who was william shakespeare?

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John Shakespeare & Mary Arden

Joan (1558)

Gilbert (1566)

Richard (1574)

Edmund (?)

William (1564)

#5 Female (?)

#6 Female (?)

#7 Female (?)

•Spelling not yet standardized, thus name spelled in different ways:•Shakespeare, Shakspere, Shackspere, Shaxper, Shagspere, Shaxberd, etc.

From: http://www.where-can-i-find.com/tourist-maps.html

As reproduced in William Rolfe, Shakespeare the Boy (1896).

From Stratford’s web site: http://www.stratford-upon-avon.co.uk/index.htm

From: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/

• Likely attended King’s New School in Stratford

• Educated in:• Rhetoric• Logic• History• Latin & Greek

• Probably a class of 12 boys

• Left school at age 15 to begin work

King’s New SchoolKing’s New School

From: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/

• Married in November, 1582, to Anne Hathaway

• He was 18, she was 26 (1)

• Anne was pregnant at the time

• First daughter Susanna born in May, 1583

• Twins (Hamnet and Judith) christened on

February 2, 1585

From: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/danielle.esposito/

People loved their sweets! Some people’s teeth turned black and some

artificially blackened their teeth to show they had their fill of sugar.

For women, pale skin was a sign of “supreme loveliness”, so they bleached their skin with products “mildly toxic.” Even Queen Elizabeth did this!

Beverage consumed copiously: beerEating method: your own (dirty) hands

• Speculations:• Money lender• Gardener• Sailor• Scrivener

• Tutor• Coachman• Soldier• Schoolmaster• Lawyer• Clerk

• Shows up in records from 1592• Another playwright talks about “an upstart young crow”• 1589-1594 include his first plays, first hits:• Henry IV • Titus Adronicus• Comedy of Errors

• Plague outbreaks close theaters, giving WS time to write poetry

• 154 Sonnets in his lifetime • Addressed to a young man and a dark lady• Written in iambic pentameter

• Poetry usually dedicated to a patron who acted as a “sponsor” of a writer or artist

• 1594 acting company is Lord Chamberlain’s Men• WS is a full member, writing and acting

• Having achieved commercial success, WS applies for a coat of arms in 1596• A status symbol, mark of a gentleman,

something his own father was denied• This is the same year (August) his son and

male heir Hamnet dies (causes unknown) @ 11 yoa

• 1597 WS buys a new home in Stratford, “New Place,” and visits his family

10-20 members; 3-5 boys for female rolesActors specialized in roles (e.g., dramatic

leads, clowns, comic leads, etc.)Needed a patron or sponsorRepertory—plays change daily (lead actor

could have 800 lines/week)Plays belonged to company not

playwrightShakespeare did not publish plays for this

reason

• Tickets cost from 1 penny to 6 pence• Behavior was “rowdy” with audience shouting at actors, throwing things, even spilling onto stage• Vendors selling food, drink• No restrooms and no intermissions

• Performed every day but Sunday between 2 and 5 for natural light

• Theaters could not advertise, but did have a trumpet fanfare and raised a flag on the theater

• Actors had elaborate costumes• Not much for scenery or background, so

writers had to describe and audience had to imagine

• Musicians provided sounds for special effects• Stage structure

• 1610-1611—retires to Stratford• 1613 Collaborates with John Fletcher• Dies in April 1616 (unknown causes)• Will leaves “second best bed” to his wife (??) (1)• 1623 fellow actors publish the First Folio of his

plays• Shakespeare Conspiracy---because he never

published his plays, some believe he is not the true author---however most believe in his authorship.

• 38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare (1)

• 14 comedies• 10 histories• 10 tragedies• 4 romancesSpeculated Plays

• Possibly wrote three others:• Edward III• Love’s Labour’s Won• Cardenio (lost)

• Collaborated on several others• Sir Thomas More

•Shakespeare did NOT write in “Old English”

•Old English is the language of Beowulf:Hwaet! We Gardena in geardagum Þeodcyninga Þrym gefrunonHu ða æÞelingas ellen fremedon!

Hey! We have heard of the glory of the Spear-Danes in the old days, the kings of tribes, how noble princes showed great courage!

•Shakespeare did not write in “Middle English”

•Middle English is the language of Chaucer, the Gawain-poet, and Malory:

We redeth oft and findeth y-write—And this clerkes wele it wite—Layes that ben in harpingBen y-founde of ferli thing… (Sir Orfeo)

•Shakespeare wrote in “Early Modern English”

•EME was not very different from “Modern English,” except that it had some old holdovers, and the “Inkhorn Controversy” was still an issue.

•Beginning about 200 years before Shakespeare, and largely complete by his day, long vowel pronunciation shifted: ex: good, name, life

•We kept: addiction, compulsive, pious, tranquil, crew, landscape, nautical, etc.

•But lost: kexy (dry, brittle), pigritude (laziness), and the longest word ever used in English literature, honorificabilitudinitatibus (being able to receive honors)

•Shakespeare coined many words we still use today:

•Critical•Majestic•Dwindle

And quite a few phrases as well:•One fell swoop•Flesh and blood•Vanish into thin air

See http://www.wordorigins.org/histeng.htm

• Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays addressed things to which everyone could relate:• Ambition, intrigue, love, suffering, anger,

greed, passion, self-destruction, compassion…

• Shakespeare had the ability to show the workings of the soul.

• Do not pause at the end of a line unless the punctuation calls for it

• Read it like prose• Many of these plays have numerous

references to people, places, events, myths, etc., that you might not be familiar with. That’s what the notes are for—use them.

• Keep a dictionary handy—preferably a good college edition

• You might need a mythology reference