Introduction to

Shakespeare

English I

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born the third of eight

children on April 23, 1564, in the town of Stratford-upon-

Avon, England, to Mary Arden and John Shakespeare.

His father, John, was a shopkeeper and a man of some

importance in Stratford who served at various times as

Justice of the Peace and High Bailiff (mayor).

Shakespeare

The man, the myth, the legend

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

…As it is today.

William attended grammar school

where he studied Latin grammar, Latin

literature, and rhetoric (the uses of

language). As far as we know, he had

no formal education.

Education

At the age of eighteen,

Shakespeare fell in love

with Anne Hathaway

who was 26. They

married and had three

children. Susanna was

the oldest, and Hamnet

and Judith were twins.

Hamnet died as a child.

Let There Be Love…

Shakespeare’s play writing success began with

historical works. Between 1590 and 1593, he wrote

Henry VI, Parts 1,2, and 3, Richard III and A Comedy of

Errors. Romeo and Juliet was among the early plays that

he wrote between 1594 and 1596. Shakespeare wrote a

total of thirty seven plays, including such masterpieces as

Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth.

There’s Even More?!?

As an actor, he was a member of a theatrical

company known as Lord Chamberlain’s Men, which

was later to become the King’s Men. Wealthy patrons

supported these theatrical groups. The King’s Men

were supported by King James himself.

Shakespeare worked with The King’s Men all

of his writing life by providing them with plays year

after year. He had a theater that needed plays, actors

who needed parts, and his own family who needed to

be fed.

Still More Shakespeare . . .

He retired from the theater to his native

Stratford in 1612. Due to his widespread fame and

success, he was able to buy the second-largest house

in Stratford with a cottage, a garden, and 107 acres

of soccer field

In early 1616, he wrote his will, leaving his

property to his daughter Susanna, 300 pounds to his

other daughter, Judith, and his second-best bed to

Anne because it was her favorite.

Retirement

Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, on his 52nd

birthday. He was buried at Trinity Church in Stratford as

an honored citizen. His tombstone bears the following

inscription:

Good Friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear

To dig the dust enclosed here.

Blest be the man that spares these stones,

And cursed be he who moves my bones.

R.I.P.

Shakespeare continued

Shakespeare was in the acting company, Lord

Chamberlain's Men (later called the King’s Men)

He wrote:

37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 long poems

His work was not published during his lifetime

but four years later in the "First Folio" book

Shakespeare is considered a "man for all

seasons" because his plays appeal to everyone

(all ages and across time)

The Shakespeare Debate

There is much speculation as to whether or not there was an actual “Shakespeare.”

Many historians claim that “Shakespeare” is actually a collection of several poets and playwrights works, while others claim that it was a pseudonym for another writer.

The three men most associated with the “Shakespeare Debate” are Edward De Vere, Francis Bacon, and Christopher Marlow.

The Globe Theater

Shakespeare performed his plays here

Constructed in 1599

On the banks of the Thames River

• Near London

Shape: Octagonal

Play time: 2 hours in

the afternoon

Cost: One penny

The Globe

The Globe continued

Seating:

Pit: General crowd

Galleries: A small additional fee would get you these seats

Box Seats: Royalty or noblemen only

The capacity for the play performance was 3,000

Sound effects were made in the huts

Ghosts could appear on stage through trap doors

The Globe continued

Flags, trumpets, and fliers told when there would be a play

The flags also told the audience what type of play they would be seeing:

Red flag = history play

White flag = comedy play

Black Flag = tragedy play

Parts of the Globe

The Pit- Sometimes referred to as “The Yard”

where the groundlings watched the play for their

one-penny admission.

The Stage- Major playing area jutted into the

Pit, creating a sense of intimacy with the

audience. Hangings curtained off space beneath.

Main entrance- Here the doorkeeper greeted

playgoers and collected one penny from

everyone.

Parts of the Globe

Lord’s Rooms- private galleries; six pennies let

a viewer sit here, or sometimes even on the

stage itself.

Middle Gallery- called “two-penny rooms”

because the seats here were higher priced.

Inner Stage- A recessed playing area often

curtained off, then opened for appropriate

scenes.

Parts of the Globe

Hut- a storage area that also held a wench

system for lowering enthroned gods or other

characters to the stage.

Tiring-House- The important backstage area

which provided space for storage and business

offices.

Parts of the Globe

Trap Door- Leading down to the Hell area

where equipment included the winch elevator

that raised and lowered actors or properties.

There was another trap door in the ceiling

referred to as “the heavens.”

Hell- The area under the stage, used for ghostly

comings and goings or for more mundane

storage of properties.

Elizabethan England

Queen Elizabeth I ruled England

during the time that Shakespeare

wrote many of his plays.

Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I

She ruled England for nearly

50 years, and was very popular

Ruled 1558-1603

She was such a strong ruler that the time is called the Elizabethan Age or England’s Golden Age.

Elizabeth never married although she had many suitors during her lifetime.

Queen Elizabeth had red hair and green eyes and was known for her love of fashion; she had over 2,000 dresses. Some of her more elaborate gowns weighed over 200 pounds each.

Queen Elizabeth I continued

During the 1600s, London was a busy,

bustling, walled city. It was having a

Renaissance (rebirth) of arts and sciences under

two monarchs who loved the theater.

Queen Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry

VIII and Anne Boleyn, was a liberal-minded

monarch who enjoyed the theater and wrote

plays for special performances. Shakespeare

gave 32 performances at her court during her

reign.

Elizabethan Theater

During this time, theater was not the

only form of entertainment. People also

enjoyed music and dancing.

No women were allowed to act in the plays. Young boys acted the female parts.

Actors wore clothes from their own time period, regardless of the play’s setting. The costumes were often very fancy.

Audiences were very rowdy. They talked during the plays, and if they did not like one, they would throw garbage at the actors.

King James I

(Elizabeth’s Successor)

King James I

King James I, the son of Mary Queen of

Scots, reigned from 1603 to 1625. He also

supported the theatre and wrote many poems and

plays. At least half of the plays that he saw

performed had been written by Shakespeare.

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth and later

King James, there were many famous

Elizabethan Theaters. Some of these were

“The Theatre” “The Swan”

“The Globe” “The Rose”

“The Blackfriars” “The Fortune”

“The Whitehall” “The Curtain”

These theatres were usually located outside the

London walls on the Thames.

Elizabethan Theaters

Romeo & Juliet was written during a period when

Shakespeare had found the strength of his writing. He

would have been about 30 years old when he wrote it. It

stands as a great play in its own right.

Romeo & Juliet is believed to have been written around

1595. The Nurse in the play refers to "an earthquake

eleven years past (Act II, scene 3, line 23). London

experienced a strong tremor around 1580.

Romeo & Juliet

Romeo & Juliet

1968

Romeo & Juliet

1996

The story is, of course, about a pair of

star-crossed lovers. Two teenagers pursue their

love for each other despite the fact that their

families have been at odds with each other for

decades. The story combines swordfighting,

disguise, misunderstanding, tragedy, humor,

and some of the most romantic language found

in literature all in the name of true love.

The Tragedy

Any Questions?