Shakespeare, Part 2: His Life and His

Theater Created using images from the Folger

Library www.folger.edu

Ms Denise Gill SPHS Department of English Freshman English

Beginnings • Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-Upon

Avon.

• His family was middle class; his father was a glove-maker and held local political positions.

Young Adulthood • He would have received a “grammar school”

education, which would have included rhetoric (including argumentation) as well as Greek and Latin language and literature.

• When he was 18, he married Anne Hathaway.

• By the time he was in his mid-twenties, he was working in London theaters.

• Little else is known about his personal life.

The Theater - England's Other Empire

Throughout the Middle Ages in England, it was

illegal to perform any plays that were not direct

interpretations of biblical stories. When the

Renaissance came to England, finally plays could be

performed. While much of Europe looked down on

England as being culturally inferior during the

Renaissance, they did quickly become the masters

of theater.

Elizabethan Theater Troupes • Approximately 10 acting troupes existed in

England in Shakespeare's day.

• Each troupe had about 10 men.

• These men were the primary actors, as well as the stage hands, directors, and playwrights.

• A troupe was required to have a patron.

Performances • In addition to

performing in one of the two theaters just outside of London, troupes would be hired to perform for parties at large estates.

• If an outbreak of the plague hit London, the theaters would be closed as a precaution.

Shakespeare Hits the Stage Young Will Shakespeare probably began his career

with the Earl of Pembroke's Men, but we know that

he eventually he joined Lord Chamberlain's Men.

He was both an actor and the playwright for these

troupes.

In addition to Shakespeare's writing skill, the

Chamberlain's Men also boasted one of the

greatest actors of the time, Richard Burbage.

Shakespeare's Success By the end of the 16th Century, Lord Chamberlain's Men

became the most successful troupe in England.

The tragedies Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, and Hamlet,

written between 1600-1606, are considered

Shakespeare's greatest masterpieces.

Late in Shakespeare's career, the Chamberlain's Men

became The King's Men—King James, Elizabeth's

successor, was their patron.

Sometime around 1613, Shakespeare retired and went

back to Stratford a wealthy man.

The Globe Theater Shakespeare and a few

partners eventually built their

own theater in London, The

Globe. (See your textbook for

details.) This helped make

him an even more successful

businessman.

Structure of the Plays • All of the plays have five acts.

• The climax occurs in Act III.

• Write the acts in Roman numerals, the scenes in

lower case roman numerals, and the lines in

Arabic numbers (For example II, iv, 28-35 means

Act two, scene four, lines twenty-eight through

thirty-five.)

We are NOT reading

Old English

Old English (from Beowulf):

Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,

þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,

hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.

Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum

We aren't reading

Middle English, either

Middle English (The Canterbury Tales):

Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote

And bathed every veyne in swich licour,

Of which vertu engendred is the flour . . .

Shakespeare's Language:

Early Modern English

Early Modern English (Romeo and Juliet):

See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!

O that I were a glove upon that hand,

that I might touch that cheek!

Shakespeare's Legacy He was successful in his own time, and by the

1800s, writers, readers, and audiences recognized

that he had indeed been a genius like no other.

His plays continue to be performed throughout the

world, and he is the single most referenced author in Western Literature.

His mastery of the language and the tangible

humanity of his characters continue to appeal to

readers and audiences today.

A Small Sampling of Allusions, References, and Spoofs

West Side Story

The Lion King [Hamlet]

Sarah Schmelling's “Hamlet (Facebook News Feed Edition)”

Virginia Woolf's famous essay about female

writers is called “Shakespeare's Sister.” An all-girl

band in the 1990s borrowed the title for their name.

A Simpsons Episode: “Much Apu about Nothing”

The Taylor Swift song

Kiss Me Kate [Taming of the Shrew]

Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes

In the video game Halo 3, there is an achievement

entitled "Alas, Poor Yorick" [Hamlet]