William Shakespeare Everything You Want to Know About the Bard (and Maybe Some You Don’t)

William Shakespeare

Everything You Want to Know About the Bard (and Maybe Some You Don’t)

What is a bard?

• bard - noun - poet

• The Bard (or The Bard of Avon) - proper noun - Shakespeare! He is, like, THE BARD!! The one and only! The quintessence of bards! The epitome of bards! The Bard of all bards! Yup, that’s Bill!

Biographical Info

• Born: Straford-Upon-Avon (April 23, 1564)• Parents

– John Shakespeare (glove maker)– Mary Arden

• School– The King’s New Grammar School (we think)

• 9 hrs/day• Barely any vacation

Biographical Info

• Married– 18 years old– Anne Hathaway

• Children– Susanna (born 6 months after wedding)– Twins

• Judith & Hamnet• Hamnet died at age 11

Biographical Info

• London– Shakespeare became a true man of the

theater• Actor• Playwright• Producer

– Invested in real estate• Owned part of the Globe Theater

Biographical Info

• Production Company– Lord Chamberlain’s Men

• William Shakespeare• John Heminge• Thomas Pope• Will Kempe• Augustine Phillips

– Later (1603) dubbed His Majesty’s Servants (James I)

It’s time to don your doublet!

Tighten your trussing!

Get on your galligaskins!

Females, fit on your farthingales!

Smooth your stomachers!

Remember your ruffs!

Slip on your shoes!

And grab your gloves!

Ladies?

Gentlemen?

Is everybody ready?

We’re going to the theater!

The Globe!

Shakespeare’s theater is located just outside of London, England.

Globe Structure

• Capacity: 2000-3000• No lighting (daytime performances)• Open air (mostly)

– Poor acoustics - actors had to shout and exaggerate gestures

• No background scenery• No curtains• No stagehands

Globe Structure




Globe Structure

• Change of scenes were indicated by speech or narration in the text

• Stage– 43 ft.wide– 27-28 ft. deep– 5 ft. off ground– Trap doors

Globe Structure

• Stage & pit – Open air

• Gallery – May have been covered

• Tiring house– Costume changes

Globe Theater

• Built in 1599 from the remains of another theater (The Theater)

• Built by Cuthbert Burbage (brother of Robert Burbage)

• Built specifically for Lord Chamberlain’s Men

Globe Structure




Audience & Actors

• Richard Burbage– Shakespeare wrote plays with him in mind

• Hamlet• King Lear• Othello

– Subtle acting skills were a good contrast

• Will Kempe– Foremost comic actor

• Peter (R&J)• Bottom (Midsummer)• Falstaff (Henry IV)

Audience & Actors

• Located across Thames River (Sporting District) - SHADY!

• Not London’s jurisdiction; very bawdy– Cock fighting– Bear baiting– Bawdy attractions of taverns

• Also attracted upper crust because the theater itself was very grand

End of the Globe

• June 29, 1613– Thatched roof caught fire by a cannon in a

performance of Henry VIII

• Rebuilt and torn down again in the 1600s

• There is a reconstruction near the original location today

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.



1647 Illustration by Wenceslaus Hollar



Picture of the stage of the reconstructed globe (1997).

A white flag is flying. There’s a play today!

It’s afternoon, time for the play to start.

The groundlings have paid their penny and are standing to watch the play.

The young men are dressing up to take the female roles.

The stage is a lower class profession, and no women will appear there.

Poetry is a higher class of art than play writing is.

The wealthy are in the upper decks.

The play is about to begin!

We’re in for a real treat!

It’s one of Shakespeare’s tragedies!

It’s good the plague is over and the theaters are open again.





1647 Illustration by Wenceslaus Hollar



Picture of the stage of the reconstructed globe (1997).

The Queen’s English

• anon (until later) ･• morrow (day) ･• e'en (even/evening) ･• fare-thee-well (goodbye) ･• aye/yea (yes) ･• nay (no) ･ ne'r (never) ･• oft (often) ･• wherefore (why) ･• ere (before)


• mayhap/perchance/belike (maybe)• enow (enough) ･• aroint (away) ･• verily (very/truly) ･• prithee/pray (please) ･• fie (a curse) ･• grammarcy (thank you)


• Pronunciation Drills

– http://www.renfaire.com/Language/drills.html

The Later Years

• Last plays written in 1613• Retired to Stratford• Died April 23, 1616 of unknown causes• Epitaph:

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear,To dig the dust enclosed here.Blest be the man that spares these stones,But cursed be he that moves my bones.

Sonnets

• Bill wrote 154 of them• Written in 1590s during an outbreak of the

Plague (theaters were closed)• Most sonnets in Shakespeare’s time were

about love• Quite often written as part of a series• Originated in Italy (from Italian word “sonetto,”

meaning “little song”)

Sonnets

• Sonnets 1-126

– Unidentified young man

– Outstanding physical and intellectual abilities

– First 17 urge him to marry so he can pass his superior qualities to a child

– Sonnet 18 (one of the most famous) is a turning point - Shakespeare says his own poetry may be all that is needed to immortalize the young man

Sonnets

• Sonnets 127-154– “dark lady”

• Sensuous• Irresistable• Questionable morals (dissolute)• Referenced in Sonnets 35, 40, 41, 42

Structure of a Sonnet

• Italian Sonnet (Petrarch)– 14 lines (one octave and one sestet)– First stanza presents a theme; second stanza develops it– Rhyme scheme

• ABBA

• ABBA

• CDE

• CDE

Structure of a Sonnet

• English Sonnet (Shakespearean)– 14 lines (3 quatrains and a couplet)– The couplet always sums up the thoughts– Iambic pentameter– Rhyme scheme

• ABAB• CDCD• EFEF• GG

And remember...

The play’s the thing!

All the world’s a stage...

...and all men and women really players

Documents

William Shakespeare Everything You Want to Know About the Bard (and Maybe Some You Don’t)