William Shakespeare, London, Queen Elizabeth,

&Julius Caesar

What you need to know about Shakespeare

Well-known Facts about Shakespeare

• Born April 1564; died April 1616 (52 years old)

• Great writer of England

• Plays translated into all languages, musicals, ballets

• Born Stratford-upon-Avon

• Well-to-do, affluent while alive

• Most quoted, other than the Bible

Lesser-known Facts about Will

• Teen father: married pregnant 26 year old Anne Hathaway when he was 18

• Deadbeat dad: Left wife and children for London stage career

• Father of twins• Elizabethan rapper: uses

rhythm and rhyme• “Plagiarism” ?

Shakespeare’s Career

• At 28, he was an actor and playwright (1592)

• 1594 - charter member of Lord Chamberlain's Men

• 1603- Changed to King’s Men

• Retired in 1612 at 48 years of age

• Wrote 37 plays

• Julius Caesar written in 1599

What you need to know about the Theatre

Theater in London

• Performed in courtyards of inns

• The Theater-first public theater-1576

• Daytime/open air

• Limited set design

• Relied on music, sound, costumes, props and great description

The Globe

• Built in 1599

• Across the Thames- “Wrong side of town”

• King’s Players - Shakespeare’s company

Admission

• 1 shilling to stand

• 2 shillings to sit in the balcony

• 1 shilling was 10% of their weekly income

• Broadway Today:

– $85 Orchestra

– $60 Balcony

– 10% of a teacher’s weekly salary

Actors

• All men• Female parts played

by young boys• No actual kissing or

hugging on stage

The Groundling

• Poor audience member; sat in the cheaper seats

• Stood around stage in “the pit”

• Women not allowed (had to dress up as men to attend)

• Threw rotten vegetables at bad performances

The Competition: What’s there to do on a Friday Night?!

Shakespeare fought to steal audiences from…

– Bear-baiting– Races– Gambling– Music– Drinking/socializing– Prostitution– Public executions

What you need to know about Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth

• Bastard daughter of King Henry VIII

• And Ann Boleyn (2nd of 6 wives)

• Henry had Ann beheaded for “treason”

• Younger sister of “Bloody Mary.”

• “Virgin Queen”?• A tease and a player

Her “loving” parents

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What you need to know about London & the

Time Period

The Renaissance

• 1500-1650• “Rebirth” of arts, culture,

science • Discovery of “New

World”• King Henry VIII =

renaissance man (ideal)• Reformation of Catholic

Church

Conditions in London-BAD!

• Thames River polluted with raw sewage

• Poverty

Personal hygiene/health

• Bathing considered dangerous

• Body odor strong

• Childhood diseases

• Children often died before 5 years

• Small Pox

• Plague

Living Conditions

• No running water

• Chamber Pots

• Open Sewers

• Crowded

                  

Clothes

• One set used all year long, rarely washed

• Underclothing slept in, infrequently changed

• Clothes handed down from rich to poor

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What you need to know about Elizabethan Beliefs

Elizabethan Beliefs

Life in Elizabethan England could be cruel and hard. The poor often went hungry, disease was widespread, medical remedies often felt more like tortures, and many women died in childbirth. But through their beliefs, people found ways of making sense of their existence.

Elizabethan Beliefs

• People were, in general, much more religious than people today.

• Almost everyone believed in God and expected to go to heaven or hell after death.

Elizabethan BeliefsThe Chain of Being

God created everything in a strict hierarchy, or chain, that stretched from God himself down to the lowest things in existence.

The monarch was the highest Nobles and churchmen below Gentlemen Commoners All women were considered to be inferior to men,

with the obvious exception of Elizabeth I.

Elizabethan Beliefs

Accepting one’s place in the chain was a duty that would be rewarded by God in heaven.

Elizabethan BeliefsElizabethan Beliefs

Myths and Magic Fairies, magic, witches, spells and

prophecies all formed part of their view of life.

Folklore and superstition were often as important to people as the official religious beliefs taught by the Church.

What you need to know about Julius Caesar

Background of Caesar

Opens in 44 BC – when Rome had made conquests that allowed it to have an empire in N. Africa, Britain, Persia, and Spain.

Background of Caesar

City itself collapsing despite conquestsMilitary endeavours more ambitious generals stronger while senators weaker and factionalizedSharp class divisionsMost wanted a republic

Background of Caesar

Caesar emerged as most likely to succeed

Remarkable general

Popular among lower classes at home

Background of Caesar

Caesar was believed to have and proved he had

AbilityCharismaAmbitionGood luck

Differing views– Assassination as act of heroism,

expediency, or villainy – celebrate, excuse, or denounce its perpetrators?

• Shakespeare saw Caesar and Roman civilization not just as one that precedes the future, but as one that sets the pattern for future civilizations.

• Shakespeare's England faced concerns of a country about to change leadership and centuries.

What Kind of Play is Julius Caesar?

Julius Caesar is both a History and a Tragedy

Ends in the death of one or more of the main characters.

Involved historical individuals and events

Tragic Hero• Often a man of high rank, such as a king or

prince• Creates, or is put into, a difficult situation

which he must try to resolve.• A combination of bad luck and bad

decisions lead to his death.• Has a tragic flaw (most commonly hubris)• Often a relatively sympathetic figure. His

soliloquies show his feelings and motives, and show the audience how easy it would be to make similar mistakes.

Doom and Destiny

• Many people believed in fate, or destiny, and in the power of the stars to foretell the future.

• Shakespeare uses the idea of fate or destiny to add excitement and anticipation to the tragedies Uses a prophecy as a way of holding the

audience’s interest, because everyone wants to see if it will be fulfilled.

The Roman Tragedies Two Themes

• Politics and Power – shows how hard it is to be a political leader. The hero has power, but has a weakness which makes him vulnerable to being attacked or overthrown

• Love and Duty – people often have to make difficult choices between their emotions and their responsibilities

Key Themes

Honor

AmbitionAmbitionEnvyPower

Look for Rhetoric

• “The art or study of using language effectively and persuasively”

• Make sure to look for persuasion and the use of language throughout the play (note the characters techniques to win public and political support)

Language of Shakespeare• Early Modern

English (NOT Middle English, like Chaucer)

• Lack of standardized spelling

• Puns and references to current events of his time make it difficult

• You know more than you think you do!

• Poetry of the sonnets and plays:

• Iambic Pentameter (lines of five metrical feet, each one an iamb)

• Not perfect, or it would be sing-songy

• Blank Verse (unrhymed Iambic Pentameter)

• Lower Classes’ speech, or that of characters in emotional extremis, is in prose