3. Shakespeare
• Born April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon
Avon
• His father, John Shakespeare was a
successful glove maker
– Finally given coat of arms (family crest)
in 1596 after William’s success
• His mother, Mary Arden came from a
rich, landowning family
• Was the third of eight siblings,
although his two older siblings died
young
4. Shakespeare in love
• November 1582, 18 year old
Shakespeare married 26 year old
Anne Hathaway, also of Stratford
upon Avon
• May 1583, Susanna (1st child) was
born
• Had three kids:
Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith
– Hamnet died at eleven, leaving
Shakespeare without a son
5. “All the World’s a Stage”
• 1588, Shakespeare began writing
and acting
– Five poems
– 154 sonnets
– 37 plays
• Histories, comedies, and tragedies
• In 1599, Shakespeare became a
principle holder of the globe
theater
6. The Globe
• James Burbage built the first theater
named, ―The Theater‖
• Where Burbage built the
theater, charged too high of a rent and
Burbage decided to relocate across
the River Thames
• Moved materials from ―The Theater‖
across the river to South Bank and
used them to build the ―Globe Theater‖
• Southbank was a ―liberty‖ or suburb
just outside of London (where theaters
7. The End of the Globe
• Extremely lucrative (money making)
until 1613
• During the performance of Henry
VII, the Globe caught fire and was
burnt down
• Rebuilt in 1614
– ―The Globe II‖
• 1624, Globe shut down by Puritan
England
8. New Place
• 1597, Shakespeare bought New
Place where he would retire in 1611
• New Place destroyed after
Shakespeare’s death
– Too many tourists ruined it, although
some of the gardens still remain intact
9. The Death of the Bard
• Shakespeare died April 23, 1616
• Buried in Holt Trinity Church in
Stratford-upon-Avon
• Anne Hathaway (wife) died in
August 1623
• Anne Hathaway, daughter
Susanna, Dr. John Hall (son-in-law)
and Thomas Nash (Susanna’s son-
in-law) were buried next to
10. ““Curse Been”
• Curse on Shakespeare's grave
– Good friend for Jesus sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here!
Blest be the man that spares these
stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones
• Stated that no body could dig up his
bones
– Common for religious/research purposes
to dig up bodies and experiment on them
• Shakespeare fear of exhumation
caused him to put in his will that he
12. Queen Elizabeth
• Queen Elizabeth's reign: 1558—1603
• Known as ―Golden Age‖ because it
was the height of the British
renaissance
– Poetry and drama flourished under her
• Time of religious peace because
everyone was following the Church of
England (Christianity)
– Some citizens practiced
Catholicism, which Elizabeth, unlike many
other rulers of the time, allowed
– Elizabeth did not, ―look into the hearts‖ of
13. Early Theater
• Elizabeth was frugal, which helped her
restore England's budget
– Because of the financial stability, the
people of England, including Elizabeth,
began enjoying the theater
• Before Elizabeth’s reign, plays were
performed by noblemen actors
• In 1572, actors began to be required to
have a patron in order to keep traveling on
the road to perform in different towns
– As a result of this decree, acting became
better, because actors and playwrights
were forced to hone their craft to ensure
14. Strict London
• The city of London considered actors
master less men so they were looked
down upon and weren't allowed within
the city limits
• Queen Elizabeth, on the other
hand, enjoyed theatre, and a
compromise was reached when
theatres began to spring up in
London's suburbs, specifically those
located on the south side of the River
Thames
• Also located in South worth were other
unseemly activities, including bear
baiting, cock fighting and prostitution
15. Popular Elizabethan Theaters
• On of the most popular theaters
was, ―The Theater‖
– Built by James Burbage and John
Brayne in Shoreditch in the year 1576
• More companies soon followed suit:
– The Rose 1587
– The Swan 1595
– The Fortune 1600
16. Construction of Elizabethan Theaters
• Theaters during the Elizabethan era
looked much different than modern
theater
– almost round in shape
– Had a wood exterior
– Had a thatched roof (making it
extremely flammable)
– Had three stories that surrounded an
open space at the center
17. All the Classes Gather
• The theater brought all different
classes together to enjoy one
performance
• 15% of London’s population would
attend the theaters at any given
day, but the Queen was the most
important audience
– Elizabeth would have to okay every play
