1

William William ShakespeareShakespeare

The World's The World's

Most Influential Most Influential WriterWriter

2

Shakespeare is considered the world's greatest dramatist.

LIFE

Much of Shakespeare's life is shrouded in mystery due to the lack of record keeping at that time in England

Born – April 23, 1564…Died – April 23, 1616

Stratford-upon-Avon, EnglandMiddle-Class parents Shakespeare was 3rd of 8 children

3

Great Britain, including England, Shakespeare’s home

4

England

5

Stratford-Upon-Avon, where Shakespeare was born and grew up

London, where Shakespeare’s reputation was born (and where the Globe was located)

6

Father was poor, but through ambition and work made something of himself. He married into land (land=money) and later became bailiff (mayor) of the town

1571 – Shakespeare probably (records lost) began attending the King's New School, a grammar school of good quality in Stratford

Teachers at the school were graduates of Oxford University and were very strict with students

7

By modern standards school would have been routine and dull

Students spent 9 hours a day at school

School was taught year-round, except for 3 brief holidays

Studies were mainly in Latin and involved rhetoric and language.

8

Pause & Reflect: Compare your education with Shakespeare’s. How do you think it shaped him?

• Stratford was a popular spot for traveling acting troupes.

• Kettleworth Castle hosted a huge play festival very near Stratford while Shakespeare was a child.

• It can be assumed Shakespeare was exposed to theater at a young age.

9

10

1582 – Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway – he was 18, she was 26. She gave birth to a daughter the next year, and later had twins.

Little is known about the next 8-10 years of Shakespeare's life – few records exist (Scholars call this period The Lost Years)

 Most likely he was in London trying to

succeed in the theatre

11

Anne Hathaway’s Anne Hathaway’s HomeHome

12

1592 – First evidence that Shakespeare had moved to London and was working in the theater

mid-1592-1594 – outbreak of plague closed the London theaters, so…..

Shakespeare began to write poetry

Became well known for a 14 line poem called a sonnet

Pause & Reflect

• Speculate about what Shakespeare could’ve been doing during the “Lost Years.” What might his family life been like?

13

14

1594 – Shakespeare was part of a group that founded the company of players called Lord Chamberlain's Men (later called the King's Men)

Lord Chamberlain's Men was a very successful company of players (actors) – by the turn of the century, they had the:

best actor, Richard Burbagebest theater, The Globebest playwright, W. Shakespeare

15

1594-1608 – Shakespeare worked in London as a playwright and actor.

This is the period when he solidified himself as the most popular playwright in London.

He did not gain recognition as an unrivaled genius until later generations studied his works more closely.

16

1599 – Shakespeare and his partners built a new theater in a suburb of London. It was called The Globe - his 10% ownership in this theater helped Shakespeare make his fortune

The Globe was one of the largest in the London area – held 3000 spectators

17

The Globe (outside)

(This is a modern recreation of the theater.)

18

Note the open air design. The original Globe would have had a roof made of thatch.

19

Note the round shape – all spectators were facing the stage

20Inside view of stage, upper stage, galleries, and the pit.

Pause & Reflect

• What would it be like to see a play in The Globe? What factors would you have to take into consideration?

21

22

The first play ever performed at The Globe was Shakespeare’s own “Julius Caesar”.

The Globe would later burn down during a performance of “Henry VIII”. A cannon was fired for special effect in one of the scenes. Some of the sparks landed on the thatch of the roof and created a monstrous fire.

It was rebuilt and then destroyed again when the Puritans came to power because they believed theater wasn’t a worthy pursuit.

23

1599-1608 – Period in which Shakespeare wrote the plays which made him famous: comedies Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night; the history Henry V, and great tragedies Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, and Othello

Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, which have been divided into comedies, histories, and tragedies

1608-1616 – Shakespeare most likely split his time between Stratford and London

24

1608-1616 – Shakespeare most likely split his time between Stratford and London

Shakespeare wrote only 4 plays during the last 8 years of his life

 April 23, 1616 – Shakespeare died

and was buried inside the Stratford parish church

25

Trinity Church, burial site of Trinity Church, burial site of ShakespeareShakespeare

26

Burial site, inside the Burial site, inside the churchchurch

27

Scholars have placed his plays into one of four periods:

First Period 1590-1594Second Period 1595-1600 (This is

the period Romeo and Juliet would have been written.)

Third Period 1601-1608Fourth Period 1609-1613

Pause & Reflect

• How do you suppose Shakespeare wrote so many large works? What do you think his work day / schedule looked like?

28

29

Reasons for his appeal 1) understanding of human nature 2) knew people's motivations, desires,

fears – still valid 400 years later 3) had to make great use of language

because of the conditions of the theater at that time: no lights, no scenery

30

4) produced characters that have meaning beyond the time and place of his plays (timeless)

 5) created remarkably individual

characters for his plays. Kings, pickpockets, drunks, generals, hired killers, shepherds, and philosophers all mingle in Shakespeare's plays

31

Significance today

Shakespeare's plays are still extremely popular today & have been made into movies – some several times

Shakespeare "invented" many words that are still used today:

lonely academe leapfrog assassin

most serious actors still consider performing Shakespearean plays to be the toughest test of an actor

plays are still read, debated, discussed, made into movies: 400 years after he wrote them

• Have you seen these Shakespeare movies?

West Side Story – (Romeo and Juliet)O - Othello10 Things I Hate About You – (Taming of the

Shrew)A Midsummer Night’s DreamShe’s The Man – (Twelfth Night)Much Ado About NothingHamletThe Lion King – (Hamlet and Richard III)

32

Pause & Reflect

• Based on this information, should Shakespeare be admired as the best storyteller of all time? Why? Justify your answer with info you just learned.

33