Who Was Shakespeare? Bard of Avon = poet of Avon

37 plays are attributed to him, but there is great controversy over the authorship. 154 Sonnets.

Some claim many authors wrote under one name.

In Elizabethan England, one could spell their name any way they wished, including changing it from day to day, which led to much confusion.

Shakespeare’s name has been spelled in over 80 different ways including Shagspeare, Shaxpere, and Shakestaffe.

The Early Years

Born in April 1564in Stratford on Avon

Seven brothers and sisters

His father - a fairly rich merchant

Stratford on Avon

Shakespeare‘s Schooling

Grammar School from age 7 to 13

Shakespeare’s Family

Married Anne Hathaway in 1582

Anne was 26, he was 18

3 children

The youngest,

Hamnet (only son) died at the

age of 11

Shakespeare in London

went to London at 21

joined a travelling company of actors called Lord Chamberlain‘s Men

worked both as an actor and a writer

The Globe

Open-air octagonal amphitheater that could seat up to 3000

No artificial lighting so plays were shown during daylight hours only

The End of his Life Returned to Stratford in 1610

The Globe was destroyed in the 1613 Great Fire of London

In 1616 Shakespeare died on April 23rd (His birthday ) after a night

of drinking with his friends

Shakespeare’s Time Period: Elizabethan Era

Early Modern period or the English Renaissance (rebirth)

Queen Elizabeth I was an anomaly (strange, out of place) of the time period. She was strong, intelligent, and a well-respected ruler.

Women during this time had little or no power and were seen as less than men, so her power was not typical

By refusing to marry throughout her 45 year reign as queen, she retained her own power

Women, once married, had practically no rights

The Globe

Wealthier people would pay more to sit in

the balcony. Others had to pay more to sit

on benches even.

The working class stood in front of the stage

(groundlings).

Brought together social elite and common

drunks

Only men could act (Juliet was performed

by a boy!).

Love During this time, young women (like Juliet) were controlled specifically

by their fathers. They were expected to marry within their own class. This

play is a reflection of the time in which it was written.

The women’s input in whom they wanted to marry was only a mention.

Juliet’s father says “My will to her consent is but a part” [I.ii.15].

Many marriages were arranged and there was nothing that could be

done about it.

Love in marriage was not common, or it did not matter. Marriages were

arranged in order to promote status and wealth within families, like the

Capulets.

Types of Plays

Shakespeare wrote:

Comedies: light and amusing; usually with a

happy ending and people married

Midsummer Night’s Dream

Histories: involve events or persons from history

King Henry VIII

Tragedies: serious dramas with disastrous

endings

Romeo and Juliet

The Play A PLAY is not a BOOK. A play shows while a book tells.

To help you understand, try and picture the actions and

dialogue in your mind.

Stage Direction tells the actors when they should be on

stage and what they should do on stage

Directions are usually in italics or brackets

Ex. [They Fight]

Stage directions are not read out loud

The Play Shakespeare Plays are divided into 5 acts (like

chapters in a book)

Acts: short performances that are part of a longer story

Acts are broken down into scenes

Scenes: help break down the story into even smaller

pieces

Ex. Act 1 Scene 2 or Act I Scene ii

ACT I

Exposition

ACT III

Turning Point

ACT IV

Falling Action

ACT VClimax & Resolution

ACT II

Rising Action

Shakespeare’s plays can usually be divided into five parts,

and follow the same pattern that looks something like this:

(Copy down this graph)

The Play

Elizabethan EnglishIn order to better understand Shakespeare’s plays, it is good to

understand some of the terminology Shakespeare uses in the writing

of his plays. The language is called Elizabethan English, named after

Queen Elizabeth the I. Here are some examples:

ere ~ the old English word for before

hence ~ the old English word for here

swear’st ~ the old English word for swear

thee, thy, thou ~ are old English words for you

thine ~ the old English word for your

wert ~ the old English word for were

wherefore ~ the old English word for why

Shakespeare References

Shakespeare is known to

have invented dozens of

words and phrases, such

as:

Laugh it off

Hint

Lonely

Excellent

Fair play

Catch cold

Inspiration for R+J

Shakespeare’s play is based off a 1562 poem called The Tragicale Historie of Romeus & Juliet by Arthur Brooke.

It has French, Italian, and Greek origins based on a Greek story called “Pyramus and Thisbe”

Shakespeare wrote R+J ~age 30

Shakespeare’s R+J

Shakespeare made the story his own by changing the time frame from 9 months to 5 days. This was designed to emphasize the passing of time & add intensity to the story

He also decreased Juliet’s age from 16 to 13, to highlight her youth and immaturity

He set the play in July, rather than in winter as it was originally written

Focused the language on puns (plays on words) In puns, words have more than one meaning. This focuses the

audience’s attention on surface meanings & deeper meanings

Dramatic Irony Shakespeare uses dramatic irony: the audience or reader

knows something important that a character in a play or story does not know

Creates tension.

At times Shakespeare “layers” the dramatic irony, making it harder and harder for Romeo and Juliet to escape their untimely deaths.

Some of the most poignant moments in the play come from the knowledge that we cannot share with the characters.

Language in R+J Soliloquy-an unusually long speech in which a character

who is on stage alone expresses his or her thoughts aloud

Aside-words that are spoken by a character in a play to the

audience or to another character but that are not

supposed to be overheard by the others onstage

Monologue – like a soliloquy, is a lengthy speech. However,

a monologue is addressed to other characters on stage,

not to the audience.

Language in R+J Allusion -references to well-known people, places, or even from

myths or literature.

Shakespeare’s characters often allude to figures in myths or popular

stories to add meaning to their speeches.

Pun-a play on the multiple meanings of a word, or on two words

that sound alike but have different meanings

Mercutio is one of the most witting and intelligent characters

Language in R+J Comic relief - a short comic scene that releases some of the

built-up tension of the play - giving the audience a momentary

“relief” before the tension mounts higher.

Mercutio and his puns

The nurse’s low-end humor (sexual punning); Being a servant she

has no social etiquette

Example: “I would say thou hads’t suck’d wisdom from thy teat” [I.iii.76]

In the best tragedies, comic relief also provides an ironic

counterpoint to the tragic action.

Summary (2-3 sentences)

Something that is becoming clear to me

about Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet is…