William Shakespeare Early Years• Born – unknown exactly, probably around April 1564

in Stratford, England• Parents – John and Mary Shakespeare• Father’s Occupation – Glover• Parents had 8 children, 5 reached adulthood• Shakespeare’s education– Went to Stratford Grammar School – Taught primarily in Latin– Left school at age 13

• Marriage– Anne Hathaway– Rumor has it she was pregnant– She was 26, he 18– Had 3 children, one died at age 11

• The Lost Years– 1585-1592– No one knows what he did for sure– Some guesses are: teacher, lawyer, soldier, sailor,

preacher, and butcher

Literary Career• 1592 – until close to 1613– Acted and wrote plays for the “Lord Chamberlain’s

Men” and “King’s Men” in London

• Wrote around 38 plays– Genres• Comedy, history, tragedy

• Wrote “Romeo and Juliet” around 1595• Used 17,677 words in all his plays and poems.

– of that number, 1,700 were first used by Shakespeare

Words Shakespeare Created• accommodation• aerial• amazement• apostrophe• assassination• baseless• bloody• bump• changeful• countless• courtship• critic• critical• dishearten• dislocate• dwindle• eventful• exposure• fitful

• frugal• generous• gloomy• hurry• impartial• indistinguishable• lapse• laughable• lonely• majestic• misplaced• obscene• pious• premeditated• radiance• reliance• submerge• suspicious

Phrases Shakespeare Created• all that glitters isn’t gold• break the ice• breathe one’s last breath• catch a cold• disgraceful conduct• eat out of house and home• elbow room• fair play• green-eyed monster• heart of gold• heartsick• hot-blooded• housekeeping

• it smells like heaven• it’s Greek to me• leapfrog• method in his madness• mind’s eye• naked truth• one fell swoop• pitched battle• to thine self be true• too much of a good thing• wearing one’s heart on one’s

sleeve

Later Years• Performed his last play, “Henry VIII” in June

1613• Went back to Stratford• 1616 – died at the age of 52• Left wife “second-best bed” • Buried in Holy Trinity Church

“Good friend for Jesus’ sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man who spares these stones, And cursed be he that

moves my bones.”

Structure• Octagonal• Contained three main sections of the stage– Heavens• Above the stage• Where special effects happened

– Earth• Stage where most of the action happened

– Hell• Under the stage• Not a pleasant place to be!!!!

Hut

Main Stage

PitHell

Heavens

Inner aboveInner below

Side balcony

Galleries

Trap door

Seating

• Three rows of tiered seating• Cost between 3-5 pence including a cushion– Only the wealthy could afford these

• The pits/penny seats– Commoner (aka groundlings)– People stood in the area around the stage

What was it like?• Flags on the hut announcing type of play– White = comedy– Black = tragedy– Red = history

• At 2 o’clock, the plays would start• Audience– Noisy– Ate and drank then threw trash on ground or at the

actors (if they were bad)– Bathrooms (aka a bucket) were where the groundlings

stood

Actors• Considered thieves and liars– because they pretended to be what they were not

• It was illegal to perform unless they were “servants” of a nobleman– “masterless” actors were whipped and had their

right ear burned

• Women were not allowed to act– adolescent boys would play girl parts