The Bard

1. The Bard William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

2. Who was Shakespeare? • Who was Shakespeare, and why was he such a big, screaming deal? • When did he live? • What influenced his work? • Work? What work? What did he do? • What was life like in his time?

3. A Brief History of England • In the beginning, England was made up of hundreds of small manors or mini-kingdoms. • King Arthur (Arthur Pendragon) is credited with repelling the Saxon invasion and uniting England into one kingdom in the 6th century. • This is assuming he really existed, a debated topic. He MAY have been just a half-forgotten Celtic deity • He is credited with the Round Table and other democratic concepts.

4. The Plantagenets – 12th Century • Richard I (Richard the Lion-Hearted) made Britain a vassal of Rome & Catholic church. • His brother John signed the Magna Carta (against his will: he was weak and forced). • Henry III, 9 years old, was a failure, Edward I (Longshanks) was stronger and invented Parliament, but is famous for invading Scotland (Braveheart). • Edward II was weak, vain, and presumed homosexual. He was murdered by his wife Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.

5. More History – 14th Century • The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) killed close to half the population in 1350’s. • Edward III divided land and strengthened the nobility. • Henry V defeated the French at Agincourt in 1422, making England totally independent. But later, he allowed the War of the Roses to happen. (Houses of York –vs- Lancaster). • Edward IV seized power in 1461, and Henry V died in the Tower of London. He died at 40 in 1483. • In 1483, Richard III seized power, and Edward IV’s sons, Edward V (13 years old) and Richard (10 years old) were imprisoned and murdered. Everyone hated Richard III.

6. Crazy Henry • Henry VII finally defeated the Lancasters to end the War of the Roses, and now the Tudors were in command. • Henry VIII took over in 1509, and declared war against his brother-in-law, Louis XII of France. James IV of Scotland (his other brother-in-law) declared war on England. • Henry VIII turns English society upside-down with his attitudes of marriage and power. He married Catherine of Aragon, but when she couldn’t provide a son, he declared the marriage invalid, thus making daughter Mary illegitimate. • Henry VIII split with Catholic church over divorce laws, and Pope excommunicated him, so he started the Church of England – (Anglican)

7. Henry’s Family • He then married Anne Boelyn who gave him Elizabeth, but no son. He declared her a witch, had her executed, and married Jane Seymour. She gave him Edward, but she died 10 days later. • Then he married Anne of Cleves, divorced her, married Catherine Howard, had her killed for adultery, and finally married Catherine Parr because he was old and needed a nurse. • Edward VI took over, and was doing well until he died at 16. He solidified England as a Protestant kingdom. • When he died, he was succeeded by Mary I, also known as Bloody Mary. She was known as this because of her bloody oppression of Scotland and Ireland, and her ongoing war with Protestants. (Not through murdering virgins to bathe in their blood, as legend claims.)

8. Bloody Mary and Elizabeth I • 1553 – Bloody Mary marries Philip II of Spain, a VERY Catholic country. A bad situation gets worse. • She dies later that year, and Elizabeth I takes the throne. • Elizabeth tries (unlike her sister) to balance the Catholic and Protestant factions. She is not very successful, and Protestantism takes over. • She is succeeded (ironically) by James VI of Scotland, her nephew, who then becomes James I of England. • This is doubly ironic because Elizabeth I had her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots (James’ mother) imprisoned in the Tower of London and eventually executed. (When Scotland turned Protestant, Mary came home to England. Europe saw HER as the true queen, not Liz, so she had to go.

9. Elizabeth I During her reign, England experienced: • Spanish Armada invades England, defending Catholicism and fighting British backing of Dutch, but is repelled, (mostly thanks to a storm) leaving England the only superpower. • New World is colonized, mostly by religious dissidents. • Increase of Humanism and new philosophies • Eventual founding of United Kingdom • Beginning of scientific inquiry • Rebirth of drama and performing arts

10. The Elizabethan/Jacobean Period1558 - 1602 • Named for Elizabeth I and James I • Elizabeth I was also known as the Virgin Queen • She was the daughter of Henry VIII • She was the sister of Mary Tudor – Also known as Bloody Mary • She was the cousin of Mary Stuart – Also known as Mary, Queen of Scots

11. William Shakespeare • 1564 – He was born on or around April 23 in Stratford-on-Avon • His dad, John Shakespeare, was a man of some importance. Therefore young Will was entitled to a free education. He learned reading, writing, basic math, Greek, Latin, and basic history. • His Dad wanted him to learn a trade, so he apprenticed him to a butcher, then a glover.

