William Shakespeare1564 – 1616

ActorPoet

Playwright

Family Background

• Baptized: April 26, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon

• Parents: John & Mary– John’s Occupations:

tanner, glover, dealer in grain, and town official of Stratford

– Middle-Class family– Paid to obtain a coat of

arms for his father – an effort to improve his family’s social status

Family Background Cont…• Married Anne Hathaway on November 28,

1582– Anne was 26 and Shakespeare was 18– Anne was 3 months pregnant when they married– They had 3 children

• Susanna (1583)• Twins Hamnet & Judith (1585) – Hamnet dies at 11

• Finished his education at 14 – never attended college

The Lost Years1585 – 1592

• There is no record of Shakespeare’s activities between these years

• Many scholars believe that at this time Shakespeare was perfecting his dramatic skills and collecting sources for the plots of his plays.

England’s Monarchy

England’s Monarchy• Queen Elizabeth I

– Held the throne from 1558 – 1603– 1588 – defeats Spanish Armada making

England a powerful nation– Supported the theatre

• King James I (cousin of Elizabeth)– King of England from 1603 – 1625– Supported theatre, changed the name

of Shakespeare’s acting company– Created new translation of the Bible

Living Conditions

• Conditions are bad!• Thames River polluted with raw

sewage• Poverty• Bathing was considered dangerous• Body odor was strong• Childhood diseases• Children often died before 5 years

Living Conditions Cont…• Small Pox• Bubonic Plague

– Destroyed 1/3 – 1/2 of European population

• No running water• Open sewers• Crowded• Clothes – one set was used all year

long, rarely washed

ShakespeareThe Playwright

• Shakespeare relocates to London sometime after the birth of his twins

• 1592-1594 the theatres closed due to the Black Plague

• Shakespeare used this time to write his sonnets - 154 (published 1609)

Shakespeare Cont…

• Shakespeare became good friends with the upper class

• He bought a share of the company, Lord Chamberlain’s Men (his acting company)

• This investment led to his most productive years

The Globe• Built in 1599• Most magnificent

theatre in London• Home to Lord

Chamberlain’s Men• Shakespeare called

it “the Wooden O”• Had no artificial

lighting – performed in open-air during daylight

The Globe Cont…• Shakespeare was 1/5

owner – earned 10% of total profits

• 1608-1613 -Retired to Stratford & lived on the profits he earned from the Globe

• 1613 – Globe burned to the ground during a performance of Henry VIII

Globe Performances• Actors:– Besides having to memorize lines, they had

to sing & dance, wrestle & fence, clown & weep

– All actors were men, with boys usually playing female roles• Due to the scandalous nature, women were not

allowed in the theatre

• Audience:– Groundlings paid a penny to stand and watch

the play, higher class sat in the balcony– Members would throw food or jeer

The Plays

• 1590’s – Early plays were mainly comedy and histories– Comedy is social: leads to happy

resolution and social unity

• Early 1600’s – Focus on tragedy/dramatic themes– Tragedy is individual: concentrating on

the suffering of a single, remarkable hero – leading to individual torment, waste & death

Language• Prose:

– Language without metrical structure

• Verse:– Poetic language and style

• Blank Verse:– Unrhymed iambic pentameter

• Iambic Pentameter:– Five beats of alternating unstressed and

stressed syllables; ten syllables per line– So FAIR/ and FOUL/ a DAY/ I HAVE/ not SEEN

Unusual Word Order

• Shakespeare uses unusual word order to emphasize an action, a word, an emotion, or just create a rhyme.– I ate the sandwich.– I the sandwich ate.– Ate the sandwich I.– The sandwich I ate.– Ate I the sandwich.– The sandwich ate I.

Tips for deciphering unusual word order:

• Find the subject of the sentence.• Find the verb.• Find the object.• Rearrange the sentence to make it

easier to understand.– I ate the sandwich.

• I = subject• Ate = verb• Sandwich = object

Miscellaneous

• The Bible is the only book that has been published more times than Shakespeare’s plays.

• Lord Chamberlain’s Men changed its name to the King’s Men when King James took the thrown.

• Richard Burbage was the leading actor of this time.

Miscellaneous Cont…• Some scholars believe that Shakespeare

did not write his plays and poetry because:– There is little information about his life– His origins and education are poor or

humble– Possible authors include: Francis Bacon,

Christopher Marlowe, Queen Elizabeth I, Edward de Vere Earl Of Oxford, William Stanley Earl of Derby

The Curtain Falls

• Shakespeare dies on April 23, 1616• The Puritans closed the Globe

theatre and in 1644 they tore it down and replaced it with tenement housing.

• The Puritans did not approve of the theatre and believed it was a useless form of entertainment.