English Renaissance Theatre and William Shakespeare

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«Who wrote Shakespeare?» Any arguments against the anti-Stratfordian theories? - never left England => could not write about other countries - the real author — an aristocrat - no play mentioned in his will => not the real author

Elizabethan theatre: production of plays

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: production of plays 1. dramatists borrowed heavily from previously written plays → Shakespeare authorship question

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: production of plays 2. plays written for a particular cast and theatre → Shakespeare authorship question

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: production of plays 3. collaboration between dramatists — common work (the most important thing — the success of a production, not of a play as a work of literature).

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: production of plays 4. plays considered to be the property of the theatre, not of the dramatist; They were not recognised as works of literature → Shakespeare authorship question.

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: production of plays 5. the same person could be a shareholder of the theatre, a playwright, an actor and the stage director * Shakespeare's first biographer, Nicholas Rowe, referred to a role played by William Shakespeare as "the Ghost in his own Hamlet" and that he was "the top of his performance"

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare What do we know about the multiple roles Shakespeare had to perform (actor, playwright,etc.)?

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: the actors

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: the actors 1. both admired and despised (especially by puritans)

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: the actors 2. no women actors; instead — young boy actors

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: the actors “King Lear” — about the dead Cordelia: “My poor fool is hanged” (King Lear ) WHY 'fool'???

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: the actors → Theatre metaphors in Shakespeare “All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages.” («As you like it») 3. normally, performed more than one part in one play

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: the building Elizabethan theatre: inside the theatre building

* the first London theatre (the Theatre) — built in 1576 by James Burbage. 1. seating capacity: 1500 — 1800 people; 2. standing places — in the yard → balcony → cheaper boxes → 2 'gentlemen's rooms'; 3. no roof over the yard → Implications for the dramatist

Elizabethan theatre: inside the

Elizabethan theatre: inside the theatre building

Elizabethan theatre: inside the theatre building

Elizabethan theatre: inside the theatre building

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: the building Elizabethan theatre: the stage

Elizabethan theatre: the stage 1. front stage - built out as a platform into the middle of the yard;(could not be shut off by the curtains) + rear stage + traps (ghosts could appear out of them) + 'heavens' (gods & spirits lowered from them)

Elizabethan theatre: the stage 2. absense of pictorial scenery → Implications for the dramatist (language)

Elizabethan theatre: the stage 3. use of elaborate costumes and props; the latter - symbolic, not pictorial → Implications for the audience

Elizabethan theatre: the stage 3. use of elaborate costumes and props; the latter - symbolic, not pictoral → Implications for the audience

Elizabethan theatre: the stage... “Or may we cram Within this wooden O the very casques That did affright the air at Agincourt? O, pardon! since a crooked figure may Attest in little place a million; And let us, ciphers to this great accompt, On your imaginary forces work”. («Henry V»)

Other contemporary references to Shakespeare Elizabethan theatre: the audience Elizabethan theatre: the audience

Elizabethan theatre: the audience 1. pleased with familiar plots but demanding constant variety => most plays had short runs => more attention to quantity rather than quality on the part of dramatists

Elizabethan theatre: the audience 2. all social classes, bound together by a common enthusiasm for England's past an present; 3. theatrical performances co-existed with such base forms of entertainment as bear-baiting (greatly enjoyed by the audience) → Implications for a dramatist

Find 100 differences :)

«Who wrote Shakespeare?» Any arguments against anti-Stratfordians?

«Who wrote Shakespeare?» Any arguments against the anti-Stratfordian theories? - never left England => could not write about other countries? - the real author — an aristocrat? - no play mentioned in his will => not the real author?

I can no other answer make but thanks, And thanks, and ever thanks.

END OF PRESENTATION Thanks for your attention!