This document provides an agenda and notes for an Elizabethan literature class. The agenda includes a recitation project where students will present a sonnet or soliloquy, a lecture on Elizabethan theater, the Globe theater, actors, and discussion questions. Notes provide more details on the recitation assignment, early theaters performing in inn yards, the construction and features of the Globe theater, and conditions for actors during Elizabethan times.

1. ELIT 17
Class 5

2. AGENDA
 The Recitation Project
 Lecture:
 Elizabethan Theater
 The Globe
 Actors
 Discussion
 Discussion Questions
 QHQs

3. Recitation: A Sonnet or Soliloquy 50 points
Each person in class will do one presentation of
either a sonnet or soliloquy, including a written
summary—half a page describing what the piece
is about—and a memorized performance. You
may read the summary either before or after your
recitation. Please be prepared to turn in an
appropriately formatted (MLA) copy of your
summary. You may complete this assignment
beginning week four. I am going to send a sign-
up sheet around now. Please note the date that
you plan to give your presentation.

4. Inn Yard

5. The First Theater Houses: Inn
Yards
 Performances were often held in private
inns.
 For a small fee, lodgers could access the
yard. For an additional fee, they could go
to the balcony.
 Audience capacity was generally around
500 people.
 Inn Yards were very popular as they
provided alcohol and lodging!

7. Elizabethan Theater,
theater performed in
a playhouse, didn't
occur until 1576 when
James Burbage built
the first playhouse
called "the Theater"--
a permanent building
dedicated to
showing plays for
commercial interest.

8.  Actors, writers and theatre owners had a difficult
time during Elizabeth’s reign. Until the coronation
of England’s following monarch, James I, theatre
in England was considered akin to prostitution,
thievery, and vagrancy.
 Theatres were usually considered to be
disreputable places, so all theatres in London
were required to be built outside the city walls
along with brothels, prisons, and asylums.
 Some thought theaters were the breeding
ground for the plague; consequently, whenever
the plague flared up, they were the first places to
be closed.
 The epidemic that began in London in the
summer of 1592 was one of the longest closures.
More than 14% of the population of the city died
during this period.

9. The most famous
Elizabethan
playhouse was the
Globe Theatre (1599),
built by the company
in which Shakespeare
had a stake

11. The old Globe Theatre was a magnificent amphitheater. Maps of
London clearly show the architecture of the Globe Theatre, and
these have enabled an approximate picture of the old Globe
Theatre to be drawn.
The Globe

13. THE OLD GLOBE THEATRE
 Capacity: 1500 people in the audience, around 3000 people could
be crowded outside the theater. Queen Elizabeth I would have not
seen plays at the globe, except for the opening of Henry V
 Plays occurred in the afternoon due to natural lighting purposes
 Women and men attended plays, but high-born women usually
covered their faces with masks
 The audience ate, talked, and drank throughout the performance
THE COMMONERS WOULD HAVE STOOD IN
THE THEATRE PIT AND PAID AN ENTRANCE
FEE, PUTTING A PENNY IN A BOX, HENCE
THE TERM,“THE BOX OFFICE”
Prices:
– NOBILITY PAID FOR BETTER SEATS IN THE
LORD”S ROOMS
– CUSHIONS COULD BE PURCHASED FOR
ADDITIONAL $$

14. THE NEW GLOBE THEATER: SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE

15.  Interest to rebuild was sparked in the 1970’s by Sam Wanamaker
and the Shakespeare Globe Playhouse Trust
 It is often referred to as Shakespeare’s globe
 Construction began in 1989; while digging, workers discovered the
foundations of the original Globe. The new theatre was located
around 100 yards from the presumed site of the old Globe
 In 997, the Globe reopened with the performance of Henry V

17. Discuss
your
answers to
the
homework
questions
and your
QHQs.
In
Groups

18. Questions
 As Olivia is in the process of revealing her
feelings for Cesario, she makes use of metaphors
drawn from the animal kingdom— Act III, Scene
1, lines 115–140. State what these animal
metaphors are, and then explain their
significance. How do they illuminate the depth
of Olivia’s feelings at the moment?

19. OLIVIA
Give me leave, beseech you. I did send,
After the last enchantment you did here,
A ring in chase of you. So did I abuse
Myself, my servant, and, I fear me, you.
Under your hard construction must I sit,
To force that on you in a shameful
cunning
Which you knew none of yours. What
might you think?
Have you not set mine honor at the
stake
And baited it with all th’ unmuzzled
thoughts
That tyrannous heart can think? To one
of your receiving
Enough is shown. A cypress, not a
bosom,
Hides my heart. So, let me hear you
speak.
VIOLA
I pity you.
OLIVIA That’s a degree to love.
VIOLA
No, not a grize, for ’tis a vulgar proof
That very oft we pity enemies.
OLIVIA
Why then methinks ’tis time to smile
again.
O world, how apt the poor are to be
proud!
If one should be a prey, how much the
better
To fall before the lion than the wolf.
The clock upbraids me with the waste of
time.
Be not afraid, good youth, I will not have
you.
And yet when wit and youth is come to
harvest,
Your wife is like to reap a proper man.
There lies your way, due west.
VIOLA Then westward ho!

