Shakespeare: Life & Times

• Born April 23, 1564• Died April 23, 1616• Stratford-upon-Avon• Parents: John and Mary ArdenShakespeare• Mary—daughter of wealthy landowner• John—glovemaker, local politician, struggled with serious financial debt

Stratford-upon-Avon•100 miles northwest of

London•Small, rural community

•Built on a river

Shakespeare’s birth place

Schooling…•Attended local grammar school: King’s New School

•Classical education: rhetoric, logic, history, Latin•Did not attend university because of dad’s financial debt

Married Life…•Married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 & she was 26

•She was 3 months pregnant with their first daughter, Susanna (born 1583)•1585: Twins were born- Hamnet & Judith

•Sometime between 1585-1592, he moved to London and began working in theatre. (a.k.a. “Lost years”)

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage

London During Shakespeare’s Era

Living/sanitation conditions were BAD!!!Trees used up for fuelPovertyThames River (primary source of water) polluted with sewage

Bathing considered dangerous= BAD B.O.Childhood diseases (often died before 5 years old)Small PoxBubonic PlagueCrowded

Theater during Shakespeare’s Time

Performed in courtyards of innsDaytime/Open airLimited set design/ minimal costumes & propsRelied heavily on good scripts & actingActors were ALL men

Shakespeare was a member & part owner of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later called King’s Men1599: Globe Theater built by Lord Chamberlain’s Men with Shakespeare as primary investor

Globe Theater

Rebuilt Globe Theater

•Original theater burned down in 1613 during one of Shakespeare’s plays

Shakespeare Writing38 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare fall into three primary categories:

Histories - based on “fact”Tragedies - end in deathComedies - end in a wedding

Possibly wrote three othersCollaborated on several othersWrote two major poems; numerous others Wrote 154 Sonnets

Written in iambic pentameterRhyme Scheme (abab cdcd efef gg)

Romeo & Juliet: : Prologue Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDoth with their death bury their parents' strife.The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,And the continuance of their parents' rage,Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;The which if you with patient ears attend,What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.