Introduction to Shakespeare & Julius Caesar

Overview of the Life of William ShakespeareLived from 1564-1616Important member of

Lord Chamberlain’s Men starting in 1594

Many gaps in the knowledge of his life.

Some speculate that he was not legitimate

Others consider him the greatest writer of all time

Only 2 primary sources can identify his existence: church and court records

No birth record exists. Baptized April 26, 1564

(Estimated birthday: April 23)3rd child of John Shakespeare and Mary ArdenMost likely attended King’s New School

Shakespeare’s Early Life

Shakespeare’s Married LifeMarried Anne Hathaway in

November 1582He was 18; she was 26First child, Susanna, born in

May 1583Twins born in 1585: Hamnet

& JudithHamnet died at age 11

No record of Shakespeare’s life from 1585-1592

Called “lost years”Could have been hiding for poaching game Could have worked as assistant schoolmaster

in LancashireArrived in London in mid to late 1580s

Shakespeare’s Lost Years

1592- Earning a living as actor and playwright in London

Early 1590s: Managing partner in Lord Chamberlain’s Men

Lord Chamberlain’s Men became the King’s Men in 1603

Greatly involved in the Elizabethan and Jacobean courts

Wrote plays dedicated to and inspired by Queen Elizabeth and King James

Shakespeare Joins the Theater

Published 15 of 37 plays by 1597Purchased New House for his familyRarely visited Stratford1599: Built theater on the Thames River with

partnersThis is the well-known Globe Theater

Shakespeare As Playwright

The Globe TheaterFlag

The “Heavens”

GalleriesTrapdoor Open Yard

Inner Stage

Upper Stage

Main Stage

Tiring House

The “Wooden O”Held up to 3,000 peopleOpened in 1599 with “As

You Like It”1613: Accidental fire1614: Reconstructed1642: Puritans shut down

the Globe1644: Leveled for housing1993: New Globe opens

The Globe Theater

Early Works: ConventionalElaborate metaphorsRhetorical phrases didn’t always align

Later Works:Adapted traditional style to his purposesCreated a freer flow of words

Preferred Unrhymed Iambic PentameterUsed writing style to indicate social class

Iambic Pentameter for royaltySimple prose for lower class

Shakespeare’s Writing Style

Early 1590s: first plays were mainly historiesException: Romeo & JulietIncluded Richard II, Henry VI, and Henry V

The Early Period also includes comediesComedies often had a great deal of romanceA Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About

Nothing, Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night

Early Works: Histories & Comedies

After 1600, Shakespeare wrote tragedies:Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and MacbethStrong impressions of universal temperamentsMoral failures drove the twists/turns that

destroyed the hero and his loved onesSeveral tragicomedies

Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The TempestGraver topics than earlier comedies but not as

dark as the tragediesEnd with reconciliation and/or forgiveness

Later Works: Tragedies & Tragicomedies

Church records indicate Shakespeare was buried April 5, 1616

Left bulk of possessions to eldest daughter Susanna

Only bequeathed Anne his “second-best bed”Speculation of meaning

Could show their lack of closeness/relationship“First-best bed” was used for house guests and

“second-best bed” was the marital bed

Shakespeare’s Death

Questioning AuthorshipAbout 150 years following Shakespeare’s deathSeveral theories are discussedOfficial records show the existence of a W.

Shakespeare, but he’s not listed as a playwrightLack of education is biggest issue

Many scholars have argued that a multitude of playwrights could be Shakespeare.Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere (an Earl),

Sir Francis Bacon, or William Stanley (an Earl)

Controversy &Legacy

Christopher MarloweBorn in 1564 and in the

same social classUniversity educatedTalented translator  AtheistSimilar writing styleKilled in a bar fight in 1593

"over an unpaid bill"Assassinated?Staged?

One of Shakespeare's tragedies

First performed at the Globe Theater in 1599

Published in 1623 First FolioSource: a translation of

Plutarch's Lives (especially Brutus and Caesar)

Elizabethan England was entranced by Romans

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Based on assassination of Julius Caesar and the civil war that follows

Anachronisms: hats, doublets, clocks, other common items in Elizabethean England

Special connection to contemporary Elizabethan politics

Tragic Hero: Not Caesar, but Brutus. A sympathetic portrayal of the traitorous friend.

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Group 1: Caesar's assassination, include pre- and post events

Group 2: Roman Senate/ Roman government before and during Caesar's rule

Group 3: Julius Caesar, person and leaderGroup 4: Marcus Brutus, person and leaderGroup 5: Marc Anthony, person and leaderGroup 6: Plutarch's Life of Brutus, the source

Group Research on Rome