William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote 37 plays including Romeo and Juliet during his career as a shareholder and writer for The Lord Chamberlain's Men and later The King's Men acting troupes. Little is known about Shakespeare's personal life as only a few of his own words and no descriptions from his lifetime exist. The Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by his acting troupe in London and hosted many of his plays, though it burned down in 1613 and was later rebuilt.

1. William Shakespeare s
Romeo and Juliet

2. About Shakespeare
l William Shakespeare:
l Believed to have been born April 23,1564
l Died April 23, 1616
l Father was a glove maker, tradesman,
and bailiff (a mayor in today s time)
l Mother came from a
prosperous farming family

3. More about Shakespeare
l At age 18 he married Anne Hathaway
l They had a daughter, Susanna, and twins Judith
and Hamnet
Not this -----à
Anne Hathaway

4. More about Shakespeare
l By 1594, Shakespeare had joined Lord
Chamberlain s Men
l Later renamed The King s Men after James I
came to power
l Shakespeare owned a share of Lord
Chamberlain s Men.
He was very successful;
therefore, he should have
made a good living for his day.

5. More about Shakespeare
l During his time, Shakespeare produced and
wrote thirty-seven (37) plays.

6. William Shakespeare -
Man of Mystery
l We have only fourteen words in his own
hands.
l His name signed six times
l The words by me on his will

7. William Shakespeare -
Man of Mystery
l No written description of him penned in his
own lifetime!
l First textual portrait he was a handsome, well-
shap t man: very good company, and of a very
readie and pleasant smooth witt
l This was written 64 years after his
death by a man who was born 10
years after that death.

8. William Shakespeare -
Man of Mystery
l The best spelling of his name is not certain
l He spelled his name differently in all six
signatures that survived.
l Willm Shaksp
l William Shakespe
l Wm Shakspe
l William Shakespere
l Willm Shakspere
l William Shakspeare
l None of this are the spelling we use today!

9. William Shakespeare -
Man of Mystery
l Only three images of Shakespeare exists
1. The Chandos portrait
l Artist unknown
l Subject unknown
l Origin unknown
l Not positive this is
Shakespeare

10. William Shakespeare -
Man of Mystery
l Copperplate Engraving
l Painted 7 years AFTER
Shakespeare s death
- Very poorly painted
- One eye bigger
- Mouth is mispositioned
- Hair is longer on one side
- Head is out of proportion
- Head seems to float off
the shoulders like a balloon

11. William Shakespeare -
Man of Mystery
l Statue
l Painted and life-sized
l Carved 7 years after
Shakespeare s death
- Was repainted, then
Mistakenly white-washed
then repainted again with
no idea of original colors
- Original colors would have
given the statue detail
not carved

12. Shakespeare s Globe Theatre

13. Why was the Globe built?
The Lord Chamberlain s
Men (Shakespeare s
acting troupe) needed a
place to perform their
plays so they could
compete with other
acting troupes.

14. History of the Globe Theatre
l Built in 1598 and opened in 1599
l Burned down in1613 from a cannon blast
during the play Henry VIII
l Rebuilt and reopened in 1614
l Closed down by Puritans in 1642 and was
torn down in 1644
l In 1996 a replica was built on the original site

15. Facts about the Globe Theatre
l Original Globe was 3 stories and held about
3000 people.
l Although most of Shakespeare s plays were
held there, he only owned 12% of the
theatre.
l Located in Southwark
near the Thames River
(just outside of London).

16. More Globe Facts
l All classes of people attended plays there.
l No roof so that they had sunlight.
l Thus, plays had to be during the day.
l People often skipped work to go.
l Was not allowed to be built in the city of
London because crowds often became
rowdy.

17. Problems at the Theatre
l Fights
l Spread of disease (the plague)
l Drug dealing
l Prostitution
l Theft

18. Entrance View
l Everybody entered at
the same place
regardless of where
you paid to sit or stand.
l The stage juts out onto
the floor, so some
people would view from
the side.

19. Floor View
l Poor people could get into
plays for little money, but
had to stand. They were
known as Groundlings.
l It would be very difficult to
see unless you were right
next to the stage.
l Plays often lasted 4-6 hours
and the Groundlings would
stand the whole time.

20. Second Floor View
l The middle to upper
class people could
afford to sit on the
second level.
l The second level
wrapped around both
sides of the stage.

21. Third Floor View
l Only the upper class
could afford seats on
the third level.
l For extra money they
could get a padded
seat.

22. Stage View
l The actors had to deal
with many distractions:
l Weather (no roof)
l Rowdy Audience
l Fruits and Veggies
thrown at them if the play
or the acting was bad.