon inferences derived from his plays and sonnets.

17. Shakespeare’s Theatre • Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre was circular with an open space in the middle. • The stage was on one edge of the circle and was what is known as a thrust.

18. Typical 16th Century Theatre • The stage had two levels. • The first level of the stage was where most of the action took place. • The second level of the stage, called the gallery, was used for things like balcony scenes.

19. Audience • During Shakespeare’s time, going to the theatre was like going to see a modern-day football game. • The plays took place in the afternoon, usually starting at 2:00.

20. Audience (continued) • The Globe was an open-air theatre, so audience members could see each other clearly. • A trumpeter would sound several blasts on his horn to signal the start of the play.

21. Audience (continued) • Once the play began, audience members could move freely about the yard or the galleries, discuss the action of the play, and yell funny quips or insults to the characters onstage. • People also moved about the crowd freely, selling food, wine, tobacco, and playbills.

23. Costumes • One of the biggest expenses for a theatre company was costumes and props. • The actors wore what is called court dress. If an Elizabethan were lucky enough to be invited to the Queen’s court for a visit, he would dress in the very best clothes he owned, and this type of clothing was what actors used onstage.

28. Scenery • One thing the Elizabethan theatre did not have was scenery. Believe it or not, the concept had not really occurred to anyone. • There was no shortage of special effects at the Globe Theatre however. • The stage had a trap door so that devils or ghosts could disappear or rise. • There was a flying apparatus so that fairies or gods could float above the stage or descend from the sky. • There were musicians to provide birdcalls with flutes and thunder with drums.