Introducing Shakespeare and Elizabethan England in 3 sentences: Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 and received limited schooling focusing on Latin, and had a successful career in London as a playwright and actor, performing in the Globe Theatre where many of his plays had their premieres in front of thousands of spectators. Life in Elizabethan England during Shakespeare's time included rigid class structures, limited education opportunities, and entertainment in the form of plays performed in theaters like the Globe, catering to audiences that could not read by including dramatic openings, jokes, and famous clown characters.

1. Introducing Shakespeare and Elizabethan England

2. Born, Stratford upon Avon 1564 here Maybe on April 23 rd The eldest of 6 His father was an important man in the town He married Anne Hathaway, 3 children

3. Went to school………… here From 7 – 13 – just one class! 6 days a week, every week of the year From 6am to 6pm He learned Latin, mostly No girls allowed!

4. Died in 1616 In Stratford On April 23 rd At New Place – the second biggest house in town Today people from all over the world visit the house He died the same day as Cervantes.

5. The Globe Most of Shakespeare’s plays were performed here It was moved from the north to the south of the Thames in 1599 You can visit a new Globe, built on almost the same site, in London

6. The Globe London in about 1610

7. Now you know where Shakespeare was born, went to school, died and worked! 3,000 people could fit into the Globe 1,700 of them paid 1 penny to stand in the ‘yard’ where there was no roof! They were called ‘Groundlings’ Most of the audience could neither read nor write So the plays had to be entertaining or the theatres would have made no money. And Shakespeare was a very rich man!

8. So the plays have dramatic openings! A hunchback – Richard III Witches – ‘Macbeth’ A fight – ‘Romeo and Juliet’ A ghost – ‘Hamlet

9. Loads of jokes! The biggest stars were the ‘clowns’ The most famous were Will Kempe – this is a picture of him – Shakespeare got so cross with Kempe’s fame (and improvising) that he sacked him!

10. Shakespeare the Actor We know he played the ghost in ‘Hamlet’ and Adam in ‘As You Like It’ The star of the company was Richard Burbage who played all the leading parts Burbage’s father owned ‘The Theatre’ – the first public theatre in England.

11. Making sense of Shakespeare Ignore the punctuation Remember that it’s iambic pentameter – the rhythm of your heartbeat – 10 beats to a line. Now listen to this from ‘Romeo and Juliet’:

12. Two house holds, both a like in dig ni ty , In fair Ver on a, where we lay our scene , From anc ient grudge break to new mut in y , Where civ il blood maks civ il hands un clean . From forth the fat al loins of these two foes A pair of star -cross'd lov ers take their life ;

13. Your turn……….. The qual it y of mer cy is not strain'd , It dropp eth as the gen tle rain from heav’n Up on the pless be neath : it is twice blest ; It bless eth him that gives and him that teks :

14. A task: Look at the sonnet that your teacher will give you and hi-light or underline the heavy beats Remember 10 beats to a line is iambic pentameter [I’ve done the first line for you]: Shall I com pare thee to a summ er’s day

15. Shakespeare doesn’t always write poetry For ‘common’/funny characters he writes in prose Sometimes ‘posh’ characters also speak in prose In ‘Othello’ one of the main characters, Iago, uses both depending on who he’s talking to.

16. Now you know enough……. To look at your play You know a bit about the man who wrote it And something about how to speak the lines Enjoy!