12. William Shakespeare • 1582 – Married Anne Hathaway. He was 18, she was 26, which was considered middle-aged. (It would be like a 24-year-old guy marrying a 44-year-old woman) • She was six months pregnant. • 1583 – Their daughter Susanna was born. • 1585 – The twins Judith and Hamnet were born. • 1590 – Will left Stratford, on the run from the law. • Probably a charge of poaching the King’s deer. • He went to London, got a job holding horses outside the Blackfriar’s playhouse • 1592 – Finally sold his first play, A Comedy of Errors

13. William Shakespeare • 1594 – He joined Lord Chamberlain’s Men. A sponsorship was necessary for success. • 1596 – His son Hamnet died at 11 years old. • 1597 – He retired to Stratford, a rich and famous man. • 1599 – He designed and funded construction for the Globe Theatre. • 1601 – He came out of retirement. His sponsor Lord Chamberlain turned over the sponsorship to the new King James I, so his troupe, Lord Chamberlain’s Men, is now The King’s Men, the highest honor possible.

14. William Shakespeare • After many more years of success, he retired once again to Stratford to live in his new mansion. He was still getting a LOT of money from both his plays and his theatre. • 1616 – He died on his 52nd birthday. • He left his land to his daughter Susanna, a lot of money, £ 300, to Judith, and his second-best bed to his wife Anne. • Why his second-best bed? Some scholars say he had another woman. Some even say he had another MAN. This just proves that they don’t know anything about the time period and its traditions.

15. William Shakespeare So where did Shakespeare get his ideas? His 2 favorite sources were: • Holinshed’s Chronicles by Raphael Holinshed, a historian who was given the project of writing the whole history of the world from the Great Flood to the time of Elizabeth I. He died before he could finish, but his project was published as The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1577. • Shakespeare used this as a source for most of his history plays and some of his tragedies, such as Hamlet, MacBeth, and King Lear.

16. William Shakespeare • Parallel Lives by MestriusPlutarchus, also known as Plutarch. He was a Greek historian from the first century. He travelled all over the Mediterranean world, and wrote his book about how people’s character, good or bad, could influence their lives or destinies. • Shakespeare used this as a source for both history plays and tragedies, such as Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Othello.

17. William Shakespeare :the Plays Will wrote three kinds of plays: comedies, tragedies, and histories. • Comedies – As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice, etc. • Tragedies – Hamlet, MacBeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, King Lear, etc. • Histories – Edward III, Richard II and III, Henry IV, V, VI, VIII, the Death of King John, etc.

18. The Globe Theatre • It was a 3-story Octagonal open-air building • Next to the Bear garden, where bearbaiting and bullbaiting were popular entertainment. • It had an elevated stage with: • No curtain • Pulleys for angels • Trapdoors for demons or ghosts • A curtained alcove for either a tomb or a cell • Balconies on either side of the stage

19. The Globe Theatre • It also had three levels of covered seating, and a large open-air dirt floor for the ‘groundlings’ • Groundlings were the commoners who could stand and watch (or actually “hear”) the show for a penny. They frequently got rained on. • The original Globe Theatre burned down during a production of Henry VIII in 1613, when a cannon shot set the roof on fire. • It was rebuilt the following year, and closed in 1642. • A replica was built in 1997, and is currently in business

20. A Look Inside…

21. The Players • The actors were known as “rogues, vagabonds, sturdy beggars, common players”. • There were no women. Female roles were played by boys 12 years old and younger. • London aldermen were always looking for reasons to shut them down and run them out of town. • Royal sponsorship meant protection from the law. • “Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Lord Admiral’s Men, Queen’s Men” • A Royal Command Performance was their big chance. If they were good, they were made for life.

22. Key Terms • Protagonist – The ‘good guy’, but not necessarily the hero. • Tragic hero – The hero who dies, but not necessarily the ‘good guy’. • Antagonist – The ‘bad guy’ • Soliloquy – Muttering loudly enough for the 3rd balcony to hear. Used for character exposition. • Tragic Flaw – The big problem that causes the hero’s downfall. • Comic Relief – breaks the tension with a laugh. Usually a ‘clown’. (Not Bozo…)