before it was performed, and had to
approve/disapprove any play
• Because of this, playwrights would find a way
to flatter the Queen within the play to win her
18. Classes are Separate
• Despite the fact that all the classes
were together to watch one
performance, there was still a very
rigid structure of acceptance
• Each watched the play from
different sections of the theatre
– Upper Class: sat in the ―Royal
Box‖, which was located on the third
story, (or Upper Gallery)
– Wealthy: sat in the middle
gallery, while the moderately wealthy
19. “Groundlings”
• Any commoner who attended the
show was known as a groundling
• Because their entry was one pence,
they had to stand in the open area
at the center of the theatre on the
ground
• Groundlings would often yell insults
or suggestions at the actors and on
many occasions throw food on the
stage if they didn’t like what was
20. All Audiences
• Because playwrights had to appeal
to both the lower and the upper
class, they would include subtle
compliments to the Queen and
bawdy (dirty) jokes for the lower
class
• Playwrights would do this by
including
– Comic relief
– Action
21. Staging a Show
• To stage a show, you needed
– A patron
– A company
– Shareholders
– Playwright(s)
– Actors
– Costumes
– Props
– An Audience
22. The Lord Chamberlain's Men
• Shakespeare’s acting company
• Produced by Lord Chamberlain in
1594
• As a patron, Lord Chamberlain was
basically the behind-the-scenes
man that gave the company
permission and money to perform
their shows
23. Shareholders
• A company was compromised of
shareholder who, much like
modern-day shareholders, owned a
piece of a company
• These shareholders were
responsible for managing the
company
• Most, if not all, shareholders were
also the major actors in the plays
24. The Playwright
• All playwrights at this time were men
• Some were formally educated at
Oxford or Cambridge, but many were
not
• While Shakespeare himself was also
an actor, most playwrights stayed
behind the scenes
• A playwrights was paid incrementally
throughout the writing process, and if
his play was accepted, he would
receive a part of the profit
• Once he handed his play over to the
company, it was no longer his, it was
25. Actors
• With the major role already filled by
the shareholdes, minor actors were
hired by the company to act in small
roles
• Rarely showe the same show two
days in a row –pressure on actors
was tremendous
• A good memory was helpful, but not
100% necessay
– ―Cue acting‖
26. A Boys Club
• Women were not allowe to perform
on stage until 1630
• Pre-pubescent boys were dressed
in costume an played womens roles
27. Costumes
• Costumes were extremely elaborate
during Shakespeare’s time
• Scenery was not, so often times the
costumes would set the tone for the
play
• Costumes were so important when
trying to convincingly portray men
as women
28. Setting the Scene (with no scenery)
• In order to inform their audience
about the setting, Shakespeare and
his contemporaries would always
have a character mention
something about the setting at the
beginning of the scene if it was
important to the play
29. The Plays themselves
• Whether knowingly or not,
Shakespeare used a rigid structure
that helped him write solidly-
structured plays quickly
• The most important structure to
know in the plot structure
30. Plot Structure of Tragedy
Expositio
n
Complica
tion
Rising
Action
Clima
x
Fallin
g
Action
Moment
of final
suspens
e
Catastro
phe
32. Types of Speech
• Monologue: a long, interrupted
speech spoken in the presence of
other characters
• Soliloquy: a speech, usually
lengthy, in which a character, alone on
stage, expresses his/her thoughts on
stage
• Dialogue: conversation between two
or more characters, (seeking a mutual
understanding)
• Aside: words spoken by a character in
33. Character Types
• Chorus: a company of performers
whose singing and narration provide
explanation
• Foil: when one characters traits are
different from the opposing
character, therefore making one
seem different then they are
• Protagonist: main character
• Antagonist: opposes main
34. Other Key Terms
• Prolouge: introduction to a piece of
drama before a performance
– The prolouge in The Tragedy of Romeo
and Juliet was delivered by the chorus
• Tragedy: a lay that tells of the
destruction of a noble hero
• Comic relief: in a tragedy, a short
comic scene that provieds respite from
the building tension of the play
• Blank Verse: poetry written in
unrhymed lamble pentameter line
– ―Two households, both alike in dignity/ In
fair Verona where we lay our scene‖
