SHAKESPEARE

THEATRE AT THIS TIME

Shakespeare’s life

Where and when was he born?

He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, xvi century.

2.When did he go to London?

After getting married to Anne Hathaway, at a certain moment in his life.

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

Anne’s cottage

In London: actor and playwright

What did he do in London?

He performed as an actor and wrote plays and poetry. He wrote: tragedies,

comedies and historical plays. Why were theatres so important at that

time?

They were the only type of entertainment

The Globe: characteristics

Many of his plays were performed in the Globe.Theatres at that time were different from today’s.

The plays took place in the open air in daylight when the weather was good.There was no scenery on the stage. Boys played the female parts

THE GLOBE THEATRE

roofless

Rounded

Circular building

THE GLOBE: INSIDEHeavens

Galleries

Main

stage

Upper

stage

Inner stage

Pillars

FLAG

The Globe: partsFLAG(white-comedy)

Colour coding (black –tragedy)

STAGE

YARD

Three

Galleries

For nobles and gentlemen

PIT( forCommoners

Or Groundlings

FRONS

SCENAE

THEATRE: MORE DETAILS

Between two and three thousand people, from all classes of society, were in the audience.Toilets didn’t exist.

Did women go to the theatre?Yes, they did though it was considered

immoral. That’s why many attended performances with masks (not to be recognised)

Theatre: more information

Even legend says Queen Elizabeth I attended the Globe secretly sometimes.

How much did it cost?(depended on the comfort of the seats):

To stand in the yard-one penny

To sit in the gallery- two pennies

To have a cushion- three pennies

WHEN WERE THEY CLOSED?

During a short period of time theatres were closed because they were blamed for the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) as The Puritans considered them immoral and the Death was a God punishment.

Shakespeare died in 1616 and is buried in Stradford’s Holy Triniy Church

TYPES OF PLAYS

Shakespeare wrote poetry and 38 plays: tragedies, comedies and historical plays.

Tragedies:

Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth are the most important ones.

In tragedies: the ending is sad, many

TRAGEDIES

Characters die.Time is against the charactersThe main characters are men, and they

belong to aristocracy or monarchy( they are queen, kings,nobles etc)

Lady Macbeth is an exception since she is a main character with an important role.

Comedies

They have a happy ending. Time helps the characters to solve

problems Women have important parts and help

to find solutions (cross-dressing) Characters don’t belong to monarchy.

Shakespeare’s time

This period of time xvi was called the Renaissance period: ( the culture of Greece and Rome was rediscovered)

For these reason many of his plays are settled in Europe and Italy mainly: Romeo and Juliet, Othello etc.

HIS TIME: RENAISSANCE

The printing press resulted in more books, more education and knowledge.

• Humanism is also essential. God leaves his place to man: the most important being in the universe.We find characters who want something: to be richer, to be more powerful, to be more intelligent etc. These are humanist characters.

LITERARY IMPORTANCE

Why do you think Shakespeare’s plays have been so much adapted into films,musicals, paintings, operas etc?

The answer is his topics are never out-of –fashion because he speaks about feelings and emotions:

( revenge, jealousy, ambition, love) so these are topics that can take

Othello

Shakespeare in love

IMPORTANCE

Place in the XVI century or nowadays. Shakespeare is also famous for his

quotations (citas) sentences that have become so famous that take part of our language, culture and everybody knows:

Hamlet’s : “to be or not to be; that’s the question.”

Othello: “Be aware of the green-eyed monster that mocks of the meat he feeds on

( refering to jealousy)”

Shakespeare’s importance

It’s essential to understand other literary works since authors quote him constantly.

Most of his characters have become symbols: Othello is the symbol of jealousy, Hamlet is the permanent doubt, Macbeth is personified ambition and so on.