1. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

2.  To the dismay of high school students everywhere. Reading Shakespeare is a requirement in nearly all high schools across the USA  Why?

3. SHAKESPEARE BACKGROUND  Between 1590 and 1613, he is attributed with writing 38 plays, Famous Shakespearean sonnets and other works.  He is the most widely read of all Authors  The popularity of the Life and Works of Shakespeare, in English speaking countries, is second only to the Bible.

4. FAMILY BACKGROUND  Date of Birth? The birthday of William Shakespeare has been set as April 23rd 1564  Born: Stratford-upon-Avon, England  His Parents were John and Mary Shakespeare  Two older sibling died due to the Bubonic Plague  Married to Anne Hathaway

5. BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Joan was the first child of John and Mary was baptized 1558 September 15 (she only survived two months) Margaret was baptized 1562 December 2 - she died one year later William was baptized 1564 April 26 (died 1616 aged 52 ) Gilbert was baptized 1566 October 13 (died 1612 aged 46) Another daughter, also called Joan, was born in 1569 (died 1646 aged 77) Anne was baptized 1571 September 28 (1579 died aged 8) Richard was baptized 1574 March 11 (died 1613 aged 39) Edmund was baptized 1580 May 3 (died 1607 aged 27)

6. EDUCATION  Most biographers agree that Shakespeare was probably educated at the King's New School in Stratford.  Grammar schools varied in quality during the Elizabethan era, but the grammar curriculum was standardized by royal decree throughout England, and the school would have provided an intensive education in Latin grammar based upon Latin classical authors.  Left school at age 14

7. TYPES OF PLAYS  Comedies  Tragedies  Histories

8. TRAGEDIES  Wrote from the start of his career. One of his earliest tragic plays was Titus Andronicus, which he followed a few years later with Romeo and Juliet.  **** FOUR BEST tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth.  Similar to Aristotle's precept about tragedy: protagonist must be an admirable but flawed character, with the audience able to sympathize with the character. Certainly, capable of both good and evil.

9. COMEDIES  Upbeat ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than his other plays. Patterns in the comedies include movement to a "green world," both internal and external conflicts.

10. HISTORIES  Based on the lives of English kings. Therefore they can be more accurately called the "English history plays," a less common designation.  Plays like Julius Caesar and Macbeth are actually considered Tragedies.

11. QUEEN ELIZABETH I  During the 1590s, some of the great names of English literature entered their maturity, including William Shakespeare. During this period the English theatre reached its highest peaks.  The notion of a great Elizabethan age depends largely on the builders, dramatists, poets, and musicians who were active during Elizabeth's reign. They owed little directly to the queen, who was never a major patron of the arts.

12. GLOBE THEATER  Shakespeare was one of several owners and he lived off of the ticket sales for the remaining years of his life.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgnInT4x8kA&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgnInT4x8kA&feature=related  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_0-frm__fM&feature=related