20. “No, not a grize, for ’tis a vulgar proof that very oft we pity
enemies” (III, i, 130-132). The word “grize” is another for “degree”,
but also alludes to the “grice”, a type of pig found in Ireland and
Scotland.
“Have you not set mine honor at the stake, and baited it with all
th’ unmuzzled thoughts that your tyrannous heart can think?”
Olivia is using the metaphor of bearbaiting (chaining a bear and
pitting it against unchained dogs) to make a comparison between
her and Cesario.
Olivia says, “To fall before a lion than a wolf” (III, i, 120),
expressing society’s views on both animals as the lion is viewed
to be king of the land and the wolf is an animal in hiding.

21. Questions  Many characters in Twelfth Night
adopt a role or otherwise disguise
their identities. Viola is the most
obvious example of this ruse in the
play, but why others can you name?
Consider Fester, Orsino, and Olivia
among others.
Viola conceals her sex, hiding behind
the clothes and mannerisms of a man.
Olivia hides behind the death of her
brother, concealing her rather
passionate nature behind a shroud of
grief.

22. Questions
 Discuss the outcome of the
plot against Malvolio. Is the
yellow garter scene funny
or cruel? Is his fate
deserved? How does his
reappearance affect the
end of the play?

23. Malvolio’s yellow garter scene
Act 3 Scene 4 Lines 6-31 2:39
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDPT2e26SgY

24. QHQ Malvolio
Q: Did Maria and the others intend for their trick on Malvolio to
go so far? If not, then why did they not confess and attempt to
undo their actions? What message is Shakespeare trying to
convey through this incident?
Q: Why does Malvolio fall for this trickery so easily? Could it be
that his insecurity regarding his status has made him desperate
for acceptance from others?
Q: Why is Malvolio unable to see past the deception of the
letters provided to him by Maria? Why can’t Malvolio see past
Olivia questioning his behavior?

25. Questions
 What do you make of
the fact that Cesario
and Sebastian are
apparently
interchangeable for
Olivia? What does
this play seem to say
about love and about
marriage as a social
institution?
1:59-2:03 Amazon Prime

26. QHQ: Sebastian=Cesario?
 After finding out that Sebastian isn’t Cesario, why
doesn’t Olivia offer an objection about her marriage
with this stranger?
 Q: Did Orsino have feelings for Cesario the entire
time and hid them?
 What does Orsino’s marriage to Viola convey about
his character?

27.  Compare a scene in the movie She’s the Man to
the corresponding scene in Shakespeare’s
Twelfth Night. In some cases, there will not be a
direct correlation. In that case, you may refer to
themes as long as you use textual evidence.
How does the director both stay true to
Shakespeare and make the film more relevant?
Which is more successful? Why?

29. The scene in She’s The Man in which
Duke Orsino and Sebastian (Viola) are
lying in their beds in their dorm is very
similar to a scene in Act 2 Scene 4 of
Twelfth Night where Orsino and Cesario
are talking privately after Orsino sends
his servants away. Duke in the movie
talks about his feelings and displays a
sensitive side to Viola. In the play,
Orsiono brags about his love, stating that
“There is no woman’s sides can bide the
beating of so strong a passion as love
doth give my heart.” He then speaks ill of
women, stating that “They lack
retention. Alas, their love may be called
appetite.” The director of the film makes
the scene a lot easier to understand, but
I don’t think he captures Duke’s egotism
and brashness enough.
In the play the duke sends
out Olivia, also known as
Cesario, to go woo Olivia
for him. Cesario then goes
to recite the Duke’s love
to Olivia. In the movie,
Viola runs into Olivia
dressed as Sebastian and
instead of reciting Duke’s
proclamation of his love,
Olivia finds the lyrics to a
song the real Sebastian
has made.

30. QHQs
1. Is the theme of foolishness or to make others
look like fools an occurring theme?
3. Are humans at their core manipulative and cruel?
4. Between Antonio and Orsino, was Shakespeare trying to
make a statement about homosexuality and gender
during the Elizabethan Era through his characters?

31. Exam #1:Introduction

32. Exam Review
1. Passage identification by work
a. My wife, more careful for the latter-born,
Had fast'ned him unto a small spare mast
2. Character identification
a. Viola’s twin brother. After the shipwreck, he was rescued
by Antonio, and spent three months in his company.
3. Who said it? Name the Speaker
a. O time! thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me to untie!

33. Exam Review
1. Matching:
1. Simile ____
2. Couplet _____
3. Slant Rhyme _____
A. Away before me to sweet beds of flowers!
Love thoughts lie rich when canopied with
bowers.
B. You spurn me hence, and he will spern
me hither
If I last in this service, you must case me in
leather
C. No longer from head to foot than from hip
to hip:
she is spherical, like a globe

34. Terms: Fill in the blank
1. __________ ruled England from 1558-1603.
Short essay/Long answer: two or three
paragraphs
1. Name several types of Shakespearean
humor; provide examples and explain the
connection to comedy.
2. Compare and contrast the wooing scenes
in Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors
3. Discuss the use of misidentification in both
plays. Which is more effective and why?

35. Read
 Sir Thomas More’s History of King
Richard III 1518
 Horace Walpole’s Historic Doubts on the
Life and Reign of King Richard III, 1768
 A short bio of Richard III. Note the source.
Is it credible? The link is under
“Secondary Sources”
Post #6: choose 1
1. Shakespeare based his Richard III on the
writings of Sir Thomas More. After
reading both Thomas More and Horace
Walpole, who do you find more credible?
Why?
2. How might More (and Shakespeare) have
answered Walpole’s questions?